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ratings are out for this month.
- Thread starter 32james
- Start date
And don't forget, up from 12th to 8th in the ever-so-important 25-54 demo. What they're doing is definitely working.
That's promising for sure - David and his staff are working hard no doubt!
T
Thomps2525
Guest
Yeah, 32james, I am truly amazed at KRTH's strong showing. I have never heard anyone complain that KRTH plays too many songs; rather, everyone I know is tired of hearing the same few hundred burned-out songs over and over and over and over and over. I always refer to KRTH's format as "Songs we got sick of hearing when we were in high school." I have no problem with KRTH dropping 1960s hits and focusing on '70s-80s but I have a definite problem with Hotel California being played what seems like fifty times a day. KRTH has a lot of listeners...but I am not among them and probably never will be again.
KFWB's mix of news, sports, talk and infomercials garnered a 0.2% audience share, a far cry from the 40% share that the station enjoyed during its early years as top-40 Color Radio, 1958-62. I'd love to see (and hear) KFWB bring back the old jingles and play MOR hit singles from the 1950s-60s-70s. How many more months will Diane Sutter and the "KFWB Asset Trust" be running KFWB? Why can't they put the station up for sale?
KFWB's mix of news, sports, talk and infomercials garnered a 0.2% audience share, a far cry from the 40% share that the station enjoyed during its early years as top-40 Color Radio, 1958-62. I'd love to see (and hear) KFWB bring back the old jingles and play MOR hit singles from the 1950s-60s-70s. How many more months will Diane Sutter and the "KFWB Asset Trust" be running KFWB? Why can't they put the station up for sale?
It's for sale. Wanna buy it?
Well with Rick gone now, let's see if the 4.7 can increase or will it decrease again (hopefully not), but also I believe the new PD should refocus KRTH and hopefully eliminate the 5x a day playing of songs and increase the late 70's and 80's more and also plan better true weekend specials that other classic hits stations tend to offer, CBS-FM for example.
Believe that a larger playlist, if done correctly, can sustain good ratings.
But see RR, KRTH does not even play songs we were sick of (well not me) during high school. Do you ever hear "You Light Up My Life" or "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" or "I Write the Songs" or "Ebony and Ivory" on KRTH?
I don't ever recall hearing 1983's "I Melt With You" or 1980's "What I Like About You" or even 1985's "Boys of Summer" during high school on CHR. They just weren't played. But 90% of the songs I heard during high school (or grades 4-8 for that matter) are not even played today. That's what makes me sick!
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True, but he's absent from this thread for 25 hours now......
Except that this book proves you're wrong.
What is there to comment?
KRTH increased nicely in both 12+ and the target demos. I already explained why.
Of course, it was interesting to see KSCA ranked #2 in mornings with the new "El Bueno, La Mala y El Feo" show! And that is just a couple of tenths of a point behind the venerable Kevin & Bean show on KROQ. KRTH is #5 mornings, too!
T
Thomps2525
Guest
David, why do you think the ratings for KFI, and Bill Handel's morning show in particular, have dropped so much in the past year?
Interesting question. While we await David E's more experienced response, I wish to chime in. I believe KFI relies on controversial California topics to discuss and lately, there have not been as many. As I reviewed the ballot for the upcoming California Primaries, I noticed that there is nothing interesting to debate. Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsome are virtual locks to be re-elected as Governor and Lt. Governor, respectively. I hardly recognize the candidates for the other offices. Add to that the continued attrition from AM listening, KFI has quite a challenge ahead of themselves, despite having such good locally-oriented talent. Clear Channel is going to have to make a bold decision as to where to simulcast KFI on FM, sooner than they probably want to, considering how well their FM stations are doing.
KFI is a victim of "either say things I agree with or I will picket your advertisers". The controversial, in-your-face and even outlandish positions of several of the hosts is very reined back. And I think it makes the station boring.
I used to listen with some frequency. KFI had been a direct competitor when I was doing talk, and I like what David Hall did back then and I liked how Robin had moved the station forward. Then, after the series of John & Ken incidents of about two years ago, it fell apart. I have not listened for over a year myself as every time I tried, it was dull, sanitized and not entertaining.
I may echo the views of others, or perhaps not. But that is my spin.
KFI has been #1 in Los Angeles AM radio through much of the last century because of its signal, its talent and its synergy with the community. When it has strayed in either of the last two it has suffered. But there is a fourth factor as well – the influence and motivation of the owner.
The stations founder, Earle C Anthony, actually prohibited use of a ratings book by his sales department and screened the ads – listening and advertising he regarded as a privilege more than a source of revenue. At one time all ads had to be done “live” and two staff announcers were available to insure variety while a continuity department insured separation of competitors both locally and with the network. .
Clear Channel doesn’t have the luxury of being a debt free owner that can simply offer the public whatever management likes and be content to break even. So, with the shift of the younger audience to social media and music to FM, CC is trying to move from the “more stimulating talk radio” slogan used for a quarter century, to “live and local with more on the Internet,” becoming what could possibly be called “more informative talk radio.”
Earle C Anthony once objected to one of his newscasters using KFI as an acronym for “Keeping Fully Informed,” but it was a fair characterization of a station that had the NBC Network, 90 minutes of farm programming, Floyd Young’s fruit frost warnings, a local news staff, four news commentators of different persuasions, and locally produced programs such as the Boy Scout jamboree, and competitions between local youth with the Young America Sings and Young America Speaks competitions sponsored by the station in conjunction with Los Angeles County high schools.
