You missed my point. The questions were rhetorical. Of course you don't own or run a rental fleet (unless your last name happens to be Hertz or Avis). If you did, the vehicles would have been sold (to a sucker like me) or cycled back to the manufacturer's fleet sales division way before hitting that eight-year point hit when you needed to begin smogging it.
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560
- Thread starter K108 Sacramento
- Start date
I'm impressed my post has a thread that has lasted so long. I appreciate all of you that have kept me reading for what is now the 40th page. I'm loving this and you are all so good at bringing such great memories and interesting conversations of many other topics. This thread should be renamed the 560 Lounge free for all. I like that idea. Problem is we, all of us are all becoming relics of radios past lives am or fm. Oh and the last to leave please turn out the light. For me I hope to stay at least twenty more years. God willing and the creeks don't rise, Amen. Thank you all indeed.
The December numbers extend the streak. From an 0.8 to an 0.7.
San Francisco
Nielsen Audio PPM Monthly Ratings San Francisco (Market #6) Population: 6,600,600 Black: 430,500 – Hispanic: 1,605,200 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...
radioinsight.com
I'm sure the demos of that trend would be even more peachy, if we could ever get a peek at the numbers. I'd wager on 75%+ being 75+, right in the coronary of that advertiser-friendly Nursing Home demo.The December numbers extend the streak. From an 0.8 to an 0.7.
San Francisco
Nielsen Audio PPM Monthly Ratings San Francisco (Market #6) Population: 6,600,600 Black: 430,500 – Hispanic: 1,605,200 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...
In reference to post #783, to add insult, the cume of KSFO in the whole Bay Area is measured below what KSTE AM 650 gets in the smaller Sacramento market.The December numbers extend the streak. From an 0.8 to an 0.7.
San Francisco
Nielsen Audio PPM Monthly Ratings San Francisco (Market #6) Population: 6,600,600 Black: 430,500 – Hispanic: 1,605,200 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...
I'm still trying to reconcile David's statement and those of research companies, that AM radio is getting about 30 percent of all AM/FM radio listening. In order for that to happen, KCBS's 740 signal has a large audience.
The numbers just don't add up.
100,000 cume on 6,000,000 people?
.7 share?
KNBR and KCBS cannot make up the difference.
Are all of the non subscribing ethnic stations getting any numbers
KSRO in Santa Rosa is within 0.2 of KSFO in share, and KSRO does it with a little less than a third of KSFO's cume.
I think that 30% figure is probably nationwide and AM listening in significantly lower in San Francisco.
Also, Mike's original point was that KSFO, even with its pathetic 0.7 share, still gets the most listeners of any non-simulcast AM station in the market. Since both KCBS and KNBR are simulcast, and since their listeners have predominantly shifted to the FM side of the simulcast, they don't count.
I was thinking I'd read something some time ago that the Bay Area was relatively high in AM listening due to the terrain and FM multipath.
That did used to be true, but since there's seemingly a router hiding in every closet out here, it hasn't been for a long while.
That ended about 40 years ago. The advent of phase lock loop FM radios (especially in cars) made a huge difference.
In 1978, seven of the top ten stations in San Francisco were AM.
1. KFRC-AM (Top 40): 8.4
2. KGO-AM (Talk): 7.6
3. KSFO-AM (A/C): 6.5
4. KCBS-AM (News): 5.8
5. KFOG-FM (Beautiful): 4.4
6. KIOI-FM (A/C): 3.9
7. KABL-AM (Beautiful): 3.5
8. KSFX-FM (Disco): 3.4
9. KNBR-AM (A/C): 3.3
10. KDIA-AM (R&B): 3.2
By 1985, it was four of the top ten.
