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Seattle-Tacoma Radio Ratings: June 2023

P

pjc1961

Covering the survey period from Thu. 5/25/2023 thru Wed. 6/21/2023, age 6+ overall:
Seattle/Tacoma - RadioInsight (may not be updated in all browsers as of this post)
or Radio Industry News, Radio Show Prep, Radio Promotions, Radio Station Data, Podcast News

Top 5+ demo rankings analysis will be available via AllAccess.com on Thu. 7/13/2023.
 
pjc1961 said:
Covering the survey period from Thu. 5/25/2023 thru Wed. 6/21/2023, age 6+ overall:
Seattle/Tacoma - RadioInsight (may not be updated in all browsers as of this post)
or Radio Industry News, Radio Show Prep, Radio Promotions, Radio Station Data, Podcast News

Top 5+ demo rankings analysis will be available via AllAccess.com on Thu. 7/13/2023.
Click to expand...
Looked up the ratings elsewhere...KPNW is up a bump, to a 1.0. Yes, this will be a slow growth.
 
I don’t recall… is this the first time KKWF is at the top? Did country ever rate #1 in Seattle when there were two country stations?
 
If I recall correctly, KMPS was jettisoned in 2017 as the 94.1 frequency changed over to KSWD. Within hours, Hubbard shut down CLICK and launched country on 98.9. Can Seattle support 2 country stations? If KKWF continues to be as dominant as they’ve been, wouldn’t surprise me if another operator gives it a shot. A few lowly FM’s out there right now who probably couldn’t do any worse. Will be interesting to watch this one, as I imagine there are few back room conversations going on right now about the pros and cons.
 
Top 5+ demo rankings analysis for ages 25-54, 18-34 + 18-49:

www.allaccess.com

Radio Industry News, New Music, Music Promotion, Radio Station Song Charts

All Access offers the latest radio industry news and music news, music promotions for record companies new music, radio station song charts, and much more. AllAccess.com has been serving the radio and music industry since 1995, always bringing you the highest quality content with...
www.allaccess.com www.allaccess.com

25-54: 1. KISW 2. KQMV 3. KKWF 4. KJEB 5. KHTP 6. KZOK
18-34: 1. KZOK (up from #4) 2T. KHTP (up from #7) 2T. KQMV 4. KJEB 5T. KEXP 5T. KISW
18-49: 1. KISW 2. KJEB 3. KQMV 4. KZOK (up from #7) 5. KKWF 6. KHTP
 
bobdavcav said:
It wasn't Click that was shut down, it was the successor rock format. Click disappeared a few months after the shakeup at iHeart in 2016.
Click to expand...
Yep, Click went away due to low ratings due to the station being unable to compete with KYNW, KPLZ, KYNW, KNDD, and KBKS. Ironically I believe the reason why they were unable to compete with KYNW despite their lower shares was simply because that wasn’t a full market signal. I wonder if KYNW is part of the reason why the ratings declined since they had a similar “Adult Top 40” format. Probably had something to do with the station adding 80s titles to try to improve their ratings too in the latter months of the format. I don’t think “Click” will ever come back but who knows.
 
KYNW went away when iHeart restructured its cluster and shifted 106.1 to Hot AC. That's when Click's ratings really tanked. In other observations, it seems ratings are starting to return to pre-Covid levels. KEXP has given up most of its gains from a year ago though a 3.1 still would have been a record two years ago, and KNWN is back to where it was typically back then. This book does feel like somewhat of a pattern shift.
 
I think KBKS shifting to Hot AC probably did it even more than KYNW did since KYNW wasn't full market. I think Click 98.9 probably would have stayed if 102.9 NOW never existed and 106.1 stayed Top 40 but who knows as any tweaks could affect ratings. However, I don't think KBKS flipping to Hot AC is solely the reason why as the station had struggled before that happened. Now, Star 101.5 is the only station that is close enough to a Hot AC and KRWM and KSWD are both causing it to struggle in addition to the station making bad programming decisions.
 
KISW, KQMV, KJEB and KZOK all remain remarkably consistent when it comes to music stations. Each retains long-time, local, strong morning show talent, which seems to help them stay consistent beyond the music cycles. Local strong morning talent have always been a hallmark of good Seattle brands. The News/Talk stations are way down year to year, especially 25-54. KNWN is even way down 6+? Not sure what is driving that. Covid fatigue? KPNW, KPLZ, KJR-FM and KNDD continue to struggle after making format adjustments over the last 18 months. Harder than ever for a new station/talent/format to cut through with so many more choices in the audio space. You don't necessarily need ratings to drive profits, but a look at Seattle radio revenue figures reveals it still helps.
 
