• 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

Latest Ratings

B

bobdavcav

radioinsight.com

Seattle/Tacoma

Nielsen Audio PPM Monthly Ratings Seattle/Tacoma (Market #12) Population: 4,137,900 Black: 311,600 – Hispanic: 469,600 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 radioinsight.com
Takeaways from this book:
1. There are many stations that are low share but high cume. This makes predicting flips much more difficult than what otherwise would be, not that we have the real numbers anyway. Just looking at share numbers, I would predict a flip of 94.1 and 103.7, with 92.5 and 96.5 not far behind, but all have decent audience numbers. The situation in Portland with 105.1 should be interesting to watch, as 94.1 Seattle is pulling similar numbers.
2. What's up with KEXP? I'm quite surprised how well that station continues to do since the pandemic. It seems listening is up overall, as I commented several months back that there was only one station above 500,000 cume, now there are half a dozen. I would think this would hurt stations with a small but loyal audience like KEXP, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
 
bobdavcav said:
2. What's up with KEXP? I'm quite surprised how well that station continues to do since the pandemic. It seems listening is up overall, as I commented several months back that there was only one station above 500,000 cume, now there are half a dozen. I would think this would hurt stations with a small but loyal audience like KEXP, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Click to expand...

We've talked about it with stations like KING. The 6+ numbers show share of PUMM. People using mass media. It doesn't include people using Spotify or even Sirius. That narrows the spectrum a bit. So if people are only listening for certain specialty stations such as KEXP or KING, that will throw off the share numbers a bit. People who listen to those stations listen for longer periods than the casual listeners of KJET or Warm. Those people come and go. Listeners to KUOW stay for longer periods.
 
Yes, but that logic would suggest that KEXP should be trending down, as the overall number of people using radio rises. That's not what's happening.
 
A couple thoughts that came to mind for me:

1. I know KPNW 98.9 is always the elephant in the room. While it's not possible to fully assess how KPNW is performing with these numbers, I think the fact that KKWF has fallen off a bit tells us everything we need to know. Before flipping back to country, KKWF had an absolute stranglehold in the market with country. These numbers indicate that KKWF is not facing some stiff competition from both KPLZ and KPNW (but mainly KPNW, which is the direct competitor). While these numbers still look a bit weak for KPNW, what they are doing seems to be working. Mind you, this is a very slow progression, but there is progress. Summer is a hot time for country music, and KPNW seems to be giving KKWF a run for their money this year. If I were Hubbard, I would absolutely stay the course with what they are doing. Do not flip it. Stick with country and keep going.

2. You briefly mentioned KJAQ 96.5, Bob. I think Jack FM is likely to stay the way that it is. iHeart has a very well rounded portfolio in Seattle, and absolutely owns the classic rock, classic hits, and adult hits format(s). As I have said many times on this board, I think 95.7 sounds excellent. The music variety is dialed in just right, the personalities are solid, and it's genuinely a fun radio station to listen to. The Jack-FM balances out what KJEB and KZOK are doing by leaning more modern. It's a bit of a jukebox (and not really my cup of tea), but it's a pretty affordable format that pulls decent numbers. There's no reason to mess with it.

3. KQMV 92.5 is a bit of a surprise to me. Again, I don't see this as a situation where any major shakeups (including a format flip) would be necessary. "Movin" is an established station, and people local to the area know to go to 92.5 if they want to hear the modern hits. It took Hubbard a very long time to build up their brand for 98.9, so I doubt they would want to mess with something that has achieved soaring levels of success.

4. KHTP 103.7 is doing fine. They're the only "hip hop" station in the market, and no longer have to compete with KUBE. KSWD should also be okay, as they're in a very similar situation with Hot AC.
 
On KPNW, that's an interesting observation. I completely agree with your other observations, which is why I said looking at share alone. The audience numbers look a lot healthier than what you would see with the old Radio Online numbers that only show share. I wouldn't have ever guessed that a station pulling 439K listeners would only be at a 2.6 share, but that's exactly what's happening with 92.5. From what I understand, a lot of the second CHRs in other markets were in the same boat while their more established competition had a more traditional balance, and many of them have flipped formats. With both CHRs in Seattle in that boat right now along with several other stations in other formats though, I can't see many flips happening right now. Either that or we see a massive, multi-station shakeup, but I doubt that.
 
One reason KEXP does well is they engage with their audience at a personal level. On air and in person. There's a level of interaction there most Seattle stations don't or can't invest in. You can actually watch their DJs, come see live performances, engage with them via texts. They have presence. They do events and specials that drive engagement.

Do most Seattle commercial stations have that? Does being real and personal with the audience make them feel valued and increase loyalty? I'd say yes.
 
fordranger797 said:
KQMV 92.5 is a bit of a surprise to me. Again, I don't see this as a situation where any major shakeups (including a format flip) would be necessary. "Movin" is an established station, and people local to the area know to go to 92.5 if they want to hear the modern hits. It took Hubbard a very long time to build up their brand for 98.9, so I doubt they would want to mess with something that has achieved soaring levels of success.
Click to expand...

My Dad who likes more older music had listened to KQMV 92.5 all the time until recently. He felt like the music playing wasn't understandable. He switched to listening to lots of KSWD and has enjoyed it a lot.

From someone who also listens to KQMV, their playlist seems more Rhythmic than usual? They brought back songs and stopped playing Generic Pop. They also recently got new jingles from reelworld. Also, I thought it was silly that a month ago, they were advertising a concert event saying its a "station crossover" with KQMV and KPNW.

