Mike Missanelli: More People Listen to My Show

Mike Missanelli isn’t only a sports talk radio host for 97.5 The Fanatic. He also pens pieces for Philly Mag on a freelance basis. And today, he penned one that was directed toward the sports talk scene in Philadelphia. Now that the Innes and Bruno afternoon show on WIP is no more despite winning the radio ratings the last few months against him, Missanelli said that wasn’t exactly the case because we don’t really understand the ratings. [Philly Mag]

From this other station come claims that their ratings are now beating mine. Claims like that resonate with the average Joe because the average Joe really doesn’t fully understand how ratings work. There are different measurables in radio ratings, the numbers are grouped by different age group listeners. There are elements like TSL, which is the amount of time an audience spends listening, and CUME, the overall number of people who listen to you. Other stations can fudge numbers publicly to make it look like they are winning.

Fact is, my show still has more listeners.

Ratings numbers also work like this: ANY new show is going to get an automatic boost in the ratings. It’s called “sampling.” People will tune in to a new show just to see what it’s about. At first, perhaps, a show that sends interns on the street to ask men whether they’d “hit” Caitlyn Jenner, might be amusing. At first. And then anything akin to that is simply a cheap and bad imitation of Howard Stern, which is better served as a morning zoo, than an important evening drive slot.

The concept of “sampling” is not unlike the concept of opening a new restaurant. People will flock to something new. And maybe in the first couple of weeks of the restaurant, the food and the ambiance are an interesting change. But unless that restaurant stays excellent, people won’t come back. It was just a blip on the radar screen.

While it could be looked at as a valid excuse – I’ll never say Missanelli is wrong because, in most instances, people do tune in to new shows to see what it’s about – I’m not sure I entirely buy it due to Missanelli’s station still trying to make a dent in WIP’s morning show juggernaut. If people were interested enough in Anthony Gargano’s morning show when it began in April, they sure didn’t show it.

Last month, I was given the ratings and posted them here. No agenda attached. So is “sampling” really the issue here? I can buy people sampled the Innes and Bruno show, but if Missanelli is using the sampling excuse, nobody is sampling Gargano’s show. Then again, going up against Cataldi isn’t the easiest job in the world.

The local radio war just got a whole lot more interesting. More of Missanelli’s piece here.