Re: Area ratings....

[mlaurence@mindspring.com]

On Friday, July 27, 2001, at 09:19 PM, Larry Weil wrote:

> And why would anyone in Worcester want to listen to WBZ, when their 
> news coverage rarely includes anything in or near Worcester?

I used to live in Worcester and was always complaining that the Boston 
news media ignored Worcester.  Now I live in Boston, and guess what?  
They ignore the local issues in my neighborhood  too.

What's called news is mostly national and regional stories that are 
interesting to large portions of the audience.  That, plus some crime 
and fire stuff.  But WBZ can't speak to local issues in Worcester, 
Brookline, or anywhere else when listeners who care would be a tiny 
minority of the audience.

WBZ has often had trouble rating in Worcester.  Their signal is not 
perfect, and when people are used to FM clarity, even a little static on 
AM is tough to put up with.  Plus, the AM band has declined more steeply 
in Worcester, so fewer people are dial-hopping on AM.  Only WTAG seems 
to be truly competitive with the FM giants.  In Boston, you have WEEI 
and WRKO keeping things interesting for large numbers of AM listeners, 
while Worcester listeners have more reasons to go FM and never come back.

Mark Laurence
mlaurence@mindspring.com