Los Angeles Radio Ratings: May 2023

[pjc1961]

Covering the survey period from Thu. 4/27/2023 thru Wed. 5/24/2023, age 6+ overall:

Los Angeles

Nielsen Audio PPM Monthly Ratings Los Angeles (Market #2) Population: 11,160,800 Black: 783,800 – Hispanic: 4,977,600 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...

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For Riverside-San Bernardino:

Riverside/San Bernardino

Nielsen Audio PPM Monthly Ratings Riverside/San Bernardino (Market #28) Population: 2,209,500 Black: 189,700 – Hispanic: 1,279,300 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...

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or Radio Industry News, Radio Show Prep, Radio Promotions, Radio Station Data, Podcast News

Top 5+ demo rankings analysis for ages 25-54, 18-34 + 18-49:

Radio Industry News, New Music, Music Promotion, Radio Station Song Charts

All Access offers the latest radio industry news and music news, music promotions for record companies new music, radio station song charts, and much more. AllAccess.com has been serving the radio and music industry since 1995, always bringing you the highest quality content with...

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25-54: 1. KBUE (up from #6; was #13 in Jan.'23) 2. KRTH 3. KBIG 4T. KLVE 4T. KOST 4T. KIIS
18-34: 1. KRTH (up from #4) 2. KIIS 3. KBIG 4. KTWV 5. KRRL (down from #2) 6. KYSR 7. KCBS-FM
18-49: 1. KBIG 2T. KIIS 2T. KBUE (up from #5) 4. KRTH 5. KLVE 8. KRRL (down from #8)

 

[hotpatrick2004]

Kroq seems to be stuck. There not going up but at least there not goin down. Surprising bout kiis 102.7 maybe no wango tango this year plays a role in there numbers dropping. This is the first time I have seen 790 Kabc not chart unless they just didn't subscribe this month.

 

[Daryl Lynn L.A.]

KBUE went from #13 in Jan., to #6,, then to #1. It's rising fast. Their format is regional Mexican. Has a station with that format ever risen so fast? I don't recall that happening before.
( I remember when KBUE "La Buena" used to be KNAC with Jim Ladd and an alternative rock format - half a century ago. That station has gone through some changes. -- Daryl

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Kroq seems to be stuck. There not going up but at least there not goin down. Surprising bout kiis 102.7 maybe no wango tango this year plays a role in there numbers dropping. This is the first time I have seen 790 Kabc not chart unless they just didn't subscribe this month.

Patrick, you're a long-time member on the board, I like your takes a lot, and I hate being the school marm, but... There are subtle, yet very important differences in the words, There, their, and they're.

There, I said it. Just sayin'.

 

[Gregg.]

Once again, I find it so odd that some of the most mature-aiming FM stations find they are scoring the best in the youthful 18-34 demo. Most of the music played on KRTH (#1 18-34), KTWV (#4 18-34) and KCBS-FM (#7 18-34) was recorded before the people in this demo were born... or at least out of grade school.

And c'mon. How can a trio of Class A stations, Que-Buena 94.3 KEBN Garden Grove, 94.3 KBUA San Fernando and 105.5 KBUE Long Beach, be the #1 station in the 25-54 demo? In January, it was #13. Last month it was #6. This month it's #1. Huh? Meanwhile, the format is also heard on higher powered FM stations, 97.9 KLAX and 101.9 KSCA. You don't have to change the station as you drive around the Los Angeles area. Yet KLAX and KSCA are not in the top 5 25-54, while Que Buena is #1 in that demo.

One more note. Since KABC is Cumulus' last station in the LA market, it likely doesn't subscribe to the ratings. So that's why it doesn't show. Recent ratings put it around a .5 or .6. Just amazing when you remember KABC was consistently the top station in Los Angeles in the 1970s and early 80s.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Once again, I find it so odd that some of the most mature-aiming FM stations find they are scoring the best in the youthful 18-34 demo. Most of the music played on KRTH (#1 18-34), KTWV (#4 18-34) and KCBS-FM (#7 18-34) was recorded before the people in this demo were born... or at least out of grade school.

And c'mon. How can a trio of Class A stations, Que-Buena 94.3 KEBN Garden Grove, 94.3 KBUA San Fernando and 105.5 KBUE Long Beach, be the #1 station in the 25-54 demo? In January, it was #13. Last month it was #6. This month it's #1. Huh? Meanwhile, the format is also heard on higher powered FM stations, 97.9 KLAX and 101.9 KSCA. You don't have to change the station as you drive around the Los Angeles area. Yet KLAX and KSCA are not in the top 5 25-54, while Que Buena is #1 in that demo.

