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Jan 2026 Ratings

And KCMS/KBIQ was spinning songs like Rich Mullins' "Awesome God", Amy Grant "Sing Your Praise to the Lord", and a bunch of hymns back then. This is not your grandparents' Christian radio. It's super-upbeat, pop and rock sound, even some rhythmic (i.e. Forrest Frank). "Your Way's Better" 55 million YouTube views and a whole generation learning the dance moves. Lots of teens and young adults are starting to attend church, pray, and read the Bible.
6+ ratings show CCM in the top 5 in several other markets (including Democratic-leaning markets). I'd like to see the 25-54s as well.
 
bobdavcav said:
The problem with Star at the end was that Lotus completely changed everything about the station when they took over. Had I turned it on just before they went Christmas in 2021, I would have recognized it as the station I listened to for 10 years. Just six weeks later the thing was unrecognizable.
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Definitely agree on the “unrecognizable” part. Their playlist was…so unfocused, I couldn’t listen to it for long periods. And I’m somewhat in the demo for Hot AC. (While I like variety, it has to be focused, especially on a commercial station. You’ll have a mess otherwise.)
 
crainbebo said:
"Your Way's Better" 55 million YouTube views and a whole generation learning the dance moves.
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Just keep in mind that 55 million views on YouTube does not compare with the almost 9 billion views for that Luis Fonsi / Daddy Yankee song... or even more for the dreaded Baby Shark.


There are around 400 songs that have gotten over a billion views. I can't even find an estimate of those that have reached 100 million. Heck, I have seen YouTube videos about Windows installation with millions of views.

This is just to put perspective on the subject. I do agree that it is evident that there is a surge in church attendance, prayer and bible study. Even in California I see everything from "new" services in parks to faith-based merchandise in stores!
 
ksradiogeek said:
Definitely agree on the “unrecognizable” part. Their playlist was…so unfocused, I couldn’t listen to it for long periods. And I’m somewhat in the demo for Hot AC. (While I like variety, it has to be focused, especially on a commercial station. You’ll have a mess otherwise.)
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I think there could have been more of a market for KPLZ as a Hot AC station if they tried to correct some of their issues earlier on. By the time they started to try and make some real adjustments, it was way too late. The audience had been chased off and found what they were looking for somewhere else.
 
Ugh Baby Shark. I hope there are still parents out there that play old Raffi songs for their preschoolers. He was THE BEST! Still alive and well in his 70s.
 
crainbebo said:
Ugh Baby Shark. I hope there are still parents out there that play old Raffi songs for their preschoolers. He was THE BEST! Still alive and well in his 70s.
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Indeed he’s still out there. He made some news lately with a bit of an unhinged reaction to the United States winning gold in the men’s Olympic hockey game. Maybe he meant that “banana phone” song literally.
 
bobdavcav said:
The problem with Star at the end was that Lotus completely changed everything about the station when they took over. Had I turned it on just before they went Christmas in 2021, I would have recognized it as the station I listened to for 10 years. Just six weeks later the thing was unrecognizable.
Click to expand...

MIGHT have had something to do with the "talent" they brought in to be chain P/D. One of those "your input is not welcome or necessary here" types who broke everything that didn't need fixing so he cold put his "stamp" on the station he was now running. Few months later, there really wasn't as much of a station to run.

It's not a NEW story in the business anymore by any means.
 
Seattle is, or at least was, a pretty provincial place. Once Star settled into the Hot AC niche in 1994 following its CHR days, they really became "KOMO-FM" in style if not in actual calls. Homegrown (or perceived as homegrown) talent, long lasting shows that had little turnover, and frankly somewhat safe musically. It really was personality radio, brought over from the decades of Larry Nelson et al. on the AM side- the music barely mattered. Lotus either didn't understand what folks in Seattle liked about Star, or couldn't/wouldn't afford to pay the talent necessary to continue the station as is. To LBB's point above, there might have been some arrogance to that decision- I am not in a position to judge. What I did hear was a morning show that sounded like it came out of Boise, and music that was probably more "hip" but less familiar.

Now I get it, you have to adapt and maybe some changes were needed. But Star under Lotus sounded extremely generic and extremely NOT Seattle. 106.9 "got" it. Heck, even KAFE up in Bellingham and Mix96 down in Oly sounded more professional and more tied to their market and audience towards the end than Star.

LBB probably knows more than he/she wants to let on, but I think we all have worked for those types of program directors. Either in radio or civilain life. "Nuff said.
 
