New Metro Vancouver radio listener data identifies CBC Radio One as the most listened to radio station by far on the AM dial and CHQM as the dominant station on the FM band.
CBC’s AM station CBU had a 14.1% share of listeners in the period between December 1 and March 1, according to Numeris, which tracks listener data.
Being No. 1 in the Vancouver market did not stop the public broadcaster from announcing March 26 that it would chop 25 news jobs in B.C.
CHQM-FM (Today’s Soft Rock 103.5), which is owned by BCE Inc. (TSX:BCE), ranked second overall with a 12.4% listener share.
Corus Entertainment Inc.’s (TSX:CJR.B) CFMI-FM (Rock 101) and CKNW-AM (News Talk 980) were next with a 7.3% and a 6.9% listener share, respectively.
BCE’s CFBT-FM (Virgin Radio 94.5), with a 6.3% share, and Rogers Communications Inc.’s (TSX:RCI.B) CKWX-AM (News1130), with a 6.2% share, round out the region’s top six most-listened-to stations.
“A station’s share of audience pretty much dictates what a station’s revenue should be,” said Roundhouse Radio CEO Don Shafer, who plans to launch a new radio station this summer.
“A share point is worth approximately $1.2 million in Vancouver.”
So a station with a 10% share, he said, should earn more than $11 million in revenue if it’s operating according to industry norms.
