Sacramento 6+ December shares

[michael hagerty]

Sacramento

Nielsen Audio PPM Monthly Ratings Sacramento (Market #30) Population: 2,121,900 Black: 172,800 - Hispanic: 468,500 Average Quarter Hour Share for

radioinsight.com

Highlights:

• Mix 96.1 gets its usual Christmas bump (7.2-9.4), but the Breeze nearly doubled its share (4.8-9.1).
• My friend and former boss Bill White will likely go down in history as KFBK's most successful PD. When your lowest book in six months is an 8.3, and when you get that share with one-third the cume of Mix 96.1, you're doing something right.
• CapRadio News' (90.9) cume finally surpasses that of KFBK, but it can't match the TSL and ends up with a 4.0 for its third down book (4.7-4.5-4.0).

 

[Weiserguy]

CapRadio News' (90.9) cume finally surpasses that of KFBK, but it can't match the TSL and ends up with a 4.0 for its third down book (4.7-4.5-4.0).

CapRadio has the benefit of NPR programming and its typically high TSL. But in the process of getting their financial house in order, they've largely neutered the local flavor of the operation. They still produce Insight a few times a week, and they have some cursory drive-time local news inserts, but the station now sounds automated most of the day and night. That's not much of an invitation to keep listening unless the draw is ME or ATC or FA, and the "book" reflects that reality.

 

[michael hagerty]

CapRadio has the benefit of NPR programming and its typically high TSL. But in the process of getting their financial house in order, they've largely neutered the local flavor of the operation. They still produce Insight a few times a week, and they have some cursory drive-time local news inserts, but the station now sounds automated most of the day and night. That's not much of an invitation to keep listening unless the draw is ME or ATC or FA, and the "book" reflects that reality.

Yeah, but…the last books before they started automating everything were the lowest in the station’s history. They bottomed out at a 1.6.

They may have lost 0.7 in two books, but they’re way stronger than they were two years ago.

 

[Weiserguy]

Yeah, but…the last books before they started automating everything were the lowest in the station’s history. They bottomed out at a 1.6.

They may have lost 0.7 in two books, but they’re way stronger than they were two years ago.

Without the detailed breakouts it's difficult to know who's listening and when. But my suspicion is that the majority of listeners come and go based on what NPR programs (and similar fare like Marketplace) air at a given time. CapRadio's not doing much proactive to attract or hold on to that audience beyond what they pick off the bird. What audience they get, and how long they keep them, is more a function of the listeners' need for clear, unbiased news content than it is anything CapRadio does. If anything, all the canned "beg-a-thon" messages push listeners away.

I've been critical of KQED on many occasions, but this very morning, in the 7:30-8:30 AM hour, I was laying in bed, bouncing between KQED, KALW and KXJZ. Each time a Morning Edition segment ended, the two Bay Area stations had a live and local announcer introing traffic, weather, a local segment, a forward promo, whatever. On CapRadio, it was the same "canned promo for the station--canned donation ask--canned promo for some upcoming show produced by said show--funding credit cluster. It could have been coming out of Medford or Fresno. (In fact, Medford or Fresno would likely have sounded more alive than this.) Over time that approach has to start affecting the shares.

 

[michael hagerty]

Without the detailed breakouts it's difficult to know who's listening and when. But my suspicion is that the majority of listeners come and go based on what NPR programs (and similar fare like Marketplace) air at a given time. CapRadio's not doing much proactive to attract or hold on to that audience beyond what they pick off the bird. What audience they get, and how long they keep them, is more a function of the listeners' need for clear, unbiased news content than it is anything CapRadio does. If anything, all the canned "beg-a-thon" messages push listeners away.

I've been critical of KQED on many occasions, but this very morning, in the 7:30-8:30 AM hour, I was laying in bed, bouncing between KQED, KALW and KXJZ. Each time a Morning Edition segment ended, the two Bay Area stations had a live and local announcer introing traffic, weather, a local segment, a forward promo, whatever. On CapRadio, it was the same "canned promo for the station--canned donation ask--canned promo for some upcoming show produced by said show--funding credit cluster. It could have been coming out of Medford or Fresno. (In fact, Medford or Fresno would likely have sounded more alive than this.) Over time that approach has to start affecting the shares.

It's New Year's Day. Even in the old days, CapRadio wouldn't have had a host or a newscaster in the building on a major holiday. And it has never done traffic reports.

Again---the numbers for CapRadio have improved since the automation/de-contenting/whatever (instituted by former interim GM Tom Karlo). That began in the fall of 2023. Prior to that, at full strength in terms of content, they slipped below a 2.0 and bottomed out at a 1.6.

In 2024, the ratings began to climb and by the end of that year, they had a 4.0.


Only some of that can be attributed to my retiring on January 31 of 2024.


The six-book trend is 4.6-3.9-3.8-4.7-4.5-4.0 (and they usually take a dip when all-Christmas is available). That 4.7 two books ago was the highest number for them since 2022. Let's see what January and February look like.

 

[MarioMania]

That's Good for the Breeze

I wish the Breeze in San Francisco will do that

Good Competition between KOIT & KISQ