MOViN 92.5 has been successful for many years even though I don't like most of the songs they play today. KJEB and KZOK are successful since older music is popular in Seattle. I like KJEB a lot better than KZOK since they don't play a lot of the heavier rock that KZOK plays that I don't like. I like some of the songs KZOK plays though. I don't personally like KISW whatsoever. KPLZ, KNDD, and KPNW play some music that I like, but I don't listen to KPNW. I
 
guruofradio said:
KISW, KQMV, KJEB and KZOK all remain remarkably consistent when it comes to music stations. Each retains long-time, local, strong morning show talent, which seems to help them stay consistent beyond the music cycles. Local strong morning talent have always been a hallmark of good Seattle brands. The News/Talk stations are way down year to year, especially 25-54. KNWN is even way down 6+? Not sure what is driving that. Covid fatigue? KPNW, KPLZ, KJR-FM and KNDD continue to struggle after making format adjustments over the last 18 months. Harder than ever for a new station/talent/format to cut through with so many more choices in the audio space. You don't necessarily need ratings to drive profits, but a look at Seattle radio revenue figures reveals it still helps.
Click to expand...
KPLZ is definitely struggling. Maybe adding some 80s music back to their playlist will help them get traction while still retaining its Hot AC sound.
 
JackindaBox said:
KPLZ is definitely struggling. Maybe adding some 80s music back to their playlist will help them get traction while still retaining its Hot AC sound.
Click to expand...
Or maybe some actual promotion outside of their signal?
Especially since there are so many stations in the Seattle area, I'm not sure how one promotes the station by just adding forty-year-old music. Besides, that means the target demo would shift outside the desired 18-34F for a HotAC station. Throwing in a bunch of unresearched oldies in the hope of driving sampling doesn't work.
 
Hot AC does not target F18-34, at least not as the primary target.

That being said, most Hot AC programmers consider music from the 80s to be out of scope for that format. Once you start playing 80s (other than on rare occasion), you're basically something other than a Hot AC at that point.
 
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MarkW said:
Hot AC does not target F18-34, at least not as the primary target.

That being said, most Hot AC programmers consider music from the 80s to be out of scope for that format. Once you start playing 80s (other than on rare occasion), you're basically something other than a Hot AC at that point.
Click to expand...
Okay technically 18-49F, but even you agree that adding a bunch of 80's oldies are still missing the demo target?
 
Depends what the listeners in the local market prefer. There are plenty of Mainstream AC stations where 80s titles form a significant percentage of the playlist and where age 18 to 49 and even 18 to 34 AQH share is strong.

A station that plays 80s music on a regular basis can no longer honestly call itself Hot AC, so from that standpoint, I think we agree. At that point, the station would fall into the straight AC camp, or at a minimum, would be deemed a hybrid of sorts. (Some would argue 90s are even too old for a station to be able to honestly call itself a Hot AC. The funny thing is, some CHR reporters are even playing some 90s gold these days. The lines are definitely blurring!)

B98.5 in Atlanta is an example of a station that doesn't fit neatly into a format box. For the past decade plus, most of the time I've considered their music formula to be "barely short of Hot AC."

There are a lot of vintage AC artists that B98.5 seldom if ever touches that many large and major market ACs happily play, and there are gold titles and recurrents on 98.5 that Hot AC embraced but where many straight ACs are squeamish.
 
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JackindaBox said:
I think KBKS shifting to Hot AC probably did it even more than KYNW did since KYNW wasn't full market. I think Click 98.9 probably would have stayed if 102.9 NOW never existed and 106.1 stayed Top 40 but who knows as any tweaks could affect ratings. However, I don't think KBKS flipping to Hot AC is solely the reason why as the station had struggled before that happened. Now, Star 101.5 is the only station that is close enough to a Hot AC and KRWM and KSWD are both causing it to struggle in addition to the station making bad programming decisions.
Click to expand...
KYNW had nothing to do with the flip at 98.9, as 102.9 had gone Alternative by the time that flipped.
 
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