actually - if most AM talk radio listeners lean conservative and an AM station that has a talk format element in the midst of ticker news that 1. leans left, and 2. should be performing better - you have information that repeats itself and turns into data.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
LA April Ratings - KFI Is Back to #1!
- Thread starter asugeorge1
- Start date
You're still basing this on the assumption that KNX "leans left." Also I have no reason to believe they "should be performing better." They're doing exactly what all news radio is expected to do in this kind of market.
You are trying to make a conclusion from a single piece of data in a field full of variables.
There is "new" media that has redefined radio to a great extent. There are social changes that are altering attitudes. There is the aging of AM radio audiences and the lack of interest in the band by people under 50. And there is the slow change in markets like LA, which is not close to 75% ethnic or foreign born (or both).
Then there are the audience shares of very limited signal AMs like KABC in a time when those shares are percentages of a significantly smaller number of listeners.
So making a conclusion like yours with so many other things in play is just not possible.
I think, quite honestly, you should listen to the station. The bias is fairly obvious to the average listener.
I agree with you, David/Eduardo, there are many variables, however - certain points stand out in bold relief and like I said - repeat themselves. Repetitive patterns, as you know, is how you arrive at data you can use. For the BigA, I definitely suggest you listen to the station all week and the midday show every day. You can draw your conclusions on your own.
It's quite simple to look back at "block" programs that KNX has done in the past and to see that it interrupts the format and breaks expectations of what an all news station should be.
Besides the very different atmosphere since March for news radio, which has the highest percentage of in-car listening of any format, when all news is interrupted with any kind of commentary or analysis programming it gets lower numbers.
Usually, that kind of program was done in the past by both KFWB and KNX for added revenue purposes. They sacrificed audience for guaranteed sponsors. But today, there are not a lot of stray sponsors on the street so it makes little sense to do such a show.
But in general, the changes in all-news listenership in LA are mostly due to the changing demographics and the aging of the format in general. With a market that is less than 25% non-Hispanic white and a format that has much less, if any, among other ethnic groups, it's commendable that the station has held up as well as it has.
Whether the show leans left or right is immaterial. It is out of format. I don't understand why they do it.
KNX is not an "AM Talk" station. It is a news station. The issue with a talk show is that it breaks format, not that it has a particular inclination.
David/Eduardo again I agree with you and you just made my point. KNX breaks format by having this left leaning midday show and more talk programs on the weekends - dare I say it also broke format with Jan Stevens persistent commentary that she has since stopped. It breaks format and thus it can't compete. Look at 1010 WINS in NYC - higher Hispanic demographic but the difference wouldn't skew results for the format. WINS is higher in ratings because it sticks to format.
Actually, NY is far, far less Hispanic than LA. New York MSA is 26% Hispanic, while LA is 46% in the radio metro.
All news stations in the Sunbelt do poorly or can't exist at all.
LA under-indexes compared to markets like NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia and DC. Dallas does rather poorly, and is a sort of hybrid. Atlanta and Houston failed. PHX and San Diego are not big enough, and Miami is so totally Hispanic and Black that the format has not even been tried.
So comparing NYC with LA is not possible on a number of levels, including tradition, ethnicity, lifestyle and even education and tradition.
Last edited:
I got it backwards yes I meant the other way around - was actually looking at the data when I wrote my reply. What I was saying, my point - it doesn't skew regardless.
http://www.******************/sr_ratings.aspx?market=1
http://www.******************/sr_ratings.aspx?market=3
http://www.******************/sr_ratings.aspx?market=1
http://www.******************/sr_ratings.aspx?market=3
Well, I did. I listened to the entire 5 pm hour, I can't perceive any bias from the way they reported the news so it's definitely not obvious. Either your sense of bias is very off or the bias you perceive is a single hour long program that you could easily not listen to.
KFI's also been trending down, so your logic in general is off.
If there's not at least one "Dear Leader" an hour, it's biased. /s
There's been some discussion of KNX and its ratings. Today the June 6+ numbers came out, and All Access summed it up this way:
" ENTERCOM News KNX-A had its best showing in over a year (2.9-3.9) as it jumped from #12 to #6."
The station added another 110,000 in cume, remaining the #1 non music station in LA.
" ENTERCOM News KNX-A had its best showing in over a year (2.9-3.9) as it jumped from #12 to #6."
The station added another 110,000 in cume, remaining the #1 non music station in LA.
That shows the danger of using share instead of AQH persons.
The 12+ AQH persons for KNX is exactly the same as the average of January and February.
That is, however, an achievement during this crisis period as the market AQH persons is still almost 30% below the January and February average.
So KNX has not lost listeners, while nearly every other station has. But it did not gain AQH listeners; however, the cume was off about 20% compared to January and February meaning fewer listeners listened more often.
The context of the discussion was that some perceived bias was the reason for the ratings drop in May. If so, why did that audience return in June?
My view is the ratings drop was caused by less radio usage in cars during the lockdown, and it's now starting to return.
I second that motion, we have consensus, and the bill passes.
Oh, right, no politics.
Looking at actual AQH persons and not share shows your "view" is totally accurate. KNX was performing just as well in May as it did in July, but with different denominators. That's why, again, on Monday Nielsen issued a further cautionary note saying that audience estimates during the period of the Coronavirus should not be used for long-range planning or for comparison with other periods due to the changing levels of radio usage.
- Status