Latest Radio Ratings Show CHAM (820AM) Continues Struggle - Opportunity for CBC?

cham2012The latest BBM radio ratings were released this week, and it shows Hamilton’s AM dial losing listeners, while the change of format for CING 95.3FM is getting results for Corus Entertainment. CKLHFM 102.9 K-Lite remains the market leader with 9.5% audience share.

AM820 CHAM’s market share dropped from 1.1% to 0.8%, by far the lowest share of any Hamilton station.

CING 95.3FM holds the second smallest market share, but can be very happy with their results in the past quarter – the market share for the “Fresh FM” format climbed to 4.1% from 2.9% in the fall.

CHML AM900’s share dropped from 5.9% to 4.9%, and Oldies AM1150 dropped slightly from 4.7% to 4.4%.

CBC goes local in Kitchener-Waterloo and wins big

In Kitchener-Waterloo, CBC opened a full digital service that includes a morning radio show – replacing Toronto-based content – and saw a significant increase in market share as a result. The CBC retransmitter station in the area went from 0.8% market share to a 6.3% share with the new local programming.

This shows why CBC executives need to invest in a full-service CBC for Hamilton.

Time to Make an Offer on CHAM

With CHAM continuing to struggle, CBC should approach Astral Bell to see what the price tag is on the AM820 frequency.

If the price is reasonable, it’s time for CBC to launch an independent CBC Hamilton station.


Correction: Thank you Sean Healy for the correction, AM820 is now owned by Bell.