NEPA Radio: Top40 WKRZ In Familiar #1 Spot

Entercom's Top40 WKRZ 98.5 FM continued to top the ratings in the spring as a five-year-old upstart, alternative station WFUZ-FM, made huge gains against long-established stations.

WKRZ has long been a pop powerhouse with broad appeal, most recently averaging a 10.3 percent share of the radio listening population.

“KRZ led for as long as I’ve been around — 17 years,” Ryan Flynn, general manager for Entercom’s local division told The Scranton Times-Tribune. “It has a strong signal and that helps a lot.”

Entercom Country  WGGY 101.3 FM, Froggy, was right behind, with a 7.8 percent share, second for the second-consecutive quarter.

Alternative station WFUZ made a dramatic jump thanks to event marketing and a playlist overhaul, said Steve Borneman, general manager of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre radio stations of Times-Shamrock Communications. WFUZ jumped from eighth to sixth, as average listenership gained about two-thirds from 2.3 last summer to 3.9 this spring.

The station hosted a music festival FuzzFest on June 21 that drew in national acts including “Walk The Moon.” It also implemented a playlist overhaul, recommendations made after a hiring a firm to test market hundreds of tunes on local listeners. Pearl Jam and Soundgarden tested well, Mr. Borneman said.

Fortunes were different for sister station WEZX-FM, Rock 107, which fell from an average 8 percent last summer to 5.4 percent in the most recent rating. Rock 107’s large event, the Birthday Bash, occurred in March, too early to have had an impact on the spring results. Mr. Borneman thinks it’s a blip, and points to timeslots in which Rock 107 commands a lead.