KISW is much more of a talk station than a rock station, at least in the money dayparts.
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- Thread starter bobdavcav
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A rock focused CHR in 2025 isn't exactly a winning proposition considering very little "rock" ever crosses over to CHR.
LOL...2.1 rating for Emma. Even AM conservative talk is beating them in a very blue metro area.
Do they miss The Sound yet?
I remember when right before COVID it was hitting the top 5 constantly in the ratings.
Also.....GO SPIRIT 105.3!! 8th! For a very blue region, this is awesome to see Christian radio this high in the ratings!
I saw that "Hard Fought Hallelujah" with Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll peaked at #40 on the Hot 100. It's down to #78 now, but that's awesome.
Do they miss The Sound yet?
I remember when right before COVID it was hitting the top 5 constantly in the ratings.
Also.....GO SPIRIT 105.3!! 8th! For a very blue region, this is awesome to see Christian radio this high in the ratings!
I saw that "Hard Fought Hallelujah" with Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll peaked at #40 on the Hot 100. It's down to #78 now, but that's awesome.
Couple of observations.
KCMS lays on the "Christian" aspect very lightly. Very. They portray themselves as a family friendly place where a mom or dad driving the kids around is not going to be exposing them to anything rough. Not a dumb way to market your commercial Christian AC station.
Yes, the city of Seattle is quite progressive to be sure. But KCMS is a full market signal, and places like Buckley, , Burien, Marysville, Fall CIty, Monroe, Kitsap County etc. most certainly are NOT. More than enough folks in the burbs (sub- and exh-) to more than make up for Godless Seattle(TM). LOL.
Finally, try to remember that the actual Jesus, if indeed he existed at all, was a socialist. If, you know, you read the red words in the Bible. I am sure there are a ton of progressives who jibe pretty well with the message of KCMS. Spirit keeps politics out of their programming, and that's smart. There are a LOT of progressive CHristians out there...they just tend to be not nearly so loud. They are far too busy living their faith.
KCMS lays on the "Christian" aspect very lightly. Very. They portray themselves as a family friendly place where a mom or dad driving the kids around is not going to be exposing them to anything rough. Not a dumb way to market your commercial Christian AC station.
Yes, the city of Seattle is quite progressive to be sure. But KCMS is a full market signal, and places like Buckley, , Burien, Marysville, Fall CIty, Monroe, Kitsap County etc. most certainly are NOT. More than enough folks in the burbs (sub- and exh-) to more than make up for Godless Seattle(TM). LOL.
Finally, try to remember that the actual Jesus, if indeed he existed at all, was a socialist. If, you know, you read the red words in the Bible. I am sure there are a ton of progressives who jibe pretty well with the message of KCMS. Spirit keeps politics out of their programming, and that's smart. There are a LOT of progressive CHristians out there...they just tend to be not nearly so loud. They are far too busy living their faith.
"Emma is like that crazy Uber driver girl who put you through an hour of the cheesiest possible hit music released over the last 30 years driving you to your job just 15 blocks away. She shows no mercy as she cackles loudly and cranks up "Wannabe" Spice Girls, resulting in horrifying PTSD flashbacks whenever you hear 'So tell what you want, what you really really want'....Emma 94.1!"
I know Hot AC isn’t as currents-based as it used to be, but Emma’s only playing 17 currents/recurrents, per Mediabase. That’s less than half of what I can find on any of Audacy’s other Hot ACs.
I could see its audience getting bored with her, fast.
I could see its audience getting bored with her, fast.
Considering that those of us who have done current research or bought it know that there have generally been about 15-20 "real" hits at any one time, we have to look at rotations. If there is a "new song" category with perhaps the 5 most recent adds, and another 5-6 songs the station considers "hot recurrents" ( in other words, faster than other recurrents and slower than the biggest songs) you have about 30 songs.
What some Hot AC stations do is stay on currents too long at faster rotations. After all, "Hot AC" is really AC with more emphasis on currents, not a CHR with fewer currents.
I'm a so-so listener to NPR; I'm not a big fan of the ways NPR has changed some of its programming to adjust to the modern reality of radio listeners who don't listen for more than 15-20 minutes at a time. As mentioned, however, I prefer KNKX 88.5 over KUOW due to its presentation and fewer local inserts during NPR's primetime shows. Also, at least until recently, KNKX's local news coverage was much better than KUOW's. I think 94.9 has improved somewhat on that front.
I also don't appreciate how KUOW tried aggressively to buy out KNKX (then KPLU) to eliminate its competition back in the last decade.
I feel like some Hot ACs want to be the CHR with fewer currents. Before it was relaunched as Bella 105.1, KRSK 105.1 The Buzz was basically an adult CHR. Especially with a CHR in the building, I don't see this as being a good strategy, but it seems to work in some markets. Emma is a fairly traditional Hot AC though.
