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Latest Ratings

Andy Travis said:
This is all highly speculative. KUOW isn't going commercial and can't simply expand their spot breaks the way KIRO-FM can. The clocks for their anchor programs in drive time are tight and don't allow for adding many extra units.

This bizarre notion that somehow they can just convert to a commercial station and maintain the product that they have, simply with advertising, isn't how non-commercial broadcasting works. To the extent KUOW gets assistance from the CPB, they have to justify it through their performance and documentation. They earn it. This was the system set up by a conservative president to fulfill the mission of public broadcasting and not simply hand them "subsidies."
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They are on the commercial band so I would think they are able to convert to a commercial station. Could they maintain the programming they have? My understanding (and you may know more in this area for sure) is that they 'buy' the programming from NPR (to help fund it). Whether NPR would continue to allow a commercial station to do that if they ran more traditional ads would certainly be a change from the way it is being done now.

Here's what I do know as a long time media buyer: KUOW (and other NPR stations) do not get the share of ad dollars their audience ratings justify - simply because they are so 'restrictive' on what advertisers (sponsors) can say. Loosening the requirements to make it more 'advertiser friendly' even a little, would result in more ad (sponsorship) $$ coming their way. This would go a long way towards any funding deficit they incur due to the clawing back of funds. I know it's not the political story they want to tell, but in the end, they'd be healthier, self sufficient and not at the whim of politicians. The money is there to support it, the rules just need to change to level the playing field.
 
KilowattKat said:
Now that Trip Reeb is no longer Hubbard Seattle market manager, we might see some changes in the cluster. The whole KPNW debacle may have been the reason for the change in leadership.
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I would venture that he left precisely because everything is running smoothly in that cluster right now.
 
I take your point that KUOW isn't getting its "share" of dollars tracking with ratings.

The problem is, an attempt to convert to commercial status (setting aside the technicalities and if NPR would even continue to provide them programming) would raise the ire of competitors who couldn't then bid for the 94.9 frequency and would claim it was unfair.

Which goes back to why the system was set up how it was. Regardless of what's "politically expedient" for KUOW, the system was set up so noncommercial stations could raise funds in an accountable way that also was seen as agreeable to the commercial sector or at least, the least offensive.

Undoing that would not be something a lot of commercial broadcasters would support if it didn't give them a crack at that signal. They're selling stations to non profit religious broadcasters in part because there's too many signals or they don't want to sell it to a competitor that's going for the same ad dollars.
 
KilowattKat said:
Now that Trip Reeb is no longer Hubbard Seattle market manager, we might see some changes in the cluster. The whole KPNW debacle may have been the reason for the change in leadership.
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I don't see anything happening with KKNW or KIXI yet. KKNW is still profitable for a fully brokered station. KIXI has a hilarious little niche playing a lot of yacht rock lately, plus they're carrying some sports programming.
 
Andy Travis said:
I take your point that KUOW isn't getting its "share" of dollars tracking with ratings.

The problem is, an attempt to convert to commercial status (setting aside the technicalities and if NPR would even continue to provide them programming) would raise the ire of competitors who couldn't then bid for the 94.9 frequency and would claim it was unfair.

Which goes back to why the system was set up how it was. Regardless of what's "politically expedient" for KUOW, the system was set up so noncommercial stations could raise funds in an accountable way that also was seen as agreeable to the commercial sector or at least, the least offensive.

Undoing that would not be something a lot of commercial broadcasters would support if it didn't give them a crack at that signal. They're selling stations to non profit religious broadcasters in part because there's too many signals or they don't want to sell it to a competitor that's going for the same ad dollars.
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I don't see any buyers for 94.9 unless Bustos Media wants to expand more into Seattle or Lotus wants to permanently move KNWN to FM, and even then it's a long shot unless UW is really strapped for cash.
 
ZooMan7777 said:
I don't see any buyers for 94.9 unless Bustos Media wants to expand more into Seattle or Lotus wants to permanently move KNWN to FM, and even then it's a long shot unless UW is really strapped for cash.
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KUOW would be tough to sell anyway. First, it's inextricably linked to the UW in the minds of the Huskies listening. So public reaction and goodwill to the UW won't be good. Second, it's indirect promotional value to the UW is big.

And most of all, KUOW is popular because it fills the in-depth gaps in stories KIRO/KNWN can't because of time constraints.

Push would really have to come to shove before KUOW goes on the market.
 
ZooMan7777 said:
I don't see anything happening with KKNW or KIXI yet. KKNW is still profitable for a fully brokered station. KIXI has a hilarious little niche playing a lot of yacht rock lately, plus they're carrying some sports programming.
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The Yacht Rock thing makes me think KIXI should call itself "KIXI Light" (it's former FM, "95.7 KIXI Light" was one of the most Yacht Rock heavy stations in Seattle in the early 1980s.)
 
