March 2021 LA/OC Radio PPM 6+ Ratings

[david]

Here are the March 2021 LA/OC Radio PPM 6+ Ratings:

https://ratings.****************/content/arb003

Quick Observations:
1070 - doing nicely
1150 - plummeting
88.5 - why isn't it identified as AAA?
91.5 - classical is nicely consistent within a standard deviation of 2%
96.7 - rimshot nearly at 1%. Transmitter well positioned to serve its Santa Ana COL
97.1 - recent months reveal why brand identify change was justified
100.3 - three months of N/A. Time for EMF to sell it off? (as-if) - ditto for its 92.7 Fountain Valley
102.7 - nice upward trend over recent months
105.9 - needs to power up its efforts - this former king of LA Radio should be doing better
107.5 - the original Spanish FM is still the market's dominant Spanish station overall - a remarkable 50 years after flipping from English

 

[Theater of My Mind]

Quick Observations:
100.3 - three months of N/A. Time for EMF to sell it off? (as-if) - ditto for its 92.7 Fountain Valley

They don't care if the ratings are zero as long a they get a few people to send them enough money for it. Of course that's not really the spirit of being a broadcaster, it's narrowcasting. With a finite number of signals available to serve the public it's a shame to see a station as unpopular as this hogging those channels.

 

[davideduardo]

Here are the March 2021 LA/OC Radio PPM 6+ Ratings:

https://ratings.****************/content/arb003

Quick Observations:
1070 - doing nicely
1150 - plummeting
88.5 - why isn't it identified as AAA?

Identification of formats is the function of the website publishing ratings results. Nielsen does not provide that data.

91.5 - classical is nicely consistent within a standard deviation of 2%

At that ratings level, +/- as much as 0.5 to 0.6 is within the margin of error.

96.7 - rimshot nearly at 1%. Transmitter well positioned to serve its Santa Ana COL

Santa Ana is actually pretty near the center of population of the metro, which I think is around Downey. And, of course, Orange County is part of the LA radio market.

97.1 - recent months reveal why brand identify change was justified
100.3 - three months of N/A. Time for EMF to sell it off? (as-if) - ditto for its 92.7 Fountain Valley

This is either a non-subscriber omission or one of the many errors Nielsen has committed of late. It actually has a 1.9 in 12+.

102.7 - nice upward trend over recent months
105.9 - needs to power up its efforts - this former king of LA Radio should be doing better

This format has been severely wounded by two reggaetón based Hispanic targeted stations. Power used to be over half Hispanic, and most of that is gone now.

107.5 - the original Spanish FM is still the market's dominant Spanish station overall - a remarkable 50 years after flipping from English

It did not become dominant until the Winter, 1975 book. Before that, it was a real mess of all genres of music (from Spanish language rock to Caribbean salsa) and pretty low ratings.

 

[davideduardo]

They don't care if the ratings are zero as long a they get a few people to send them enough money for it. Of course that's not really the spirit of being a broadcaster, it's narrowcasting. With a finite number of signals available to serve the public it's a shame to see a station as unpopular as this hogging those channels.

But, as I mentioned, they have a 12+ of 1.9, with a cume of over a half a million . The listing referenced just did not include them.

 

[30james]

K-earth 101 is doing fantastic. Bet the sales team is thrilled with the outcome.

 

[TheBigA]

K-earth 101 is doing fantastic. Bet the sales team is thrilled with the outcome.

I agree. Audacy has 3 stations in the Top 5. That is a huge victory for them. For years, iHeart had 3 stations in the Top 5. It was their famous "wall of women." Audacy has cracked that wall. Some here focus on Audacy's low rated KAMP and KROQ. But the low ratings for their younger formats are more than made up by the high ratings for their older formats. It also explains why they won't flip KAMP to an older-leaning format, or why they won't do classic alt with KROQ. They need representation in younger genres, and they don't want to cannibalize their older formats.

