November 2024 Bay Area Radio PPM Ratings

[davideduardo]

Per Nielsen:

Noncommercial radio stations that are authorized users through the Radio Research Consortium and that meet minimum reporting standards will be displayed in PPM markets. Noncommercial radio stations will not be displayed in Diary markets. Please contact the Radio Research Consortium at (301) 774-6686 or [email protected] for information about authorized users.

Thanks. As one involved only with commercial stations, I tend to totally ignore the rules, regulations and business practices of non-com stations to the point of total ignorance.

Do qualifying non-coms have to meet minimum reporting standards to be listed, or even if they have a 0.0 rating and 0.1 share will they appear?

 

[Mark Roberts]

It probably helps that Livermore's elevation is 500 ft. I have rooftop antennae and very good tuners.

There’s the answer right there. Yours would be considered an extraordinary setup by the theoretical average listener.

My elevation in Oakland was just under 1400 feet, so all sorts of things were available that weren’t available on, say, the other side of the Warren Freeway.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Don't dismiss the capability of today's radios. I used to live in the Bay Area and what you say was true. But I just had some work there last week and brought a newer Subaru. I got KKUP very clearly heading South on 101 near the airport. Lost it a bit around San Mateo due to HD interference from KCSM (weird - 2nd adjacent) but it came in solid otherwise. KALW was clean going across 237 in the South Bay also. They're still in mono so that certainly helped. But there was no 1st adjacent splatter at all on that radio.

You have to look for it, and realistically I don't think many people in San Jose will do what I did - not enough to trip a Nielsen meter. But it's there.

Dave B.

The last time I was in Emeryville, I pulled in KKUP, in stereo, on a Qodosen DX-286. Even so, how many people are going to have one of those (yes, they’re readily available on Amazon, but availability isn’t the point here), much less learn how to use it? Moreover, how many of them are going to put up with the distortion* caused by the narrow bandwidth required to pick up 91.5 under the jowl of 91.7?

By the way, HD side bands cause more interference than HD proponents want to admit, in my experience.

* footnote: on the Qodosen, I find the minimum acceptable FM bandwidth to be 114 kHz; the next narrower bandwidth available is 97 kHz. Anything less induces distortion that I find unlistenable.

 

[Mark Roberts]

IHeart flipped 92.5 The Breeze to Christmas, but not 98.1..

To me that doesn't make sense, should at least go after KOIT

Maybe iHeart should flip 98.1 The Breeze to Christmas on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Whatever for? KOIT has the image and the reputation; the only reason for another station in the Bay Area to go to all-Christmas music for two days would be altruistic, and that’s not the first word that comes to mind when I think of iHeart. It certainly would have minimal impacts if any on listenership.

 

[michael hagerty]

IHeart flipped 92.5 The Breeze to Christmas, but not 98.1..

To me that doesn't make sense, should at least go after KOIT

Generally, if a station owns the Christmas format in a market, its closest competition stays in format and catches the burnouts who need a break from all-Christmas. It's an opportunity for The Breeze to make a positive impression on people who usually favor KOIT and possibly keep some of their listening after Christmas.

 

[michael hagerty]

Whatever for? KOIT has the image and the reputation; the only reason for another station in the Bay Area to go to all-Christmas music for two days would be altruistic, and that’s not the first word that comes to mind when I think of iHeart. It certainly would have minimal impacts if any on listenership.

Where would the altruism be in that? You'd be removing a choice for people who want to hear adult contemporary music.

 

[Weiserguy]

Where would the altruism be in that? You'd be removing a choice for people who want to hear adult contemporary music.

Uh, friends don't let friends drive while drunk on A/C?

 

[MarioMania]

Whatever for? KOIT has the image and the reputation; the only reason for another station in the Bay Area to go to all-Christmas music for two days would be altruistic, and that’s not the first word that comes to mind when I think of iHeart. It certainly would have minimal impacts if any on listenership.

So does KYMX, That didn't stop iHeart flipping KBEB to Christmas Music

Generally, if a station owns the Christmas format in a market, its closest competition stays in format and catches the burnouts who need a break from all-Christmas. It's an opportunity for The Breeze to make a positive impression on people who usually favor KOIT and possibly keep some of their listening after Christmas.

See my post above

 

[Radiopaw]

So does KYMX, That didn't stop iHeart flipping KBEB to Christmas Music

See my post above

Why do you always use Sacramento stations as an example of a competitor to Bay Area ones? Those stations don’t even reach the majority of the market and aren’t a consideration for the players in the bay.

KMYX shouldn’t be a dial option or consideration, even in Vallejo, except for FM DXERs or hardcore radio fans who are fine with A LOT of “radio static”.

 

[DaveBayArea]

Qodosen DX-286.

* footnote: on the Qodosen, I find the minimum acceptable FM bandwidth to be 114 kHz; the next narrower bandwidth available is 97 kHz. Anything less induces distortion that I find unlistenable.

I shouldn't have read this. Now I feel a need to get one of those and see how it compares to my Tecsun (which I love).

