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December 7, 2017 7:23 pm  #1


Almost everything you want to know about the Fall 2017 PPM Ratings.

Fall 2017 PPM ratings for TorontoMontrealCalgaryEdmonton and Vanouver are now posted on kowchmedia. Find out which radio stations went up or went down. Check out the Numeris Top Line results for A12+ and through our partner at Bray & Associates, we also have 25-54 demo results too. Compare the Fall 2017 PPM results with those from the Summer 2017 and Fall 2016 rating periods. Just click here for all the PPM rating results including for CBC Radio.

If only interested in Toronto numbers, click here.


We're trying something different with this Fall 2017 PPM Rating results. We wanted to use the same criteria of how broadcasters and Program Directors earn PPM rating bonuses. So we are comparing the findings of the Fall 2017 PPM ratings with the 2016 Fall PPM rating results.  Broadcasters get their rating bonuses based on Fall to Fall, Winter to Winter and Spring to Spring ratings.

The dynamics of radio listening changes from season to season. In the Fall, life returns to normal after the lazy, hazy days of summer of listening to music radio at the cottage, on the deck or by the pool. Listeners return home to their favourite radio station from cottage country or out of town vacations. Adults and students are getting up early again to go to work or school. This impacts morning drive and afternoon drive radio. Traffic is congested again. More cars back on the road means more people listening to radio than they did while on vacation. That is why we need to compare one rating period to the same period a year earlier to see if radio stations and its programming go up or down in the PPM ratings.

Less daylight plays havoc in the Fall with AM transmitters that have to be powered down at sundown around 4:30pm and return to full strength at sunrise around 7am. If the listener can't hear the signal, chances are the Portable People Meters can't either. That has a negative impact on morning and afternoon drive AM radio ratings during the Fall.

Comparing Fall to Fall is comparing apples to apples. Comparing Fall to Summer or Fall to Winter, is another kettle of fish. Winter sees the older snowbird listeners disappear down south for months and FM stations play Christmas music 24/7 that skews the ratings for a few weeks in December.