1. KGO-AM (Talk): 8.8
2. KCBS-AM (News): 5.3
3. KYUU-FM (some called it A/C, some called it CHR): 4.1
4. KIOI-FM (same as KYUU---if these were A/C, they were very hot A/Cs): 3.5
5. KSOL-FM (R&B): 3.4
6. KABL-FM (Beautiful): 3.3
7. KSAN-FM (Country): 3.2
8. KFRC-AM (CHR): 3.1
9. KNBR-AM (A/C): 2.8
10. KFOG-FM (AOR): 2.7
10. KRQR-FM (AOR): 2.7
Of those, KFRC-AM fell below a 1 share in the mid-90s (it was simulcast on 99.7, which did quite well), and by 2005 was expendable when CBS needed to dump a Northern California signal to buy KOVR-TV in Sacramento, KCBS began simulcasting on FM in 2008 and KNBR in 2019. Because they use single-line reporting, we don't know what percentage of those two station's audiences are still listening to the AM, but the belief is that it's well below half.
Regarding KZAC: March 4...or is it March 3?...2026 is the date of destiny. In August 2025, Cumulus told the FCC that it was "in the process of selling the station" and that it was "negotiating a purchase contract". It's very odd that negotiations would take this long, if this is indeed the case. Cumulus' siutation is best described through this phrase: "here's the check, write in the number you want".
As for KSFO, the only way it has a future is with an economic model that doesn't depend upon advertisers seeking to reach a general audience. If nothing happens with KZAC and it goes permanently silent, that may be an indication of KSFO's future as well.
As for KSFO, the only way it has a future is with an economic model that doesn't depend upon advertisers seeking to reach a general audience. If nothing happens with KZAC and it goes permanently silent, that may be an indication of KSFO's future as well.
I don't think I read it 40 years ago, but that feels like yesterday at this point...
Interesting that there were 2 "rock" stations in the top 10 in '85, but none (except if you count KFRC) in 1978.
AOR had a moment in the early-mid 80s, and KFOG and KRQR were very good, very listenable radio stations. In '78, the only game in town was KSAN, which was always too eclectic to consistently draw a mass audience. KOME and KSJO were also there, but they were San Jose stations and subject to the reception issues that didn't get addressed until a few years later.
I think, if we live long enough (say, 15-20 more years), we'll see most of San Francisco's AM stations go dark. And probably half of them in the next 7-10 years.
I might add that AM worked way back then due to the hill. But, due this market’s population being more sophisticated and tech savvy, AM and terrestrial radio in general is going down the tubes here probably faster than in most places.
I was specifically referring to cume.
On average, AM stations have a cume reach of between 20% and 30% of the adult population. Of course, in many markets this figure is due to AM coverage of sports with no FM simulcast. It only takes a couple of people listening for a quarter hour a week to increase cume.
As more and more AMs simulcast with an FM, the use of AM is likely minimal, but we don't get those breakouts.
Yes, they are. But even the subscribers don't get data unless the station has a 0.1 rating or above.
And the national figure is falling quite rapidly due to a number of factors.
- AM stations that do talk have less and less local talent and are declining.
- AMs that are successful add an FM simulcast, taking most of the listeners to the better sounding band.
- Companies are making less and less money, and budget cutting on talk and news stations is rapidly noticed by listeners... who listen less.
- Every year, there are fewer people in the older demos who don't find AM objectionable.
As someone who's heard of the situation from afar, here's my two cents on what formats are likely for KSFO and KZAC.
- KSFO's conservative talk format doesn't seem like it'll live much longer given the lower rating, so A) back to straight news/talk or B) a set-it-and-forget-it satellite-fed format (like the national Westwood One Sports lineup)
- KZAC - I dunno, Cumulus will probably either A) sell it to a Jesuscaster or a Spanish broadcaster or B) turn in the license
A) There's no such thing as "straight news talk" in 2026, at least not on the syndicated market. With the exception of a few weekend shows which may focus on cars or cigars or home repair, it is all conservative talk.
B) What KSFO is doing is essentially set-it-and-forget-it. Managing the Cal Bears schedule and various brokered shows takes *some* work week-to-week, but not much. Cumulus has several conservative talk stations like KSFO with limited to no local content, including WLS in Chicago.
A friendly reminder that we will know the fate of KZAC in less than two months.
As a project manager I knew used to say, "the clock is ticking faster!"
(there's a reason I put that in quotes)
As a project manager I knew used to say, "the clock is ticking faster!"
(there's a reason I put that in quotes)