 

[davideduardo]

I agree. Audacy has 3 stations in the Top 5. That is a huge victory for them. For years, iHeart had 3 stations in the Top 5. It was their famous "wall of women." Audacy has cracked that wall. Some here focus on Audacy's low rated KAMP and KROQ. But the low ratings for their younger formats are more than made up by the high ratings for their older formats. It also explains why they won't flip KAMP to an older-leaning format, or why they won't do classic alt with KROQ. They need representation in younger genres, and they don't want to cannibalize their older formats.

In 25-54 it is a bit different. Audacy has #1 and #2, but then KOST, KIIS, KLVE, KBIG, KFI and KYSR are the next 6. So iHeart has five of the top 8, Univision one and Audacy two.

Rounding the top 10 are KLAX, KLOS, KSCA (tie for 10th).

 

[TheBigA]

In 25-54 it is a bit different. Audacy has #1 and #2, but then KOST, KIIS, KLVE, KBIG, KFI and KYSR

So it's 2 and 2 in the Top 5. The most interesting thing to me is KYSR is #1 18-34. That is where KROQ would want to be.

This shows it's possible to be #1 18-34 with the alternative format. KIIS is #6.

 

[MarkW]

Yup - it's possible to be #1 with a strong morning show that resonates with the local audience. Something KROQ definitely lacks.

Out of curiosity, which stations are ranked #1 and #2 in A25-54? I'm assuming one of them is K-Earth. Is the other one 94.7 The Wave or 93.1 Jack FM?

What's really stunning to me this book isn't the horrible performance of KAMP, but rather, the terrible numbers Power 106 is putting up!

 

[ragazzo-pazzo]

What's really stunning to me this book isn't the horrible performance of KAMP, but rather, the terrible numbers Power 106 is putting up!

Rarely will I attribute the success or failure of a station to the presence (or lack thereof) of a single person. That said, KPWR's sharp and steady decline since the departure of Jimmy Steele hasn't gone unnoticed by this observer.

 

[davideduardo]

Rarely will I attribute the success or failure of a station to the presence (or lack thereof) of a single person. That said, KPWR's sharp and steady decline since the departure of Jimmy Steele hasn't gone unnoticed by this observer.

Steele is an excellent programmer and he really understood the "street feel" of LA. And we can't discount the guidance and creative atmosphere contributed by Rick Cummings, the Emmis programming guru.

Another factor that has severely affected Power 106 is the presence of two reggaetón stations in LA, causing a huge portion of the Hispanic core of Power to defect; in the past, Hispanics were at least 50% of the Power cume.

 

[TheBigA]

Out of curiosity, which stations are ranked #1 and #2 in A25-54?

KRTH and KCBS. KCBS is #3 18-49, which is interesting for a station that plays "adult hits."

 

[ragazzo-pazzo]

Another factor that has severely affected Power 106 is the presence of two reggaetón stations in LA, causing a huge portion of the Hispanic core of Power to defect; in the past, Hispanics were at least 50% of the Power cume.

I agree to a certain point. Factor in also KDAY. Meruelo (KPWR, KDAY, KLLI) seems to be eating itself, but I still believe it has more to do with weak focus, and lack of, as you say "street feel" on the programming front.

 

[TheMusicMan]

K-earth 101 is doing fantastic. Bet the sales team is thrilled with the outcome.

KRTH is an excellent-sounding station, one of my favorites in the country. One of its great strengths is an energetic presentation that leans into its music’s cross-generational appeal - doesn’t harp on “the good old days” and makes you feel welcome whether you’re 25 or 65. Their success is highly deserved. Of course, it also doesn’t hurt them that current pop music is in a trough, on which note...

...it’s fairly clear that Audacy isn’t serious about KAMP/KNOU at this point. Too many positioning and talent changes without KIIS’ upper-end credibility to score default CHR cume spell trouble. It’s a shame, because there were and are some talented and dedicated people involved with this station, but a flip to Sports seems inevitable.

 

[TheBigA]

Audacy isn’t serious about KAMP/KNOU at this point. Too many positioning and talent changes without KIIS’ upper-end credibility to score default CHR cume spell trouble.

At the same time, the company has made talent changes in other formats, not just CHR. KIIS is nowhere near where they were a year ago. So the prudent thing to do is wait to see if the new music situation improves during the summer.

