The sample on 5-7 Sundays is not big enough to read anything into, especially if he's trying to break it down into "key demos." Short weekend specialty shows are un-measurable on their own.

Last edited by Don (March 11, 2018 5:50 pm)

If he went from 1 listener to 3, he's correct, and more!
or however the math works.
If the original is small enough, the percentage always looks amazing.

And also what Don said.

 

And oh yeah, I forgot - he also claimed that his TSL figures show that most of those who tune into his show at 5 PM stay for the entire two hours. I doubt even a prime time weekday show on either RB or 640 could possibly make that statement. 

It's kind of silly to even give him the numbers, but if you're paying for your timeslot you're entitled to them, I guess.

Point taken. I assumed, but don't know.

I will admit to having absolutely no idea what Berkovits' arrangement with Corus might be. Perhaps he's a paid employee, perhaps it's a contra deal. I can't say either way. 

I do, however, find it interesting that the only station he seems to advertise on is AM 640. Perhaps other outlets reject his ads since he's seen as a personality for a competitor, although I can't fathom that to be the case. It also strikes me as relevant that all his spots on CFRB - and he was a heavy advertiser there if memory serves - suddenly stopped the week his show was cancelled. (He has since claimed on air that it was due to his refusal to tone down his criticisms of Muslims or to temper his "Jewishness," although I find impossible to believe a company as big as Bell would ever dare say such a thing.)

You can't make any definitive statements from all that, but it certainly does lead you to certain albeit unproven conclusions.  

And finally, whatever his reasons for abandoning his old station as an advertiser, I have to wonder about them. There is no question that CFRB has a much bigger audience in all dayparts than 640. So if he's boycotting 1010 out of spite - and I'm not saying he is - he'd only be hurting his own interests. And you'd think a rabbi-teacher-author-lecturer-almost-a-lawyer-marriage expert and jeweler would know better. 

But that's exactly the point.  Of course he's shilling, and that seems to be everybody's issue with him on this venerable board. He gets to live his dream, he entertains the public, and he helps his business.  Seems like a good deal all the way around.  So why this fixation with him?
BTW, I do some analytical work for an agency that dissects the Numeris numbers, and he's not exaggerating. I verified. In fact, our agency has entertained more than one request from advertisers who want to have their spots air on his show, specifically.

Last edited by Samaritan (March 15, 2018 5:46 pm)

Ouch.  Aren't you the clever one.
that obvious?

RadioActive wrote:

Anyone who’s ever listened to Jack Berkovits knows the man is prone to, shall we charitably say “exaggeration.” In the past he’s claimed to be a rabbi, a teacher, a legal expert (who supposedly rejected admission to Harvard Law School when he was asked a question about defending Nazis in court) and in previous weeks, a marriage counselor. In fact, I’ve lost track of all his supposed expertise.
 
And he was at it again on Sunday, this time starting off his show with five minutes of braggadocio touting his terrific ratings in the last book. While admitting he didn’t “have the numbers in front of him,” he insists his ratings, especially in key demos, are up 150%.
 
Is it possible his numbers went up year over year? Certainly. He only started last April, and what was on before him was either paid programming or re-rolls. So whatever the real figures, he had nowhere to go but up. If you’re at .01 on Sundays from 5-7 PM and you wind up with more listeners because you’re live and local, your ratings will almost have to increase.
 
He also referenced that “station down the dial,” noting their numbers were “way down.” I have no way of corroborating that, and he offered no other proof, but I do know that the Sunday afternoon time period isn’t exactly the most important in radio. Not to mention the overall numbers show ’RB with a 7.2 and 640 with a 1.7. Hardly the stuff of bragging rights!
 
Not that I would expect anything different from a man who only advertises on the station that carries his show, is always talking about how he has “so many callers, we can’t get to them all” and then rarely gets to any of them, complains about having to pay his workers on stat holidays, and admits to being on vacation in Hong Kong last week and getting up at 6 AM to listen to a reroll of his show online because he wanted to hear himself.
 
More people may indeed be listening to him. But I can testify that, for the most part, I’m not one of them!

Osgoode Hall.

K.  Everyone has had a good kick at this can and I'm sick of it, so consider the topic closed.  If you'd like to take up the battle with Jack personally, please see his website http://omnijewelcrafters.com/ for contact information.   The e-mail listed there is:  info@omnijewelcrafters.com

ig.