KUHF 88.7 HD2 better ratings than the christian rap on their old signal on KXBG 91.7

[brian marchand]

I think it is interesting that in the just released Houston ratings The Classical music on KUHF 88.7 HD2 has better ratings by .1 than the christian hip hop music on their old signal on KXNG-FM 91.7

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[stan]

And the closest thing to 'classic hits' in Houston, KKHH, is doing quite well. CBS does well with this in other major markets such as New York and LA, so it shouldn't be a surprise.

 

[Fieldtech1]

And the closest thing to 'classic hits' in Houston, KKHH, is doing quite well. CBS does well with this in other major markets such as New York and LA, so it shouldn't be a surprise.

Its funny cause KKHH seems like a 90% rehash of the old 106.9 The Point format. All thats old is new again I guess.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

0.3 and 0.4. KXNG has been slowly rising in the ratings ever since signing on. Gaining .1 each time.

Classic hits - #2 in New York, #2 in Los Angeles, #15 in Chicago, #3 in Dallas, #5 in Atlanta, #2 in Philadelphia, #2 (rim shot Nassau / Long Island), #2 Riverside / San Bernardino, #7 rim shot Middlesex / Somerset / Union

Anybody drooling over getting those ratings? Never mind, put the Spanish language preaching on every open frequency instead. I am sure that makes way more money than classic hits would.

 

[davideduardo]

0.3 and 0.4. KXNG has been slowly rising in the ratings ever since signing on. Gaining .1 each time.

A 0.3 is a 0.4 is a 0.2. At that level, the margin of error is almost infinite.

In fact, in the last 8 weeks, the station has had individual weeks as high as 0.5 and as low as 0.1, with an average of 0.3.

Classic hits - #2 in New York, #2 in Los Angeles, #15 in Chicago, #3 in Dallas, #5 in Atlanta, #2 in Philadelphia, #2 (rim shot Nassau / Long Island), #2 Riverside / San Bernardino, #7 rim shot Middlesex / Somerset / Union

You are quoting 12+ numbers. If numbers are important, it is where lots of advertising is sold based on ratings. And in those cases, only listeners in the 18 to 54 (particularly 18-49 and 25-54) are important.

Those stations you cite without naming them (why?) are not as high in the "sales demos" as you state.

Examples: WCBS in NYC is 8th... a good show... in 25-54, not second.

The two classic hits stations in Chicago are tied for 18th. Atlanta, it's 8th.

The Nassau-Suffolk market does not have a "rimshot" in any classic hits position. WCBS-FM is local there because Nassau and Suffolk counties are part of the New York City radio market (MSA) as are Middlesex, Somerset and Union counties. It's just that the more limited coverage stations in those areas pay to have their smaller geographies "broken out" of the New York City book.

Anybody drooling over getting those ratings?

No. Because targeting a core that is mostly over 45 is not something most operators want to do with a station that is currently in another format because the switch is expensive and the audience is aging; the big challenge is what to do after it ages out of the late 70's and 80's music and needs to play from the musical desert that is the 90's.

Never mind, put the Spanish language preaching on every open frequency instead. I am sure that makes way more money than classic hits would.

The preaching is, for the most part, on stations that are so inferior technically that they could not survive on ad revenues with any format... so they do formats that can be sustained by other means such as funding or donations.

 

[davideduardo]

Its funny cause KKHH seems like a 90% rehash of the old 106.9 The Point format. All thats old is new again I guess.

Whatever your evaluation is, the station was, on average, about 15th all last year. In January it jumped to 8th in 25-54 and now it is 5th in February.

If we still had trade journals like R&R, that success would be heralded with a front page story. It's a magnificent achievement.

 

[CTListener]

No. Because targeting a core that is mostly over 45 is not something most operators want to do with a station that is currently in another format because the switch is expensive and the audience is aging; the big challenge is what to do after it ages out of the late 70's and 80's music and needs to play from the musical desert that is the 90's.

Are the '90s a musical desert because of the grunge/pop/rock/rap rifts that left many 12-24s during those years listening only to the genre they liked, or was there really a lack of music with staying power in that decade?

I know the Billboard Hot 100 became really turgid, with songs locking the No. 1 position up for months at a time and very little movement in the chart as a whole. But you only need 450 hits or so to make a classic hits format work, so surely there must be 200 or so songs from the '90s that could work in an '80s-'90s format, or a '90s-'00s format down the road, right?

 

[landtuna]

Are the '90s a musical desert because of the grunge/pop/rock/rap rifts that left many 12-24s during those years listening only to the genre they liked, or was there really a lack of music with staying power in that decade?

Yes. The 90's introduced a brand new genre, Junque.

 

[davideduardo]

Are the '90s a musical desert because of the grunge/pop/rock/rap rifts that left many 12-24s during those years listening only to the genre they liked, or was there really a lack of music with staying power in that decade?

Both, plus additional fragmentation of genres.

I know the Billboard Hot 100 became really turgid, with songs locking the No. 1 position up for months at a time and very little movement in the chart as a whole. But you only need 450 hits or so to make a classic hits format work, so surely there must be 200 or so songs from the '90s that could work in an '80s-'90s format, or a '90s-'00s format down the road, right?

Most classic hits stations are in the weekly play of 600 to 700 title range... that fits WOGL and WCBS, for example. There are rare exceptions like KRTH that are below 400. And a few, like Dallas' KLUV, sitting at just about 500. But nearly all of these have additional titles they cycle in and out of the library or which are on very slow rotations. Finding enough well testing songs when venturing into the 90's will be hard, as much of the music, as you say, has little staying power.