One more note. Since KABC is Cumulus' last station in the LA market, it likely doesn't subscribe to the ratings. So that's why it doesn't show. Recent ratings put it around a .5 or .6. Just amazing when you remember KABC was consistently the top station in Los Angeles in the 1970s and early 80s.

I agree with all of your takes. The demo breakouts don't make any sense at all. So much so it may be that the meter distribution should be audited.

 

[tall_guy1]

The funny thing about KBIG is how much non rhythmic music it plays (like Dreaming of You by Selena ans Paradise by Coldplay) despite being in a more ethnic city and doing well. Maybe other Hot ACs will follow in its direction?

 

[davideduardo]

KBUE went from #13 in Jan., to #6,, then to #1. It's rising fast. Their format is regional Mexican. Has a station with that format ever risen so fast? I don't recall that happening before.

Yes. When KSKQ-FM change to KLAX, "La X", it went to top five in the middle of a ratings period and #1 total market and in all the sales demos in its first full book.

However, the KBUE issue has nothing to do with programming. It has to do with Nielsen's inability to get a balanced full sample of Spanish dominant Hispanics (one of the "guaranteed" stratification variables and the current KBUE "partisans" happen to be highly weighted and are not typical.

( I remember when KBUE "La Buena" used to be KNAC with Jim Ladd and an alternative rock format - half a century ago. That station has gone through some changes. -- Daryl

One of my jobs when the sale was waiting for FCC approval was to listen to KNAC "all the tieme" and report anti-buyer or anti-Hispanic statements on the air. They were many, frequent and horribly offensive. Every time I heard one, Lenard and I would call the seller and tell him to put a muzzle on his animals.

It worked for a couple of days, and then one of their jocks would start in again. Horrible racist stuff that hurt to just listen to, knowing there were that kind of people out there.

 

[davideduardo]

The funny thing about KBIG is how much non rhythmic music it plays (like Dreaming of You by Selena ans Paradise by Coldplay) despite being in a more ethnic city and doing well. Maybe other Hot ACs will follow in its direction?

"Ethnic" does not mean 100% rhythmic. How many ballads came out of Motown? A couple of Whitney's biggest hits were written by "Boy Meets Girl", a young very white couple.

 

[tall_guy1]

"Ethnic" does not mean 100% rhythmic. How many ballads came out of Motown? A couple of Whitney's biggest hits were written by "Boy Meets Girl", a young very white couple.

I guess you are right, but L.A. seems like a strange place for a more AC/rock leaning Hot AC to be doing well, considering that rhythmic has always been the main product on KIIS and the town (their sister station, so from a company standpoint makes sense.) A lot of towns in the midwest have a more rhythmic Hot AC than L.A (a successful one) and that is quite odd to me.

 

[davideduardo]

Once again, I find it so odd that some of the most mature-aiming FM stations find they are scoring the best in the youthful 18-34 demo. Most of the music played on KRTH (#1 18-34), KTWV (#4 18-34) and KCBS-FM (#7 18-34) was recorded before the people in this demo were born... or at least out of grade school.

That is mostly because the CHR, Churban and Urban listeners are streaming because the in-format stations can't play many of the songs. So the stations that are not targeted at 18-34 tend to rise because the rest of the demo is not using radio.

And c'mon. How can a trio of Class A stations, Que-Buena 94.3 KEBN Garden Grove, 94.3 KBUA San Fernando and 105.5 KBUE Long Beach, be the #1 station in the 25-54 demo?

There is a weighting and meter issue, but the three Que Buena stations have total city grade signals in all of the LA HDHA* area, where almost all the Spanish language listening is registered.

* HDHA "High Density Hispanic Area" which is one or more zones within a county where the dominant ethnic group is Hispanic. Most of the Hispanic, both English dominant and Spanish dominant, is recruited in the HDHA zones.

In January, it was #13. Last month it was #6. This month it's #1. Huh? Meanwhile, the format is also heard on higher powered FM stations, 97.9 KLAX and 101.9 KSCA. You don't have to change the station as you drive around the Los Angeles area. Yet KLAX and KSCA are not in the top 5 25-54, while Que Buena is #1 in that demo.

It's always been the most "authentic" regional Mexican format, and has the advantage of the strongest morning show who also has extensive TV presence.