Everyone loves KEXP. You either don't really like KEXP or love it so much.
 
Two things that stood out for me in these ratings:
1. KPLZ seems to be getting a solid audience with their classic country format -- 3.2 share won't set the world on fire, but assuming that its demographics are okay that's better than they'd been doing with their previous Hot AC format for quite a while.
2. Cume numbers for the two right-wing talk stations (KVI & KTTH) are really, really low.
 
Am I not correct that the higher the overall cume in the market, the lower a station's share is going to be with the same cume? Regardless of what KEXP does in terms of engaging with its audience, I would think that higher cume numbers would result in lower shares simply because more people overall are listening to radio in the market. I'll have to give 92.5 a fresh listen, it's been just over a year since I've given that station a listen.
As for the conservative talk stations having really low numbers, I'm not surprised. First off, that's been fairly steady for several months. Next, Seattle is rather liberal, so why would stations running right wing talk, especially in the current political environment, do well?
 
KUOW claims to gets 5% of it's support from CPB - which is equal to about $1M. They just did an emergency fund raising that got almost all of it back (one time). However, is there any reason they can't start running actual ads (since they are in the commercial band)? I would think as the top station in Seattle, and looking at what other commercial stations bring in thru ad revenue, that they'd be able to replace that lost funding on a permanent basis pretty easily. I know that's not the story they want to tell politically, but I think it's how the numbers would work.
 
94.9 is licensed for non-commercial operation. In my understanding, the license would have to be reclassified, and I don't see other commercial broadcasters accepting that without an outcry or a competitive bid. It's a non-starter. And I don't see the current administration changing the rules for of all situations, a blue state NPR affiliate.
 
Andy Travis said:
94.9 is licensed for non-commercial operation. In my understanding, the license would have to be reclassified, and I don't see other commercial broadcasters accepting that without an outcry or a competitive bid. It's a non-starter. And I don't see the current administration changing the rules for of all situations, a blue state NPR affiliate.
Click to expand...
KING FM went from commercial to non-comm a few years back also not in the non-comm band.
 
CarAgencyGuy said:
KUOW claims to gets 5% of it's support from CPB - which is equal to about $1M. They just did an emergency fund raising that got almost all of it back (one time). However, is there any reason they can't start running actual ads (since they are in the commercial band)? I would think as the top station in Seattle, and looking at what other commercial stations bring in thru ad revenue, that they'd be able to replace that lost funding on a permanent basis pretty easily. I know that's not the story they want to tell politically, but I think it's how the numbers would work.
Click to expand...
Generate more underwriting revenue to replace the grant funding and change nothing else? The non-comm model is sustainable (in Seattle) w/out government subsidies?

Candidly, I don’t listen to KUOW and no idea how many existing local units they clear M-F 6a-7p, but if the number of messages increased would there be any change in ratings? I watched a clip of John Curley basically saying he thinks KUOW has strong ratings compared to KIRO-FM b/c they don’t have to run as many spots…some truth to that?

If things get dire, KUOW could be sold to a commercial broadcaster for good $$ and be operated as any type of station the buyer wanted, like a music station. It’s in the commercial band.
 
This is all highly speculative. KUOW isn't going commercial and can't simply expand their spot breaks the way KIRO-FM can. The clocks for their anchor programs in drive time are tight and don't allow for adding many extra units.

This bizarre notion that somehow they can just convert to a commercial station and maintain the product that they have, simply with advertising, isn't how non-commercial broadcasting works. To the extent KUOW gets assistance from the CPB, they have to justify it through their performance and documentation. They earn it. This was the system set up by a conservative president to fulfill the mission of public broadcasting and not simply hand them "subsidies."

I'm puzzled by what some of you seem to expect here. On one hand, underwriting needs to be highly scrutinized and restricted so it doesn't conflict with commercial broadcasters and violate the rules, unfairly competing with commercial stations. Yet you also don't want stations insulated from those issues by merit-based CPB funding. But you also admit that the marketplace is crowded and commercial stations struggle. So, throw more frequencies into the commercial band. That'll work.

Anything KIRO has to say about public media should be taken with a shaker of salt. While they're a successful station, they're also owned at the root by a far wealthier non-profit than the University of Washington. Who have their own political agenda at play. And who, about 15 years ago, in many ways were trying to "upscale" the station to better compete with KUOW and the higher educated, upper income Seattle audience, right down to the very bumper music. Times and tech changed, and now they aim for the suburbanites who root against the city like it's an opposing sports team.
 
bobdavcav said:
On KPNW, that's an interesting observation. I completely agree with your other observations, which is why I said looking at share alone. The audience numbers look a lot healthier than what you would see with the old Radio Online numbers that only show share. I wouldn't have ever guessed that a station pulling 439K listeners would only be at a 2.6 share, but that's exactly what's happening with 92.5. From what I understand, a lot of the second CHRs in other markets were in the same boat while their more established competition had a more traditional balance, and many of them have flipped formats. With both CHRs in Seattle in that boat right now along with several other stations in other formats though, I can't see many flips happening right now. Either that or we see a massive, multi-station shakeup, but I doubt that.
Click to expand...
Now that Trip Reeb is no longer Hubbard Seattle market manager, we might see some changes in the cluster. The whole KPNW debacle may have been the reason for the change in leadership.
 
The other struggle that KUOW faces is that they are not the only NPR affiliate in town. 88.5 also carries NPR, and approaches news a bit differently. If you’re someone who is looking for NPR news (without the extra editorialization), you’re probably listening to 88.5 instead.
 


Back
Top Bottom