Boston No Longer In Top Ten

[Mark Laurence]

On Jan 15, 2006, at 10:18 AM, Bill O'Neill wrote:
>
> Boston's drop is far less due to Boston being Boston than it is  
> other cities' population explosions due to migration to the South  
> and West to more amicable economic climes.

How big is the Dallas or Atlanta metro when measured in miles from  
the city center?  Let's allow Boston's metro to include the same  
mileage and see how big it gets.
>
> It is hard to feel bad about any of this when you consider the fact  
> that those very same "big four" are also the same "big four" in the  
> rest of the top 10, all programming them identically without any  
> regional consideration.

There are great differences in the playlists of WLTW and KOST, both  
Clear Channel major market AC's (just for one example).   I can't  
think of any station in Boston that sounds like it's following this  
"identical programming" concept you're talking about.  Can you?  I  
doubt you could find too many in any other major market, either.

Also, only two companies have the kind of penetration into nearly all  
major markets that you mention.  After Clear Channel and CBS Radio,  
there are different competitors in different markets.  There's no  
Entercom or Greater Media in New York or Los Angeles.  There's no  
Emmis or ABC Radio in the Boston market ratings.

Mark