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A Classical Station is #3 in Phoenix?

G

Gregg.

In the Holiday 2024 ratings, 89.5 KBAQ was in third place. KESZ 99.9 had its giant holiday ratings in first place, followed by Classic Rock KSLX 100.7 and then KBAQ. I'm not sure I've seen a classical station rated this high in a large market in recent years.

I'd guess the holidays have something to do with KBAQ's ratings success. In the December ratings, it was #11. But during the holidays, it plays a lot of classical Christmas music, so maybe that was a factor?

About 10 years ago, I remember WDAV, a classical station owned by Davidson College, went to #1 briefly in Charlotte. I'm not sure how that happened since it's #18 in the recent December ratings.
 
That is interesting. Like WDAV, it's likely a fluke, sadly. Classical Christmas Music is likely a factor. Another thing I'd like to see is where KBAQ and WDAV were following the last presidential election. Where I am in Texas there was huge fatigue among listeners. They didn't want to hear nor read anything political and still are a bit fatigued. Given classical listeners think of their station as an oasis on the radio dial/online, this might be their retreat for a breather.
 
Classical music has been having a moment in the last few months, with outlets in Detroit, LA, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC reaching recent or all-time records in the last couple of months. Perhaps people are finding the music to be an escape outlet.
 
Welcome to the Upper Connecticut River Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire, where 100 percent classical WNCH Norwich, VT, is consistently among the top four stations, with shares mostly in the 4s. No Morning Edition, no All Things Considered, just classical music in all day parts.
radioinsight.com

Lebanon/Hanover/White River Junction

radioinsight.com radioinsight.com
 
We saw a similar situation in the first few months of the pandemic, when radio listening during drive time was way down. Keep in mind these ratings are SHARE of market numbers. So it's possible that classical listening has remained the same, while listening to other stations went down. If you look at the cume number on the right, it is much lower than other stations in the Top 5.

radioinsight.com

Phoenix

Nielsen Audio PPM Monthly Ratings Phoenix (Market #13) Population: 4,012,200 Black: 285,500 – Hispanic: 1,207,400 Average Quarter Hour Share for Persons 6+, Mon-Sun 6AM-Mid All ratings are Copyright © 2005-2024 The Nielsen Company. All rights reserved. Nielsen radio audience estimates and data...
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com
 
It would be great if they could play *contemporary* classical - not just a limited selection of the same "de-composers" on constant rotation. MIT's WMBR has excellent contemporary classical coverage, for example. And WNCH, as CTListener points out. So, yes - it's a good station - but woefully inadequate for a town this size. Still, good news is good news and gift horse and all that.
 
Classical music is a huge part of Christmas. Everything from Handel's Messiah to The Nutcracker and a wide variety of familiar Christmas fare is featured on classical music stations during the holiday season. That kind of programming can get you in the spirit just as much as Mariah Carey and Brenda Lee on the pop-AC stations so it's no wonder Classical music outlets perform so well in the Holiday ratings.
 
Huff said:
Classical music has been having a moment in the last few months, with outlets in Detroit, LA, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC reaching recent or all-time records in the last couple of months. Perhaps people are finding the music to be an escape outlet.
Click to expand...
I both managed a classical station (Richmond, VA) and owned one (HCTT 95.7 in Quito, Ecuador).

In VA, I was "holding" the format until community groups could be assuaged in order to switch to Beautiful Music. But in Ecuador, it was kind of a hobby of passion. My father had been a founder of the Cleveland Symphony and the family always had a collection of classical albums.

Each day I would pick the pieces to be played. The budget did not permit announcers, but we had a recorded liner that said "if you want to know the name of what we are playing, call us..." What was particularly fun is that this was only the second independent FM in the country (my 3 AMs in Quito all had FM STL frequencies).

As has been said before, it's the original oldies format.
 
indieradioguy said:
It would be great if they could play *contemporary* classical - not just a limited selection of the same "de-composers" on constant rotation. MIT's WMBR has excellent contemporary classical coverage, for example. And WNCH, as CTListener points out. So, yes - it's a good station - but woefully inadequate for a town this size. Still, good news is good news and gift horse and all that.
Click to expand...
Having owned a classical station, I can tell you that.... at least back then... playing anything from later than 1920 was a total kiss of death and resulted in an amazing number of complaint calls for a station with a very limited audience.
 
Classical music can be enjoyed by a wide variety of people. But it needs to be presented in the right way. If you have a moment, go over to youtube and watch an Andre Rieu concert. Thousands of people having the time of their life. Not a single frown to be found.
 
The Classical stations that seem to do well pretty much stay with the 'top 40' if you will, playing all the universally known works by composers you've heard of. The serious classical listener wants a certain amount of 'discovery' such as hearing the composers we might call the farm team if the most popular composers are the majors. There seems to be less emphasis on playing the entire work but rather a movement.
 
KilowattKat said:
What is the average age of a Classical music listener? I assume most are older than the 25-54 demographic.
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Depending on which survey/research you look at, the median classical listener is somewhere between age 60 and 65, and more than 90% are white.

The good news is, it seems like the classical audience has stopped getting older. When I hosted classical music circa 2010, the audience was believed to be around 63 years old at the median, and rising from about 59 in 2006. If it had kept rising at that pace, classical would have a median audience older than US life expectancy by now.

BTW, classical KDFC in San Francisco apparently also had a record-high share in the just released ratings.
 
KilowattKat said:
What is the average age of a Classical music listener? I assume most are older than the 25-54 demographic.
Click to expand...
I imagine it's quite old. But age doesn't matter with listener-supported non-commercial stations. If you're selling ad time, you want listeners who are young enough to be influenced by the commercials they hear. They haven't already decided what brand of coffee or toothpaste they like best.

As you get older, commercials don't have as much an affect because you're a more savvy consumer and have already figured out what products you like. But for listener-supported stations, older folks who are empty-nesters probably have more money to donate to public radio.

I think WFMT Chicago is the only commercial classical station left. The second-to-last, WRR Dallas, switched to listener-supported in 2023.
 
BTW, today the Portland OR ratings were released. That market also has a classical station at #3, KQAC. It moved up from #6 in December.

Phoenix is not unique. Although classical being #3 in a Sunbelt market is more astonishing. Houston, Atlanta, San Diego and Miami have no classical stations.
 
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