Miami Ratings January 2016

     The four-month reign of Miami Sports Radio 560 WQAM-AM alone on top of all sports format radio stations in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale region ended as they tied with 790 The Ticket WAXY-AM in January. All three local competitors saw a change in the landscape.
     WQAM, who had been the leader in the local area since September, went from a 1.1 to a 0.9 in the month of January as they fell for the third straight month. The University of Miami Hurricanes basketball team began to play the tougher opponents in the Atlantic Coast Conference while the Florida Panthers marched on following a franchise-high 12-game winning streak.
     The Ticket slightly increased from a 0.8 to a 0.9 this month. It was the third time in the last four months that they have improved since Entercom Communications eliminated the FM simulcast of the station back in August. It is no coincidence that was the last time the station was on top of their competitors. It will be the final ratings period in which Joy Taylor co-hosts the morning show with Jonathan Zaslow and Brett Romberg. 
     After getting their best monthly ratings since October 2013 back in December, Miami Sports 940 WINZ-AM dropped to a 0.3 in January from a 0.5 and lost a third of their audience. It is the lowest their numbers have been since September. The absence of Miami Dolphins football broadcasts certainly determined things. WINZ and iHeartMedia Miami just finished a six-year deal as the Dolphins radio rights holder and now the broadcasts are in play to the rest of the market.