S.F./S.J. Arbitron Radio Ratings: June 2012

[michael hagerty]

There are people who claim KGO's billings are in the dumper, according to inside sources.

From about $35 million annual billings in the pre-recession years, KGO was down last year to just above $15 million in gross revenue. It can only be less this year.

Worth noting that $20 million drop in yearly gross revenue happened before Cumulus took over. I am in no way defending what they've done to KGO, but the billing disaster happened under Citadel, with Mickey Luckoff as GM.

In fairness, I also have to ask myself what I'd do if the station I bought was set up to run on the assumption that $35 million in advertising was going to show up and the reality is only $15 million is getting there.

 

[davideduardo]

ABSOLUTELY!!! The Dickeys ruined KGO! The talk station that showed everyone else how to do local talk is in shambles! Disgraceful!

I'll add to the accurate statements of Mr. Hagerty.

KGO was declining in the sales demos, meaning anything within 25 and 54, prior to the decline in revenue. Revenues generally decline well after an established station declines in ratings.

But the real cause of the steep decline of KGO was the PPM. It showed that the diary had been exaggerating TSL dramatically. It also did not show the kind of cume growth that other stations in the general market experienced. So when the PPM came out, KGO was negatively impacted in a big way... and much more so than any other major station.

So, in a way, neither Citadel nor Cumulus killed the station. If there is any blame to be handed out, it is perhaps for not bringing the traditional sound of KGO more up to date before the PPM arrived, but that might be said to require a certain degree of prescience.

 

[casual observer]

It could be fairly claimed Citadel had grown lazy when it came to updating KGO toward the end of their stewardship but Cumulus certainly deserves some blame for failing to inject any serious upgrades to their showcase property once they acquired it. In fact, they seemed to do the exact opposite. KGO had grown self-deluded about their stature long before PPM arrived. Other talk stations around the country managed to make the transition from diary to PPM much more effectively than KGO.

 

[1069_KIFR]

Not any of the CBS' "FREE FM's"! None of them made it. None.

 

[davideduardo]

Not any of the CBS' "FREE FM's"! None of them made it. None.

They were aiming, post-Stern, for 18-34 talk listeners. The only problem is that there is essentially no such thing.

 

[RadioStarOne]

The other reason for KGO'S decline over the last five years can also be laid right at doorsteps of KQED, KSFO, 910 AM, 960 AM, KNBR 680/ 1050 AM, 1220 AM, KCBS AM/FM and the great music on KOIT-FM. The News/Talk audience can only be spread around so far on a per station basis. Jack and Mickeys reluctance to pay attention to the decline with the introduction of the PPM didn't help either. For my News/Talk listening enjoyment now I go to KLBJ Austin, TX. and it's three man morning show, and to KRLD 1080 Dallas/Ft. Worth for Texas Overnight with Charlie Jones and by the way he's on right now. I haven't tuned in KGO for more than a couple of minutes at a time since last December. It's been lost to the ages! Oh Well, Farewell.

CBS Radio has the best news stations in the country! Hands Down!

 

[michael hagerty]

It could be fairly claimed Citadel had grown lazy when it came to updating KGO toward the end of their stewardship but Cumulus certainly deserves some blame for failing to inject any serious upgrades to their showcase property once they acquired it.

Let's pretend you just bought Citadel. Nationwide, it has things in it that work for you. But KGO is a mess. It's set up to run with $35 million in advertising revenue a year...but it's $20 million short of that. Serious upgrades cost money. Do you spend millions in the hopes that the upgrades will somehow bring back $20 million in yearly revenue or do you adjust the station so that you can make a profit on the $15 million you're getting now?

 

[radioguy39nj]

But the real cause of the steep decline of KGO was the PPM. It showed that the diary had been exaggerating TSL dramatically. It also did not show the kind of cume growth that other stations in the general market experienced. So when the PPM came out, KGO was negatively impacted in a big way... and much more so than any other major station.

So, in a way, neither Citadel nor Cumulus killed the station. If there is any blame to be handed out, it is perhaps for not bringing the traditional sound of KGO more up to date before the PPM arrived, but that might be said to require a certain degree of prescience.

Citadel should've moved KGO to FM once it was clear that the KCBS simulcast was a success. KCBS' demos went down when they moved to FM. Long established AM news/talk stations in other markets migrated to FM successfully. The signs were all there, but Citadel stood pat. KGO's future is very much up in the air.

 

[recto101]

Have you listened to FM 106.7 Atlanta the Cumulus O&O that does all news in the Market. It has a 1.1 share compared to when they had a 2.4 during the Classic Hits era in the books but the content on All-News 106.7FM Atlanta resembles KCBS 106.9 here in San Francisco is that it does Hard news in a 1-hour cycle . WYAY resembles FM 106.9 because they were failing Classic hits stations before they flipped to all-news however the difference is that KCBS got the 106.9 signal to simulcast the 740 edition of KCBS.

I know KGO newscasts tend to do hard news for the first 10 minutes in their newscasts but they put more emphasis on Human Interest stories and features to distinguish themselves from KCBS. But its not raking in all the audiences as much as they wanted to do. I hope 106.7FM Atlanta get better ratings in the coming months because they have a news format that is good. If WYAY were to compete against KGO in the same market then WYAY would run KGO-AM over simply because 106.7 has less happy talk

 

[1069_KIFR]

It is my recolection that CBS got 106.9FM in a swap for 610 KFRC and 106.9 KEAR in order to complete the purchase of TV Station KOVR 13 in Sacramento/Stockton market.

