January Los Angeles ratings released

[Art Landing]

http://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb003

KNX moves back into the top ten, now just behind KFI on AM and overall. I-heart media maintains its hold on the top three positions overall and domination of the FM band. KSPN is slipping but still surpasses KLAC among the sports stations where about-to-reformat KFWB languishes at 50% of its level last November despite carrying the Clippers. KEIB has slipped into a tie with KABC (both being behind KRLA) in the talk market.

And please, yes, I know that these are non-primary demographic figures in terms of the target markets used by advertisers

 

[davideduardo]

And please, yes, I know that these are non-primary demographic figures in terms of the target markets used by advertisers

And that is where the difference lies. KNX is 22nd in 25-54, with KFI coming in at 18th .

In the sales demo of 25-54, CBS, iHeart and Univision all have 3 stations in the top 10. SBS has one.

 

[K.M. Richards]

▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

A perfect example of why getting all excited about the free 6+ numbers is a waste of time to post.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

And that is where the difference lies. KNX is 22nd in 25-54, with KFI coming in at 18th.

Is there a meaningful difference between 18 and 22 in demo?

 

[K.M. Richards]

Is there a meaningful difference between 18 and 22 in demo?

About six less reverse mortgage commercials per day.

 

[Art Landing]

About six less reverse mortgage commercials per day.

And a few more commercials for clinical trials, home repair/improvements, and seminars on financial planning/house flipping. Oh, sorry, that would likely be 54+ - radio for those listening for information rather than music.

We oldsters I think may tend to use in-car CDs for the latter. It is probable IMHO that those who listen to sports stations, religious formats and infomercials tend to be information seekers as well. But since these segments are smaller than the music audience and FM is so superior in audio quality today you need a broadcoverage area (read 50,000 watt transmitter) to have a top ranking AM station which can bill enough dollars.

 

[briancraig]

I disagree K.M. that it is a waste of time to discuss the 6+ numbers.

The fact that they are meaningless to the advertising community does not make them meaningless to the people who read and discuss radio matters on this forum.

The 6+ numbers do tell us how many listeners use a specific station and I definitely find that interesting.

 

[K.M. Richards]

The fact that they are meaningless to the advertising community does not make them meaningless to the people who read and discuss radio matters on this forum.

Actually, while you're entitled to that opinion, in reality they are meaningless.

Only by knowing how stations are doing in their target demo do you know which stations are healthy and which are in trouble. Just as decisions on ad buys are based not on total number of people but by number of people in a specific age group, you can tell whether or not your favorite station is likely to stay the way it is, be "tweaked" formatically, or be ripe for a flip only by seeing how it does in its target demo.

In other words, the stations themselves consider 6+ meaningless and make programming decisions based on the demo breakouts. So your statement is, I'm afraid, little more than your own opinion.

Look at how many times people have been surprised by a format flip and said "but they were okay in the ratings" and then proceeded to quote the only numbers available (6+) only to have someone with access to the full book point out that said station was doing nowhere near as well in the money demo. David's post, as I indicated, is a perfect example of that: Art made note of KFI and KNX both being in the top ten in 6+ but in 25-54 they are both around 20th place. That is such a disparity as to prove the 6+ numbers worthless for intelligent discussion of station performance.

If you honestly care how your favorite stations are doing, 6+ numbers are not your friend.

 

[semoochie]

Actually, while you're entitled to that opinion, in reality they are meaningless.

Only by knowing how stations are doing in their target demo do you know which stations are healthy and which are in trouble. Just as decisions on ad buys are based not on total number of people but by number of people in a specific age group, you can tell whether or not your favorite station is likely to stay the way it is, be "tweaked" formatically, or be ripe for a flip only by seeing how it does in its target demo.

In other words, the stations themselves consider 6+ meaningless and make programming decisions based on the demo breakouts. So your statement is, I'm afraid, little more than your own opinion.

Look at how many times people have been surprised by a format flip and said "but they were okay in the ratings" and then proceeded to quote the only numbers available (6+) only to have someone with access to the full book point out that said station was doing nowhere near as well in the money demo. David's post, as I indicated, is a perfect example of that: Art made note of KFI and KNX both being in the top ten in 6+ but in 25-54 they are both around 20th place. That is such a disparity as to prove the 6+ numbers worthless for intelligent discussion of station performance.

If you honestly care how your favorite stations are doing, 6+ numbers are not your friend.

Can you imagine 30 years ago, a major radio station hanging around 20th for any period of time? What must they be telling the advertisers?

 

[K.M. Richards]

Can you imagine 30 years ago, a major radio station hanging around 20th for any period of time? What must they be telling the advertisers?

KNX is telling them "we're the only all news station in the market" and advertisers who want that audience buy KNX anyway.

KFI is likely trying as much as possible to be included in buys that involve the entire cluster.

Both of them are cluttered with ads for products and services that don't fit on the music FMs in the market, and those advertisers don't even care about the 25-54 numbers.

So much of even local/regional ad sales is agency-based now anyway, neither of them may even be having a chance to "tell" anyone anything as a sales pitch anymore.

 

[semoochie]

KNX is telling them "we're the only all news station in the market" and advertisers who want that audience buy KNX anyway.

KFI is likely trying as much as possible to be included in buys that involve the entire cluster.

Both of them are cluttered with ads for products and services that don't fit on the music FMs in the market, and those advertisers don't even care about the 25-54 numbers.

So much of even local/regional ad sales is agency-based now anyway, neither of them may even be having a chance to "tell" anyone anything as a sales pitch anymore.

On this general topic, I just noticed that our local 50KW clear channel News/Talk station, that's still the top AM, has nearly 100,000 fewer listeners than the Classical station! Ouch!

 

[TheBigA]

Doesn't anyone here listen to FM?

 

[K.M. Richards]

Doesn't anyone here listen to FM?

You mean that newfangled system Major Armstrong is experimenting with down at 44 megacycles?

 

[semoochie]

Doesn't anyone here listen to FM?

If you're asking me, I haven't listened to AM, with any degree of regularity, for about 30 years, with the exception of when they hijacked(pretty good description because the replacement was a Jack clone)my Oldies FM station and temporarily moved it to the senior band.