 

[davideduardo]

Yes. The 90's introduced a brand new genre, Junque.

Nah, that had already been done in the 1960 to 1964 period.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

I know the Billboard Hot 100 became really turgid, with songs locking the No. 1 position up for months at a time and very little movement in the chart as a whole. But you only need 450 hits or so to make a classic hits format work, so surely there must be 200 or so songs from the '90s that could work in an '80s-'90s format, or a '90s-'00s format down the road, right?

Look at 1994. Only 9 songs in 52 weeks. 37 weeks were topped by a hip-hop artist (mostly Boyz II Men with 20 weeks).

I'm not aware of a classic hits station anywhere who is mixing in any of the 1994 #1 hits. Celene Dion is practically banned from classic hits - too slow. And I don't recall ever hearing hip-hop on an 80s pop station. That would sound weird to the listener.

You have the other thread of the mid-90s, grunge and alt-rock (Nirvana, Green Day), which didn't top the Hot 100 very often but was popular nonetheless. Also rarely if ever heard on classic hits, also because it doesn't mix in well with the 80s pop.

 

[Night Hawk]

Yes. The 90's introduced a brand new genre, Junque.

Ha Ha, Junk!....Boo Hiss Celene Dion....even though I love Canada and Canadians......

 

[landtuna]

Nah, that had already been done in the 1960 to 1964 period.

I will admit that period wasn't one of the greatest periods of RnR or Pop music but it dwarfs the 90's. Just wait 55 years from now and see how many 90's songs are still being played.

 

[Fieldtech1]

Whatever your evaluation is, the station was, on average, about 15th all last year. In January it jumped to 8th in 25-54 and now it is 5th in February.

If we still had trade journals like R&R, that success would be heralded with a front page story. It's a magnificent achievement.

Just picking your brain, but what do you attribute to the success of this station (KKHH) versus 106.9 the Point? The presentation or imaging? Signal quality over 106.9? Something else?

 

[CTListener]

I will admit that period wasn't one of the greatest periods of RnR or Pop music but it dwarfs the 90's. Just wait 55 years from now and see how many 90's songs are still being played.

Right, I'll check back here in 55 years, right after I blow out the candles on my 117th birthday cake.

 

[landtuna]

Right, I'll check back here in 55 years, right after I blow out the candles on my 117th birthday cake.

I will be 127. Come to my party!

 

[brian marchand]

Well there were 2 comments about the topic I cared about to make a post. The rest of the comments are on another topic I could care less about and that should have been on another thread. Maybe the moderator can make that happen.

I only wanted to point out how an HD only signal on a format I like (Classical) has about the same ratings as the new format on their old analog signal. As more people get HD radios I hope KUHF 88.7 HD2 will gain even more listeners in the future and be here to stay in HD for many years. I have several HD radios and so a format I like on HD radio like classical is fine with me. I prefer to listen to HD channels over analog ones because they sound better.

Although Classical music is my only interest I will make a comment that the new format (christian hip hop) on 91.7 may not be as popular as some thought it would be. Even if the ratings or especially money support (which I have no information about one way or the other) is not there at least for its listeners they are supported by a parent organization KSBJ with a lot of money and mission driven that can give it some time. KSBJ cares more about reaching young people as a mission than an NPR news station has in playing classical if its losing money. The Air1 christian chr station has much better ratings at 1.7 than KXNG so I guess young people prefer it over KXNG. I wonder if KXNG was expecting better ratings.

 

[TheBigA]

As more people get HD radios I hope KUHF 88.7 HD2 will gain even more listeners in the future and be here to stay in HD for many years. I have several HD radios and so a format I like on HD radio like classical is fine with me. I prefer to listen to HD channels over analog ones because they sound better.

That may be another discussion...not sure that FM HD sounds substantially better than FM analog. It might with music that has wider dynamic range as is the case with classical. Not for me to say.

What NPR stations have discovered with classical is it's not a growth area, and music doesn't raise as much money as information. Unfortunately in Houston, KUHF overspent when they bought 91.7. That also happened in Miami. However, playing classical music on a HD station doesn't cost much (or as much as a separate FM signal) so there's no downside to doing it. I'd say there is far less ratings pressure on KUHF than there is for KXNG. I'd expect KUHF will keep classical on its HD (as WLRN is doing in Miami) regardless of the ratings. Which is good for you.

 

[brian marchand]

I think it shows that more people in Houston so far would listen to Classical music then would listen to christian hip hop or at least listen longer although maybe by only a small margin. I know that could change but I am pointing out what is at the moment. The ratings on 91.7 were better as a classical station by a little when it had a lesser signal. And just as many current listeners of classical will buy or utilize an HD radio to keep listening to classical music even though that takes more effort than listeners of christian hip hop on the much more available analog radios. So I am glad to see people buy a few new HD radios or ulilize the HD radio they had to keep listening to classical music

 

[brian marchand]

I do not live in Houston. I live in Springfield, IL and get my classical music in the car from WUIS-HD2.

Sometimes I can tell a big difference in the sound quality in HD and other times not so much. It depends on the strength of the analog signal as sometimes analog can have static. HD does have more dynamic range that I can hear that sounds better. But how much better depends on bit rate and equipment used. If a station does not put much effort into HD it can sound bad.

I also do not think public stations look at classical as much as a mission to supply the area with classical music as they do with supplying political news and information and as Christians do in spreading their views about salvation. So if they overspent they would rather cut their losses because to them its just another format not what others consider vital like salvation or staying informed on politics. I do not think political news is as vital as they do.

I think the only downside would be to an HD2 signal is it does cost more money I am sure to have sub-channels and more money to maintain HD equipment compared to turning the HD off.