Because of the broadcast coverage 610 KFRC had into the Sacramento/Stockton Market, CBS would be over the limit of Owned and Operated Stations.

 

[DavidKaye]

Let's pretend you just bought Citadel. Nationwide, it has things in it that work for you. But KGO is a mess. It's set up to run with $35 million in advertising revenue a year...but it's $20 million short of that. Serious upgrades cost money. Do you spend millions in the hopes that the upgrades will somehow bring back $20 million in yearly revenue or do you adjust the station so that you can make a profit on the $15 million you're getting now?

I'd have gotten rid of ALL the talkshow hosts KGO got rid of (with the exception of Gil Gross), but I'd have done it in a classy way (retirement dinners, awards, audience participation farewells, etc) and not pissed off the advertisers or the listeners.

I'd have moved most of the second-string to those first-string positions as much as possible: Pat Thurston, Christine Craft, Peter B. Collins, brought in Angie Coiro, maybe Tom Benner, etc. I'd have brought in basically everyone on their second-string list but Karel.

I'd likely have emphasized the local news angle as KGO does now, but kept the talkshows.

I think the key to keeping KGO's listenership up while costs down would have been to keep as many familiar voices as possible. People don't like change, but on the other hand, there have been/are KGO hosts who do appeal to people below retirement age.

 

[recto101]

Have you listened to FM 106.7 Atlanta the Cumulus O&O that does all news in the Market. It has a 1.1 share compared to when they had a 2.4 during the Classic Hits era in the books but the content on All-News 106.7FM Atlanta resembles KCBS 106.9 here in San Francisco is that it does Hard news in a 1-hour cycle . WYAY resembles FM 106.9 because they were failing Classic hits stations before they flipped to all-news however the difference is that KCBS got the 106.9 signal to simulcast the 740 edition of KCBS.

I know KGO newscasts tend to do hard news for the first 10 minutes in their newscasts but they put more emphasis on Human Interest stories and features to distinguish themselves from KCBS. But its not raking in all the audiences as much as they wanted to do. I hope 106.7FM Atlanta get better ratings in the coming months because they have a news format that is good. If WYAY were to compete against KGO in the same market then WYAY would run KGO-AM over simply because 106.7 has less happy talk

WYAY has no Happy Talk that KGO has. I know during the Traffic/Weather and Features KGO would put more commentary and Happy Talk into the segment.

 

[davideduardo]

Have you listened to FM 106.7 Atlanta the Cumulus O&O that does all news in the Market. It has a 1.1 share compared to when they had a 2.4 during the Classic Hits era

WYAY did not convert to all news until 5 PM on May 29, which was 6 days into the "June" book. So comparing the old and the new format in a survey that was 20% one format and 80% the first three weeks of a new format is simply illogical.

 

[recto101]

Have you listened to FM 106.7 Atlanta the Cumulus O&O that does all news in the Market. It has a 1.1 share compared to when they had a 2.4 during the Classic Hits era

WYAY did not convert to all news until 5 PM on May 29, which was 6 days into the "June" book. So comparing the old and the new format in a survey that was 20% one format and 80% the first three weeks of a new format is simply illogical.

Also I agree that WYAY ratings will take some time until they establish a larger and new Audience to the format.

 

[robnokshus06]

Not any of the CBS' "FREE FM's"! None of them made it. None.

Not entirely true. KLSX was #1 Men 25-54 (target demo) in middays and afternoons at the time of it's demise. It was blown up as a cost cutting measure.

 

[davideduardo]

Not any of the CBS' "FREE FM's"! None of them made it. None.

Not entirely true. KLSX was #1 Men 25-54 (target demo) in middays and afternoons at the time of it's demise. It was blown up as a cost cutting measure.

In the average of the "Fall" three PPMs, KLSX was down to a 1.3 total share, and way off in the target, too. In December, 2008, KLSX was 17th in Men 25-54. It was 18th in November and 23rd in October.

The myth about KLSX going out at the top in Men 25-54 is simply false, a product of the Lykis propaganda machine, I think. Afternoons in that demo in October, 2008 were 22nd. Mid-days were 16th. So much for winning dayparts, too.

(I pick October as that would be the book most likely used to put the nails in the talk coffin and proceed with the preparations for the switch)

More important, KLSX was off from $51 million billing prior to the departure of Stern to about $28 million... a fall of nearly half of its revenue.

97.1 was switched because talk for young adults, without Stern, did not produce results. On the other hand, CHR was revealing itself to be a star performer in the PPM, and soon-to-be-rival KIIS was leading the market and the nation in billings.

Far from being a cost savings based move, the change from KLSX to KAMP was one based on the diminishing and dreadful returns of the FM "young talk" non-format and the enormous potential of CHR.

 

[chris319]

Worth noting that $20 million drop in yearly gross revenue happened before Cumulus took over. I am in no way defending what they've done to KGO, but the billing disaster happened under Citadel, with Mickey Luckoff as GM.

I understand it didn't stop there, that revenues continued to decline even further after the format change.

Unless it was as a lead-in to the 5 am news, I could never understand Taliafero's value to KGO. Replacing him with Bloomberg might have made sense.

Question for David Eduardo: Could you help settle a debate? Do you suppose Cumulus accounts for KGO/KSFO/KNBR separately, i.e. as separate stations, or that they lump them all together as one?