Seattle-Tacoma Radio Ratings - December 2022

[pjc1961]

Covering the survey period from Thu. 11/10/2022 thru Wed. 12/7/2022,
Age 6+ overall: RadioInsight Seattle-Tacoma Ratings July-December 2022

Top 5+ demo rankings for ages 25-54, 18-34 + 18-49:
AllAccess.com Research Director Inc/XTrends PPM Ratings Analysis December 2022 - scroll down to see Seattle-Tacoma market

Age 25-54: 1. KRWM (up from #11) 2. KEXP 3. KISW 4. KQMV 5. KJEB 9. KSWD (up from #12) T18. KCMS (up from #22)

Age 18-34:
1. KRWM (up from #10) 2. KEXP T3. KQMV T3. KUOW T3. KJEB (up from #T10) T6. KZOK (down from #T2) T6. KSWD (down from #T4) T6. KKWF up from #T12)

Age 18-49: 1. KRWM (up from #13) 2. KEXP 3. KISW 4. KQMV 5. KIRO 6. KJEB (down from #T1) 8. KSWD 16. KCMS (up from #21)

 

[guruofradio]

KRWM launched XMAS a bit stronger this year, probably the absence of KPLZ choosing not to play Christmas music, which always worked well for them. KSWD and KCMS up as well with Xmas music. Tis the season.

 

[Kelly A]

KRWM launched Christmas a bit stronger this year, probably the absence of KPLZ choosing not to play Christmas music, which always worked well for them. KSWD and KCMS up as well with Christmas music. Tis the season.

If it were me, I'd probably pass on programming Christmas tunes this year too. It's all the same music being played on multiple stations within an already radio-saturated market. Again, slicing a diminishing slice of pie even thinner. And remember, when it comes to a ratings pop, it's usually too late to capitalize on those ratings after you've switched back to regular programming. That's just another example of ratings not being directly attributable to revenue.

 

[guruofradio]

Most Xmas stations make money on it only in Dec/Hol when they sell specific Xmas music packages and do well based on Miller Kaplan numbers. Good direct revenue for the two months , but no spillover. Most media buyers throw out the Holiday books when doing annual buys and in PPM there is diminishing benefit beyond the January book. Hard to leverage the additional audience. Similar to KIRO-AM. Once the Mariners season ended, was hard to leverage the big baseball ratings into other months. KPLZ probably thought it was a good chance to pick up non Xmas music AC fans, now that the station is more 90's/2K gold than in past years.

 

[Kelly A]

Most Christmas stations make money on it only in Dec/Hol when they sell specific Christmas music packages and do well based on Miller Kaplan numbers. Good direct revenue for the two months , but no spillover. Most media buyers throw out the Holiday books when doing annual buys and in PPM there is diminishing benefit beyond the January book. Hard to leverage the additional audience. Similar to KIRO-AM. Once the Mariners season ended, was hard to leverage the big baseball ratings into other months. KPLZ probably thought it was a good chance to pick up non Christmas music AC fans, now that the station is more 90's/2K gold than in past years.

Totally agree with what you said, but I believe there's a tipping point with the number of stations running Christmas music, all trying to sell those Christmas packages based on December numbers from the prior year. Eventually, and especially with so many holiday buys going to digital media over the last couple years, eventually the Christmas packages become harder to land, especially with so many other stations are all competing for the same ad dollars.
I'd be curious to hear from someone in the Seattle/Tacoma market who's tasked with selling Christmas against the other stations over the past five or so years. Maybe even our friend Jackson or Carsalesguy might have some insight on how things have changed from the sales front.

 

[boombox4]

KEXP, KQMV, and KISW doing well in a couple of the key demos.