Yes, I know Spirit 105.3 is a family-friendly station. Like most CCM stations in the 2020s, they are very "feel-good", positive, and cheery. They do a "Love Your Neighbor" initiative, drive-thru difference (pay for someone else's coffee in the drive-thru), etc. No negative news, politics or crime is discussed on these stations. It's all about turning off the negative and turning on the hope of Jesus.
Honestly, there's probably a lot of families that listen in the minivan going to soccer practice. Even if they don't go to church on Sunday mornings, it's a safe alternative with no songs about sex, drugs, and sinful desires like that wannabe Doechii idiot, Nikki Minaj, and whoever else is hot right now.
By the way, the younger demos are embracing the Christian rappers and rhythmic guys. Hulvey, KB, Forrest Frank (huge right now), and while he's a little on the secular side, NF too. 29 million views on "Your Way's Better' by Forrest Frank, and the dance he does at concerts is going viral on TikTok and everywhere else. People of all ages dancing to it.
Meanwhile, Portland's new Air 1 104.1 is only getting a 0.8, and K-LOVE 97.9 is a 0.5. Hardly decent numbers at all, same progressive to liberal politics. My guess is 105.3 is getting a lot of listenership in Puyallup, Kitsap County, and other purple areas.
Honestly, there's probably a lot of families that listen in the minivan going to soccer practice. Even if they don't go to church on Sunday mornings, it's a safe alternative with no songs about sex, drugs, and sinful desires like that wannabe Doechii idiot, Nikki Minaj, and whoever else is hot right now.
By the way, the younger demos are embracing the Christian rappers and rhythmic guys. Hulvey, KB, Forrest Frank (huge right now), and while he's a little on the secular side, NF too. 29 million views on "Your Way's Better' by Forrest Frank, and the dance he does at concerts is going viral on TikTok and everywhere else. People of all ages dancing to it.
Meanwhile, Portland's new Air 1 104.1 is only getting a 0.8, and K-LOVE 97.9 is a 0.5. Hardly decent numbers at all, same progressive to liberal politics. My guess is 105.3 is getting a lot of listenership in Puyallup, Kitsap County, and other purple areas.
I'd love to get my hands on a frequency, buy 104.5 or 104.9, go the complete opposite direction and take on KISW. SATAN 104.5, launch it with Angel of Death by Slayer, then do 40 minutes of Sabbath/Ozzy (RIP) 
A lot of young people I know who are pop nerds are hoping Forrest frank doesn’t even make the hot 100 year end lmao
God forbid rap exists I guess
There are numerous explanations for Portland's different numbers than Seattle.
1. Even Lance Venta noted in a column several years ago that the local station is going to do better than a national network. With the demise of the Fish in Portland, all of Portland's Christian programming is network.
2. The Christian music scene in this market is extremely saturated. Not only do you have Air1 and K-Love in the market, you also have Worship 24/7 on 96.3 and Positive Life on 104.5, which combining the translator in town with the White Salmon signal covers a good portion of the market. In Seattle, Positive Life doesn't exist, and Worship 24/7 is on a rimshot signal that can pull a 1 share at best. The 96.3 signal it's on in Portland, while the smallest of the full powered FMs, still covers most of the population well, and the 104.5 translator is easily the best one in the market. If those didn't exist, you may see similar numbers to Seattle. Then again, for whatever reason, we saw KTIS in the Twin Cities doing extremely well last Fall when KCMS was near the bottom, so not sure what that was about.
You have to give KISW credit; No other station could go from Seattle's Best Bach (They specialized in Baroque Chamber music as a Classical station in the 1950s-'60s), to Seattle's Best Rock to Seattle's Best Talk.
Truth
Seattle area has supported its non-commercial stations, especially when you look at the $8 million raised by the listening community to buy KPLU in 2016 and how quickly it was raised. I find it amazing that pledge after pledge they seem to make their goal on whatever goal they set.
These heritage non-commercial stations like KNKX (formerly KPLU), KEXP, KBCS, and others continue to rely on pledge drives, and they’ve managed to build strong, loyal listener bases that support them financially, all of them. I'm a sustained pledger to KNKX. Hey they play jazz and on HD2 Jazz24 lol.
KNHC (which is Seattle Schools-run), always ask for donations, it shows that non-commercial radio stations, even when tied to institutions, still need community support to operate sustainably. And when they ask the community we the community at least here on the west side of the state have been there to donate, so what gives?
Treehouse is nearly spot on as to why I listen to one and not the other, I'm always for the underdog. (small against the giant). Anything U of W activates my ptsd
The repetitive playlist of "commercial" radio sucks they have lost touch with the community. Tell me how does a 1000 (?) watt daytime 250 watt night commercial AM station that has been on air for 50+ years (?) still broadcasting? Local auto mechanic buy's ad time has shop located located on MLK Jr. Way S..
Can't say that doesn't work because it does work. Non/or commercial radio success involves the community and many non- commercial have figured that out. Even my dumb ass can see that.
just a rant, do I make any sense?
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And that pretty much puts to rest the comments a while back that Lotus was not a capable larger market operator.