With advertisers about to plunk down $2.3 million for a
30-second spot during the Super Bowl this Sunday (Feb. 1) in
Houston, we thought it would be helpful to list the nation's top
sports radio outlets, where you can blitz the airwaves without
breaking the bank. Ranked in the chart are the 10 largest media
markets, along with the most popular radio stations in each of
those markets. To get a sense of audience size, the grid charts the
number of listeners, for each station, throughout the past several
business quarters.
Not exactly a shock that in sports-drenched New York, WFAN-AM
regularly draws at least 2 million listeners. Blink and there's
another New York sports controversy -- the latest being Isiah
Thomas' overhaul of the New York Knicks in his efforts to make that
woebegone club more competitive -- that sports radio jocks will
dissect and debate for days, increasing PR opportunities to become
part of the conversation. Since many New Yorkers take their sports
quite seriously, the debates often go well beyond wins, losses and
stats, and frequently gravitate toward cultural issues of the
benign and not-so-benign variety (read: Rush Limbaugh's now-famous
comments a few months back about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback
Donovan McNabb).
KNBR-AM, out of San Francisco, also puts respectable ratings on
the board (a handful of sports teams in a relatively compact city),
as does KTBK/KT CK-AM out of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Both the
Dallas Mavericks (basketball) and the Dallas Cowboys (football) now
generate a lot of buzz following years in which both teams
languished in the standings.
|
Market
|
Population
|
Station
|
Format
|
Owner
|
FA02
|
W03
|
Sp03
|
Su03
|
F03
|
|
|
1
|
NY |
15,340,000
|
WLTW-FM | Adult/Contemporary | Clear Channel |
6.5
|
6.8
|
6.7
|
6.6
|
6.3
|
| WFAN-AM | Sports | Infinity |
2.2
|
2.2
|
2.4
|
2.3
|
2.3
|
|||
| WEPN-AM | Sports | ABC |
0
|
0.4
|
0.3
|
0.5
|
0.6
|
|||
|
2
|
LA |
10,609,200
|
KPWR-FM | CHR/Rhythmic | Emmis |
5.4
|
5
|
5.3
|
4.8
|
5.1
|
| KXTA/XTRA | Sports | XTRA Com. |
0.4
|
0
|
0.5
|
0.7
|
0.7
|
|||
| KSPN-AM | Sports | ABC |
0.3
|
0.4
|
0.4
|
0.5
|
0.5
|
|||
|
3
|
Chicago |
7,612,100
|
WGN-AM | News/Talk | Tribune |
4.9
|
6.1
|
6.7
|
7.2
|
5.9
|
| WSCR-AM | Sports | Infinity |
1.4
|
1.6
|
1.4
|
1.5
|
1.3
|
|||
| WMVP-AM | Sports | ABC |
0.9
|
1
|
1.2
|
1.3
|
1.2
|
|||
|
4
|
San Francisco |
6,012,000
|
KGO-AM | News/Talk | ABC |
6.3
|
6.3
|
6
|
6.5
|
6.3
|
| KNBR-AM | Sports | Susquehanna |
3.5
|
2.2
|
3.2
|
3.1
|
2.6
|
|||
| KTCT-AM | Sports | Susquehanna |
1
|
0.7
|
0.4
|
0.7
|
0.9
|
|||
|
5
|
Dallas/FortWorth |
4,576,700
|
KKDA-FM | Urban | Service |
6.8
|
6.3
|
7.2
|
6.2
|
6.3
|
| KTBK/KTCK | Sports | Susquehanna |
2.9
|
3.3
|
2.3
|
2.3
|
2.8
|
|||
| KESN-FM | Sports | ABC |
0.9
|
0.8
|
0.9
|
0.8
|
1
|
|||
|
6
|
Philadelphia |
4,291,700
|
WBEB-FM | Adult/Contemporary | WEAZ-FM Radio |
6.5
|
5.7
|
6.6
|
5
|
7.4
|
| WIP-AM | Sports | Infinity |
3.2
|
3.4
|
3.2
|
2.5
|
3.9
|
|||
|
7
|
Houston/Galveston |
4,165,000
|
KLTN-FM | Reg. Mex. | Univision |
7.2
|
6.7
|
6.5
|
6.8
|
7.1
|
| KILT-AM | Sports | Infinity |
1.7
|
1.6
|
1.1
|
1.3
|
1.3
|
|||
|
8
|
Washington, DC |
4,041,300
|
WPGC-FM | CHR/Rhythmic | Infinity |
6.9
|
6.7
|
6.7
|
7.2
|
7.3
|
| WTEM-AM | Sports | Clear Channel |
1.6
|
1.6
|
1.5
|
1.5
|
1.6
|
|||
|
9
|
Boston |
3,888,800
|
WBZ-AM | News/Talk | Infinity |
7.3
|
8.5
|
8
|
6.9
|
7.4
|
| WEEI-AM | Sports | Entercom |
3.8
|
2.8
|
4.1
|
5
|
4.8
|
|||
|
10
|
Detroit |
3,859,700
|
WJLB-FM | Urban | Clear Channel |
5.3
|
5.8
|
5.6
|
5.1
|
6.1
|
| WDFN-AM | Sports | Clear Channel |
1.3
|
1.5
|
1
|
1.3
|
1.6
|