Dave B.

 

[Mark Roberts]

I shouldn't have read this. Now I feel a need to get one of those and see how it compares to my Tecsun (which I love).

Dave B.

You should!

My review of it may provide some more insights: Radios I Have Known

 

[Mark Roberts]

Where would the altruism be in that? You'd be removing a choice for people who want to hear adult contemporary music.

“Removing a choice” is an interesting concept for a format that’s radio’s equivalent of hamburger. Not that there’s anything wrong with hamburger.

To be more serious about it, I was trying to express some sort of idea whereby the station would, out of the goodness of its little heart, decide to play Christmas music for a couple of days just to get into the holiday spirit. That’s something small-town stations would do; I wouldn’t expect it from a station in a substantial market owned and operated by the biggest chain around. I was trying to highlight the very absurdity of the idea, but since the premise of this subthread, starting at #19, was absurd to begin with, the thread already had reached its maximum daily allowance of absurdity and thus the joke fell flat.

 

[michael hagerty]

“Removing a choice” is an interesting concept for a format that’s radio’s equivalent of hamburger. Not that there’s anything wrong with hamburger.

To be more serious about it, I was trying to express some sort of idea whereby the station would, out of the goodness of its little heart, decide to play Christmas music for a couple of days just to get into the holiday spirit. That’s something small-town stations would do; I wouldn’t expect it from a station in a substantial market owned and operated by the biggest chain around. I was trying to highlight the very absurdity of the idea, but since the premise of this subthread, starting at #19, was absurd to begin with, the thread already had reached its maximum daily allowance of absurdity and thus the joke fell flat.

Okay. Now I get the joke. What do we do about the half-dozen who now think a format choice is an expression of altruism?


Seriously---ESPECIALLY in a major market---there are whole bunches of AC listeners who like some, a little or NO Christmas music. Having both (and there are rarely more than two) Adult Contemporary stations in the same market go all-Christmas for a month or more just gives those listeners incentive to see if there's another station and/or format they like better or maybe find an alternative to over-the-air radio.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Okay. Now I get the joke. What do we do about the half-dozen who now think a format choice is an expression of altruism?


Seriously---ESPECIALLY in a major market---there are whole bunches of AC listeners who like some, a little or NO Christmas music. Having both (and there are rarely more than two) Adult Contemporary stations in the same market go all-Christmas for a month or more just gives those listeners incentive to see if there's another station and/or format they like better or maybe find an alternative to over-the-air radio.

I have real challenges taking any comment along the lines of “station K*** should do {format, program, morning show}” seriously, especially in a day and age where you can get anything you want online, and you don’t have to go to Alice’s Restaurant for it. (I’m tired tonight so I’ll just do the set-up).

Whatever boost there is from Christmas music seems to be temporary, a way of goosing the revenue stream. In the Bay Area, I’m sure KOIT is getting listeners they otherwise wouldn’t get, at the cost of losing listeners, at least temporarily, to the Breeze or elsewhere.

Denver’s KOSI has Christmas competition this year from Pillar of Fire’s KSRC, a Christian AC station. They’re both next to each other on the FM dial, just to make things even more concentrated than usual.

That said, if your Christmas tree becomes a pillar of fire, you’ve got other problems!

 

[KilowattKat]

From AI Overview....The country that plays the most Christmas songs on the radio is Germany, followed by the UK, Italy, and France. European radio stations play more Christmas songs than the US. I had always thought the US had a monopoly when it came to playing Christmas music on the radio.

 

[michael hagerty]

Here's something that amplifies on KilowattKat's post, with charts:

Which country plays the most Christmas songs on the radio? | WARM

Christmas time is here and once again, hate or love it, the radio airwaves are filled with Christmas songs both old and new.

www.warmmusic.net

 

[Signal Geek]

Even a couple of the Alpha stations (KKIQ, KUIC) aren't on there

That's because those signals are poor in San Jose. In the case of KUIC, I'd say non-existant.

 

[NoMoreLurking]

since the premise of this subthread, starting at #19, was absurd to begin with, the thread already had reached its maximum daily allowance of absurdity and thus the joke fell flat.

I've been hesitant to use the "IGNORE" feature here but there are a couple of participants who might warrant it...agree?

 

[Paul]

Decades ago, the A/C where I worked flipped to all Christmas music because theywanted the stores to play our station over the speakers in the stores. It worked.

Today, in PPM markets, if stores still played radio stations over their PA speakers (cue the Muzak lawyers here), it would still make some sense. But I never hear a store playing an AM or FM station in the store anymore. And, who physically goes to stores anymore?

 

[michael hagerty]

Today, in PPM markets, if stores still played radio stations over their PA speakers (cue the Muzak lawyers here), it would still make some sense. But I never hear a store playing an AM or FM station in the store anymore.

Yeah. Because of the Muzak lawyers. And BMI and ASCAP and SESAC. I've met a couple of small business owners who went through hell over having a radio playing where customers could hear it.

And, who physically goes to stores anymore?

You clearly didn't brave Black Friday.