ZooMan7777 said:
I don't see anything happening with KKNW or KIXI yet. KKNW is still profitable for a fully brokered station. KIXI has a hilarious little niche playing a lot of yacht rock lately, plus they're carrying some sports programming.
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I don't see any changes happening with the AM's. The 4 hours daily of brokered talk and home games of the Tacoma Rainiers seem to bring in enough revenue to keep KIXI afloat.

When you heard the Yacht rock on KIXI, was it on a Saturday between 5-7pm? Seth Thompson does a Yacht rock music program called 'Saturday Night Sound Waves'. It comes on after the Beatles hour. Otherwise it's the same wide ranging mix of mostly 50's through 70''s Oldies.
 
Bongwater said:
The Yacht Rock thing makes me think KIXI should call itself "KIXI Light" (it's former FM, "95.7 KIXI Light" was one of the most Yacht Rock heavy stations in Seattle in the early 1980s.)
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One thing you can guarantee about KIXI...When the older music that the big stations decide to stop playing, those songs will always end up on KIXI. Right now they are playing 'St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)' by John Parr, followed by 'California Dreamin'.
 
Right now they are playing 'St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)' by John Parr, followed by 'California Dreamin'.

Two songs separated by 20 years and two different generations. Just a few years ago, KIXI was all about Frank, Dino and Sammy. I might have to add the 106.9 HD channel for KIXI to my car radio for this Gen X'er.
 
The KIXI audience is small, but very loyal to the station For a long time they have been very steady at 0.1 share, with a cume of between 27k and 30k. The programming has been very consistent for the last couple of years, and the Oldies listeners know what time to tune in for the music.They even have a couple of local DJ's, that may not be voice tracked, as they give real time traffic updates during their shows.
 
DMK said:
Right now they are playing 'St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)' by John Parr, followed by 'California Dreamin'.

Two songs separated by 20 years and two different generations. Just a few years ago, KIXI was all about Frank, Dino and Sammy. I might have to add the 106.9 HD channel for KIXI to my car radio for this Gen X'er.
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I was 10 in 1965, 30 in 1985, listening to CHR/Top 40 radio both years. I don't consider that unusual at all.
 
CTListener said:
I was 10 in 1965, 30 in 1985, listening to CHR/Top 40 radio both years. I don't consider that unusual at all.
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Even as someone born in the 90’s, that music mix is perfectly fine by me. I enjoy 60’s and 70’s classic hits from time to time (though I normally prefer 80’s classic hits on 95.7).

If anything, KIXI has actually become a bit more appealing recently, since they are playing many songs that I’d like to hear (but won’t hear on 95.7). California Dreamin’ is just too old and out of scope for them. That’s not a problem, since I enjoy the laser focus on the 80’s (but it’s nice to hear some older stuff once in a while). The big band music they used to play really never interested me that much. I appreciate older music, but it wasn’t really my thing. I’d rather just hear some 60’s and 70’s classic hits that don’t get any attention on the major stations.
 
6+ is meaningless. 25-54 Seattle remains a very rock market with KISW, KNDD and KEXP ranking 1,2,3 in June. Movin, KBKS and KUOW round out the top five with a couple ties in there. KJEB, KZOK, KIRO have big 6+ numbers but mostly older and not really a factor 25-54. Same goes for KPLZ, which is very old compared to KEWF and KPNW which are both middle of the pak 25-54. Only odd thing about the recent books to me is the strength of KRWM 18-34 battling with KNDD for the top spot. KRWM delivering big numbers 18-24 but not 25-54? Seems a bit strange but that is Nielsen. PUMM is up across the country year to year, but not due to increased listening just a change to the 3 minute methodology. Again, Seattle is a remarkably consistent market in core demos. Doubt you will see any format changes soon.
 
Just a guess but it is harder today to launch a new radio/audio brand today with all the competition in the audio spectrum. Established heritage brands like KISW, KUOW, KEXP, THE END, MOVIN, KRWM and others tend to consistently perform 25-54. KSWD as Emma is doing no better than The Sound, KPLZ as Hank no better than STAR, KPNW did no better as a AAA. You can argue they are actually worse than the original established format on the frequency in core demos, which is why 98.9 went back to country. Probably the reason that complete format flips are rare, whereas 20 years ago (prior to streaming/podcasts) it was common to see a couple a year. A better choice is probably to improve/market the heritage brand you already have.
 
Someone should be taking on KISW. I'm still surprised KPLZ went country, they could have rebranded back to Z101.5 and went a more rock-focused CHR to flank both Movin and KISW. They were doing that prior to their flip to Star 101.5 while KUBE went full CHUrban at the time.

I see some playlist tweaks but no full format flip. My hunch is KPNW adjusts their playlist adding some classic country hits to flank Hank and take more of their share.
 


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