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Austin July Ratings

R

Ryan Williams

A few thoughts from the ratings release this week:

- Bob leads the pack with the strongest numbers in the last six months.

- KUT is a very strong number two and the cume is nearly three times that of the next spoken-word format, KLBJ-AM.

- Austin is one of the best markets for adult hits. Even Jack on a translator gets a very large cume that outpaces many full-power signals.

- Vibe is back in the 1s. Seems inevitable the format wheel will spin again soon and eventually probably land on KLBJ. My guess is that being on a full powered FM would likely increase KLBJ's cume 30-40%.

- I don't understand why Norsan continues the trimulcast of La Raza on 1530, 95.1, and 104.9. 95.1 and 104.9 have way too much signal overlap. This release seems to indicate most of the listening is on 104.9. Maybe leased 95.1 is eventually going somewhere else?

- Waterloo's Spanish CHR Latino 97.1 is very steady. Probably makes sense as a combo sale with La Z, but I sure wish KGSR was still on analog.

- The combined sports shares are perhaps the lowest I can remember. The Zone didn't even reach the 0.1 threshold and ESPN 102.7 is also down. I guess it is the summer slump, but ouch. The Zone is getting beat out by KUT's HD-2 simulcast of BBC World Service. Makes me long for the good ole days of The Horn, which had a number of very decent local shows
 
Andy Travis said:
Is there 40 percent more audience in Austin for what KLBJ (AM) does? I don't see that as a growth format.
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Come on... It's 2025 and we are talking about broadcast radio. I'm not sure there is much in our orbits that could really be considered a "growth format".

Regardless 590 is a sturdy station that has been near the top for decades. It's mostly been in the top 3 to 5 for billing year in and year.

This is in Austin which is one of the most heavily FM markets in the top 50. If you subtract 590 there is very little AM listening whatsoever. Most of the other AMs that have any numbers (Jack and Sun) are because of the FM translators.

590's translator is okay, but it's still just 250 watts in a five county market. 99.7 has a lot of deficiencies in Williamson, Bastrop, and Hays counties and non-car listening in Travis too.

Triangulating political and population maps in the Austin market and comparing numbers across similarly-sized markets with relatively similar demographics is how I came to the 30-40% estimate. The AQH shares would definitely get a boost too.
 
Ryan Williams said:
This is in Austin which is one of the most heavily FM markets in the top 50. If you subtract 590 there is very little AM listening whatsoever. Most of the other AMs that have any numbers (Jack and Sun) are because of the FM translators.
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You could turn in the license for every AM station in Austin, and with the exception of KLBJ 590, nobody would notice.
Ryan Williams said:
590's translator is okay, but it's still just 250 watts in a five county market. 99.7 has a lot of deficiencies in Williamson, Bastrop, and Hays counties and non-car listening in Travis too.
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Any word on construction of the new 590 transmitter facility? Nothing there when I last visited Austin in early May. Construction Permit expires November 30.
 
Perhaps my opinion is prejudiced because of some strong feelings about how that cluster post Emmis has handled an uncountable number of situations, but I'm just skeptical that putting what's on 590 on FM buys them that much more time.

There may be an advertiser case for it, and if so, well then so be it. But it's Austin. Are there really that many more listeners who'd suddenly flip to 93.3 in the burbs who don't already stream 590 everywhere and need another signal for it? It wouldn't be my first choice (and that's taste aside, I'm speaking from a business standpoint.)
 


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