insidethenumbers said:
So you are saying that every station in the market is as big of a competitor to KMLE as KNIX or to KTAR as KFYI? That’s insane. The first line of radio competition is a direct format competitor,
No, it's not. At least in PPM it's not. What we seem to be seeing is that most listeners over 25 make a choice within a format, either KFYI or KTAR and either KMLE or KNIX and that becomes the default choice for each of those formats. Then they make a default choice for other moods/needs and so on. If you compare the sharing of KMLE and KNIX among each other, vs. the percent of the cume of each that listens to all other stations, I'm sure you will find that the double country sharing is far less.
Same with news/talk.
and KOOL has enjoyed the luxury of not having a direct competitor for years.
I don't often find a person who only likes one format unless they are around 18 years old. Adults tend to have multiple mood/occasion/situation choices, and they are most often found to be formats with rather limited playlist overlap.
Country and AC tend to be the biggest cume sharers with gold/oldies/classic hits. There are quite a few geographic and ethnic considerations nationally, but KOOL certainly has strong direct competitors in Phoenix.
No direct competition is a big reason for their standing, not their programming or air talent, which in all reality is not anything above average.
There you go again. Every station in the market competes with KOOL. The direct competitors in 25-54 are stations like Mix, The Peak, KDKB, KESZ, KZZP, KMLE and KNIX.
And with KMLE, the sharers tend to be stations like Mix, KUPD, The Peak, KOOL, KSLX and, of course, KNIX.
Back in the diary (I have no PPM access) KTAR-FM's sharing was as much or more with KUPD, KZZP, KESZ, KOOL, KDKB, KMLE and even KTAR AM as it was with KFYI in the sales demos.