 

[davideduardo]

Here are the March 2021 LA/OC Radio PPM 6+ Ratings:

https://ratings.****************/content/arb003

I forgot to comment these:

Quick Observations:
1070 - doing nicely

But not in the sales demos.

1150 - plummeting

If you are below a 1 share, dropping 0.4 is a big percentage, but it's still always been a terribly low rated station.

88.5 - why isn't it identified as AAA?

Nielsen does not specify formats. Each posting website does that, with their own criteria.

 

[davideduardo]

I agree to a certain point. Factor in also KDAY. Meruelo (KPWR, KDAY, KLLI) seems to be eating itself, but I still believe it has more to do with weak focus, and lack of, as you say "street feel" on the programming front.

KDAY has been old school hip hop and rap for ages, and is not the cause of current problems with Power.

In the 18-49 target of ethnic stations, KLLI is doing quite well lately, knocking the SBS reggaeton down considerably and also growing the core for that music. In the last two months they have shown over 3 shares and have been top 3 or 4 among Spanish language stations, pretty tied with KXOL in an average of the last two months. KXOL had been the leading 18-49 in much of 2020, and is now way off while the Meruelo station is twice as high as before.

I think the Meruelo folks likely prefer keeping the reggaeton crowd in-house, as that is a growing audience that is not likely going to return to hip hop in English any time soon. The question, then, is what can they do with Power in a market that has a very low percentage of Blacks now that the Hispanic core has been permanently split.

 

[ragazzo-pazzo]

KDAY has been old school hip hop and rap for ages, and is not the cause of current problems with Power.

True. Equally true (since you brought it up) is the fact that KXOL has been reggaeton for ages as well, and yet Power still performed beyond well. You're a smart guy David, and the reggaeton factor contributes to the challenge, but certainly does not explain the HUGE decline for station once at the top in spite of the presence of KDAY and KXOL. I don't pretend to know what the fix is, but it's obvious that Alex Meruelo's millions can't buy the answer either.

 

[davideduardo]

True. Equally true (since you brought it up) is the fact that KXOL has been reggaeton for ages as well, and yet Power still performed beyond well. You're a smart guy David, and the reggaeton factor contributes to the challenge, but certainly does not explain the HUGE decline for station once at the top in spite of the presence of KDAY and KXOL. I don't pretend to know what the fix is, but it's obvious that Alex Meruelo's millions can't buy the answer either.

Reggaetón in its proper formula for non-Caribbean basin listeners was slow to find for KXOL. For a while, they even included pop artists like Shakira in the blend, and then they flipped to a mix that was way too much like their Miami and PR stations in the format.

And Meruelo only in the last few months has discovered the right blend for LA.

Part of the issue is that they were researching their own core when the problem was that the cores were far too narrow. SBS figured it out first, and did local research. Meruelo's folks seemed to think that SBS was doing it wrong, and they spent about two years well off track. Somehow, it hit them that they might be wrong and they adjusted.

KLLI still has morning drive issues where they are less than half the level of the rest of the day. They have the middle-aged wife of their radio/TV manager on the station and she does not connect with the core (She's a delightful lady, daughter of Raúl Vale, the late Mexican comedian (from Venezuela originally) who did mornings for me in Puerto Rico and at KTNQ.

Currently, there are nearly 7 shares in 18-49 going to the two reggaetón stations. While shares never come 100% directly from one station, I would bet that 3 shares or so came from Power.

We've seen that in Miami, too, where the reggaetón and rhythmic stations have hurt the Urban station significantly, while the Urban AC is doing just fine. The Urban station got up to around a 7 share in 18-49 two years ago, and is now in a range that is two to almost three shares lower.

 

[ragazzo-pazzo]

Currently, there are nearly 7 shares in 18-49 going to the two reggaetón stations. While shares never come 100% directly from one station, I would bet that 3 shares or so came from Power.

Two - three shares is certainly reasonable. It didn't happen simply because SBS or even KLLI figured out the secret sauce - it also happened because Power gave listeners a reason to go looking, they lost touch with their core.... "street feel" as you say. Jimmy had it... he's gone, and it shows.