One more note. Since KABC is Cumulus' last station in the LA market, it likely doesn't subscribe to the ratings. So that's why it doesn't show. Recent ratings put it around a .5 or .6. Just amazing when you remember KABC was consistently the top station in Los Angeles in the 1970s and early 80s.

Stations that are not subscribed and which don't have a rating of 0.1 are not even shown in the subscriber reports. It has not been subscribed since "Holiday" when it had a 0.8 share in 12+. A 0.8 share is well below a 0.1 rating, so they have not appeared since then even in the subscriber reports.

 

[davideduardo]

I guess you are right, but L.A. seems like a strange place for a more AC/rock leaning Hot AC to be doing well, considering that rhythmic has always been the main product on KIIS and the town (their sister station, so from a company standpoint makes sense.) A lot of towns in the midwest have a more rhythmic Hot AC than L.A (a successful one) and that is quite odd to me.

Remember, they are programming a cluster to give the best results. The balance between KIIS, KBIG and KOST is nicely tuned so that the three always average about the same share. Even if one goes down, the others usually are up and it balances out.

I've done both CHR and Hot AC in Spanish in a variety of Hispanic markets and most of the music is not rhythmic... although in recent years more and more of it is going that way.

 

[Daryl Lynn L.A.]

One of my jobs when the sale was waiting for FCC approval was to listen to KNAC "all the tieme" and report anti-buyer or anti-Hispanic statements on the air. They were many, frequent and horribly offennosive. Every time I heard one, Lenard and I would call the seller and tell him to put a muzzle on his animals.

It worked for a couple of days, and then one of their jocks would start in again. Horrible racist stuff that hurt to just listen to, knowing there were that kind of people out there.

Racism is HORRIBLE, and I have ZERO tolerance for it. There is NO EXCUSE for it, not in the '70's, not ever. I listened only to Jim Ladd, who migrated from station to station with an alternative format, but had I heard the racist statements from him, I would have immediately phoned him and told him why he lost me as a listener.

My major in college was Latin American Studies with a minor in Spanish. I spent a year and a half total living in Mexico with a family and attending the University of Morelos ( UAEM) in Cuernavaca, Mexico and traveling throughout the Republic. When I returned, I found my dream job, which was teaching English to children of Spanish-speaking families. I used my Spanish skills to welcome their parents into the classroom and to build a community based bi-lingual program for children in primary grades K-3.

David, I am extremely sorry that happened. I'm glad that the station was sold; and the racists were taken off the air. That behavior is simply inexcusable. (By the way, that is why I could never stand "morning zoo" shows like Dave and Chuck, Opie and Anthony, Imus, etc. etc. who tried to be "over the top" or "edgy" by spouting racism or sexism). Completely unacceptable. -- Daryl

 

[Delete My Account]

By that point, KNAC was in its "Pure Rock" phase. Ladd and alternative/progressive rock was long gone, in favor of hair metal and thrash.

 

[davideduardo]

I spent a year and a half total living in Mexico with a family and attending the University of Morelos ( UAEM) in Cuernavaca, Mexico and traveling throughout the Republic.

Interesting coincidence: In 1963 I was supposed to be an "exchange student" in Mexico City. But before classes began, in a visit to Radio Centro's 5 station complex I literally bumped into the group PD. We chatted a bit, and he said he could get by the union rules as I was a foreign student and I could Intern for much of the year.

I spent time at Artículo 123 #90 in downtown Mexico City at the highest rated radio group in the country. I did all kinds of menial tasks, mostly helping union members avoid as much work as possible. I learned every conceivable Mexican swear word and term and towards the end of the "term" I could name all Mexican beers blindfolded.

 

[Daryl Lynn L.A.]

Interesting coincidence: In 1963 I was supposed to be an "exchange student" in Mexico City. But before classes began, in a visit to Radio Centro's 5 station complex I literally bumped into the group PD. We chatted a bit, and he said he could get by the union rules as I was a V

Very cool job. I would have loved that job ! Invaluable "hands-on" learning.

To all: For anyone who is interested, there are some great photos of radio stations in Mexico City, including nice photos of David himself, posted on World Radio History:

RADIO STATION PHOTOS: Mexico City 1963

I learned every conceivable Mexican swear word and term and towards the end of the "term" I could name all Mexican beers blindfolded.

Hahahaha ! Me also! 😂
(But my favorite was Carta Blanca).