It was Mr Anthony’s station, with programming as Packard distributor Anthony wanted. His protégée, Cadillac distributor Don Lee (and later his son Thomas) ran KHJ the same way, as did another lesser known Los Angeles auto dealer.
From Wikipedia article on KFAC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KFAC_(radio_station)
“In 1945, the station's owner, E.L. Cord the F.A.C. in the station's call letters stood for "Franklin Auburn Cord." Mr. Cord was the owner of the Franklin, Auburn, Cord & Duesenberg company (the transmitter was located on the roof of their dealership in downtown Los Angeles). Mr. Cord was touring the station when he saw for the first time the huge collection of discs (a full symphony might take up twelve 78 rpm discs)
“KFAC owned. Cord decided to make better use of this investment by switching to all-classical music. Management tested the waters on this idea by asking the audience if they wanted another nighttime program, "Lucky Lager Dance Time" (which played pop and swing tunes) to continue or if they would prefer more classical. Classical won by a slim margin.”
Lucky Lager Dance Time (a Saturday night program that ran for about twenty years, pre-dating top forty lists but based on the same idea. It used the same play list with local hosts in multiple markets.) moved over to KMPC where it remained for the rest of its run. As the brewing industry consolidated the Lucky Lager brewery in Azusa Ca, was eventually acquired by Miller High Life, who built a modern plant in plant in Irwindale. The program itself disappeared around 1960.
The point of all this?
The corporatization of the radio industry, maturing of the FM band and the advent of the Internet precludes doing things the “old way,” which seems to have vanished. However, things go in cycles and over time a recognizable facsimile may emerge.
The stations founder, Earle C Anthony, actually prohibited use of a ratings book by his sales department and screened the ads – listening and advertising he regarded as a privilege more than a source of revenue. At one time all ads had to be done “live” and two staff announcers were available to insure variety while a continuity department insured separation of competitors both locally and with the network. .
Clear Channel doesn’t have the luxury of being a debt free owner that can simply offer the public whatever management likes and be content to break even. So, with the shift of the younger audience to social media and music to FM, CC is trying to move from the “more stimulating talk radio” slogan used for a quarter century, to “live and local with more on the Internet,” becoming what could possibly be called “more informative talk radio.”
Earle C Anthony once objected to one of his newscasters using KFI as an acronym for “Keeping Fully Informed,” but it was a fair characterization of a station that had the NBC Network, 90 minutes of farm programming, Floyd Young’s fruit frost warnings, a local news staff, four news commentators of different persuasions, and locally produced programs such as the Boy Scout jamboree, and competitions between local youth with the Young America Sings and Young America Speaks competitions sponsored by the station in conjunction with Los Angeles County high schools.
It was Mr Anthony’s station, with programming as Packard distributor Anthony wanted. His protégée, Cadillac distributor Don Lee (and later his son Thomas) ran KHJ the same way, as did another lesser known Los Angeles auto dealer.
From Wikipedia article on KFAC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KFAC_(radio_station)
“In 1945, the station's owner, E.L. Cord the F.A.C. in the station's call letters stood for "Franklin Auburn Cord." Mr. Cord was the owner of the Franklin, Auburn, Cord & Duesenberg company (the transmitter was located on the roof of their dealership in downtown Los Angeles). Mr. Cord was touring the station when he saw for the first time the huge collection of discs (a full symphony might take up twelve 78 rpm discs)
“KFAC owned. Cord decided to make better use of this investment by switching to all-classical music. Management tested the waters on this idea by asking the audience if they wanted another nighttime program, "Lucky Lager Dance Time" (which played pop and swing tunes) to continue or if they would prefer more classical. Classical won by a slim margin.”
Lucky Lager Dance Time (a Saturday night program that ran for about twenty years, pre-dating top forty lists but based on the same idea. It used the same play list with local hosts in multiple markets.) moved over to KMPC where it remained for the rest of its run. As the brewing industry consolidated the Lucky Lager brewery in Azusa Ca, was eventually acquired by Miller High Life, who built a modern plant in plant in Irwindale. The program itself disappeared around 1960.
The point of all this?
The corporatization of the radio industry, maturing of the FM band and the advent of the Internet precludes doing things the “old way,” which seems to have vanished. However, things go in cycles and over time a recognizable facsimile may emerge.
The brief history you gave could apply to pretty much any industry in this country, because it's all interconnected. The auto industry has changed, and car dealerships have changed, leading to some people buying cars online from sites like Cars.com or even eBay.
There are still rich people who have a message to get out, and want to use media ownership to do it. However, they're not using AM radio. Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post, and we may all learn a lot from how this very wealthy guy who has, as you put it, the "luxury of being debt free" to change the way traditional media does business.
However, the move of Rush was intended to be a solution for the sagging 9 AM to Noon numbers on KFI. Rush was causing KFI to score in the 1.2 range in the December-Holiday-Jan period in middays in 25-54, and now, without Rush, the daypart is up to a 2.3. Yes, fairly early to judge but Rush was part of the problem.
A bit ironic isn't it that Rush, a national personality, is less reined in than the other KFI staff. You say Rush was part of the problem, but a few posts below you said that the station becoming boring was also to blame.
I agree with you (and have stated before) that the entire station has been muzzled since the J&K Whitney incident and it has led to a much more boring station. My listening pattern almost identically matches yours that you noted below in this regard. As for Handel, his problem is two-fold (1) he has become much more vocal with his liberal opinions on an otherwise conservative station and (2) where he once packed a lot of content in his show and was a valuable information resource, his show has become much more gimmicky and less substantive. People notice these things only over a long period of time, but they eventually notice and move on. I always suspected a large part of his audience were just people tuning in early to catch Rush.
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