Courtesy the Pittsburgh Post Gazette

(October 12, 2010) The most recent Arbitron ratings for the Pittsburgh market, which were released late last week, show The Fan (KDKA-FM, 93.7) to be a ''prohibitive winner'' over 1250 ESPN (WEAE), according to Ken Lazar, a senior broadcast strategist at Empower MediaMarketing.

The September measurement period was from Aug. 19 thru Sept 15, which includes the final week of ESPN local programming. The station since has fired its local talent and gone to national programming almost exclusively.

The numbers show that The Fan, which debuted in February, made significant inroads on the 1250 ESPN audience. This was done by comparing the numbers this year against the same period last year.

All 1250 ESPN shows took a hit, which is to be expected when new completion enters the market, but some of the hits were extreme. Only ''Stan & Guy'' stood up well against the new competition.

For men 25-54, which is the target audience for sports-talk stations, these numbers show how significant of a decline 1250 ESPN had from last September to this September.

Mon. - Fri. 6 a.m. -10 a.m.: Down 71 percent in average quarter hour listeners.

Mon. - Fri. 10 a.m -3 p.m.: Down 29 percent

Mon. - Fri. 3 p.m. -7 p.m.: Down 50 percent.

These figures show that ''The Fan Morning Show'' was the most successful in capturing 1250 ESPN listeners. It is the only show on The Fan that went up against national programming on 1250 ESPN (''Mike and Mike in the Morning.'').

''Stan & Guy'' lost only 29 percent, a figure that was to be expected. ''Stan and Guy'' was the only 1250 ESPN show to maintain a ratings advantage over its competition at The Fan.

Here are the comparisons between The Fan and 1250 ESPN in the most recent ratings period for men 25 to 54 in terms of average quarter hour listeners.

Mon. - Fri. 6 a.m to 10 a.m.: The Fan 3,200; 1250 ESPN 1,400.

Mon. - Fri. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.: The Fan, 2,900; 1250 ESPN 3,200.

Mon. - Fri. 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.: The Fan, 3,300; 1250 ESPN 2,500.

In summarizing the numbers, Lazar said, ''ESPN had a slight AQH advantage for 'Stan & Guy.' KDKA-FM ruled everywhere else.''

He also surmised the following concerning the abrupt decision to pull local programming from 1250 ESPN:

''Management and program directors get access to weekly ratings in advance of the full surveys. Combined with the audience erosion from the past year, ESPN management may have seen what was coming, and acted swiftly.''

''The Mark Madden Show'' on WXDX from 3 to 7 p.m. continues to dominate that slot in sports talk.

Lazar said, ''Madden's numbers are relatively flat compared to September 2009, but still doubles KDKA-FM's PM drive-time numbers.''

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