Star used to be an at-work alternative to Warm...an upbeat one, when Warm was the sappy station. 101.5 is where I first heard John Tesh's radio show. He aired weeknights 7-midnight (opposite to Delilah up on 106.9). Kent & Alan was a well-loved morning show for many years. Then he would go from the microphone to the TV camera to do Northwest Afternoon on KOMO with Elisa Jaffe and Cindi Rinehart. Plenty of cross-promotion. Went down the tubes after Kent & Alan left (it sat in the dustbin of the PPM with a 1.7, 1.9, 1.8, etc.)
 
LITTLEBOYBLUE said:
MIGHT have had something to do with the "talent" they brought in to be chain P/D. One of those "your input is not welcome or necessary here" types who broke everything that didn't need fixing so he cold put his "stamp" on the station he was now running. Few months later, there really wasn't as much of a station to run.

It's not a NEW story in the business anymore by any means.
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It's my understanding that Lotus brought in Lisa Adams to program the station, and she doesn't have a good track record in Seattle. I think she was first hired at Mix 92.5, that brand lasted just over 4 years. I'm not exactly sure when she was hired. Then she was hired at Click, I can't remember if that was when Maynard left or before that. Again, under her, station lasted 3-4 years. I think she lasted barely 2 at Star before they brought in someone new, but by then it was too late.
 
bobdavcav said:
It's my understanding that Lotus brought in Lisa Adams to program the station, and she doesn't have a good track record in Seattle. I think she was first hired at Mix 92.5, that brand lasted just over 4 years. I'm not exactly sure when she was hired. Then she was hired at Click, I can't remember if that was when Maynard left or before that. Again, under her, station lasted 3-4 years. I think she lasted barely 2 at Star before they brought in someone new, but by then it was too late.
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Lisa did have quite the resume of station stops.

She has previously programmed multiple stations in Seattle with stints leading Rhythmic AC “Movin 92.5” KQMV, 1980s Hits “96.5 The Point” KYPT, Modern AC “Click 98.9” KLCK, and Country “98.9 The Bull” KNUC. She has also served as Operations Manager for Townsquare Media Boise, PD/morning host at Cumulus Soft AC “Magic 97.9” KQFC Boise, and programmed 107.5 Portland under multiple formats.
 
KPLZ could've gone back to a CHR or a rock leaning station, but decided to go Country even though this market doesn't need a third country station. Either 98.9 or 101.5 falls later this year. The PD at KPLZ is good guy, I wonder if he's also consulting for the Hank format.
 
I am surprised that Hank even has a PD. It is a jukebox format, sort of a country version of Jack. No shows, a few contests, and pre-packaged content from the syndicator. Super low cost format, so even if it only bills so-so they are miles ahead of a labor intenisve format. Can;t see them moving off of Classic Country any time soon.

Meanwhile 98.9 spent a lot of energy to go triple A for next to no results. Ran back to the original format pretty quickly. Would they likely spin the format wheel again? Have my doubts.

Format changes are costly. Does anybody have the money necessary to execute a change? And if so, to what?
 
The New Chico said:
I am surprised that Hank even has a PD. It is a jukebox format, sort of a country version of Jack. No shows, a few contests, and pre-packaged content from the syndicator. Super low cost format, so even if it only bills so-so they are miles ahead of a labor intenisve format. Can;t see them moving off of Classic Country any time soon.

Meanwhile 98.9 spent a lot of energy to go triple A for next to no results. Ran back to the original format pretty quickly. Would they likely spin the format wheel again? Have my doubts.

Format changes are costly. Does anybody have the money necessary to execute a change? And if so, to what?
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I'm of the mindset that they both should stay put and do nothing. 101.5 serves a certain segment of the population who are looking for country, but more of the classic variety (which includes myself). It's a cheap format and it seems to be working decently well. 98.9 is doing a good job of resurrecting their country format from a few years ago. It hasn't been a slam dunk, but it's competing somewhat successfully against 100.7, which is exactly what they wanted to do. No need to veer off course now.
 
ZooMan7777 said:
KPLZ could've gone back to a CHR or a rock leaning station, but decided to go Country even though this market doesn't need a third country station. Either 98.9 or 101.5 falls later this year. The PD at KPLZ is good guy, I wonder if he's also consulting for the Hank format.
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It doesn't seem like CHR would have made a lot of sense, as the two existing CHRs in the market are both middle of the pack. And it's been such a long time since KPLZ was CHR that there would have been absolutely no legacy value in the format -- those of us who remember it as a CHR station in the 70s and 80s aren't in the CHR audience today.

As for rock -- I suspect that going against KISW (active rock) and KZOK (classic rock) would be suicidal.
 


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