I'm honestly not sure why news stations held onto their elevated ratings for so long. It seems the news cycle slowed to its normal pace a year and a half or so ago, so really not sure what's going on now.
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Seattle-Tacoma Radio Ratings: June 2023
- Thread starter pjc1961
- Start date
Agree news cycle is slow now. Next year is an Election year which should benefit news/talk stations. KNWN also seems hurt by not having a full market FM like KUOW and KIRO. They don't really show up much 25-54, hard to get that demo to tune in to AM or a scratchy FM.
The targets of CHR, Hot AC and AC are all women. Depending on the positions of AC and CHR stations in each market, Hot ACs are generally 25-44 Female targeted, but there is going to be a considerable 18-24 and 45-49 component on the sides.
What's interesting about KPLZ is that in (what I believe is there) demo, women 25-54, they do relatively well in both morning and afternoon drive. They just get killed pretty bad in middays and I think its cause their trying to get into that workday station race and that's just a lane that's already crowded, those people have a place to go to. It's a station of bad cliches and cheesy old school takes. "More Music, Variety" etc. No one actually believes it when every station says it. They should just go back to Hot AC and stop chasing the uncatchable. I'm not a master of the AC format but I do think trying to be more like the other AC stations is not a great move. Celine Dion? Whitney Houston? I don't think many 25 (or even 35) year-old women want to hear that.
Your post compelled me to take a fresh look at their playlist. I must agree with you! This is one sloppily programmed station. Not sure it can be called Hot AC anymore. It's mostly a wide ranging mix of 90s and 00s music with a couple even older songs and a few newer songs (I did see some recurrents but not many). The occasional hip hop song is a weird touch, and the infrequent oldie (Fleetwood Mac) is a weird touch. They also play some library tracks that, in my opinion, have not withstood the test of time well enough to be worthy of a slot on a major market Hot AC station.
The mix strikes me as a station trying to wedge itself between Warm 106.9 and Jack FM while simultaneously trying to stay just contemporary enough to cross cume with the CHR stations. It is a messy hodge podge musically.
The mix strikes me as a station trying to wedge itself between Warm 106.9 and Jack FM while simultaneously trying to stay just contemporary enough to cross cume with the CHR stations. It is a messy hodge podge musically.
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KPLZ flipped to AC in December 2022. They are listed in Mediabase and Nielsen as AC. From your post Mark they appear to play a handful of AC currents in a low rotation and then a WIDE variety of gold from DECEMBER 63 OH WHAT A NIGHT to Fleetwood Mac to Coolio and Backstreet Boys along with early 2K. June book they did not really perform well in any daypart in core female demos, but they have only been at AC for six months. Kind of a JACK approach to AC? Like KPNW it is probably too soon to pull the plug.
To be successful, you need a strong morning show as the station anchor. All the other dayparts, including middays and nights, amount to filler until the next morning show. For years KPLZ had that with Kent and Alan. Until they're able to find a similar formula, they'll just be another music station among dozens of other music stations in the market.
Okay, I could see KPLZ as being current-based Variety Hits. It's definitely not your typical AC or Hot AC. I've noticed both formats seem to alternate current gold current gold. KPLZ wasn't that predictable when I heard them about three weeks ago. Not quite as broad as 100.1 Reno though.
Star doesn’t seem to play 80s titles while mainly playing gold titles from the 90s, 2000s and 2K.
Cause they rarely play Fleetwood Mac or Roxette or even much Micheal Jackson so they aren’t necessarily an Adult Hits station though it isn’t a typical AC or Hot AC station.
They are probably trying it out before planning to flip though Curt Kruise could move it back to Hot AC at the end of July. Or they will try to see if it works before flipping the format or moving it back to Hot AC.
It probably has more to do with the format shuffle with why they flipped. They probably wouldn’t have flipped it to rock if there was no format shuffle and continue with the format for a while longer and try to see if it works. I think it tanked to a 1.6 in the February books due to the format shuffle.
Looking at the Star playlist, I don’t see anything wrong with what they’re playing. It seems like it would be in their best interest to continue to work on their lineup of talent. Give listeners a reason to prefer 101.5 over 106.9. AC is AC. The music is similar, and it’s relatively hard to make an argument for one station having a significantly better playlist over the other.
And with all respect to Kurt, that means a heavier-hitting morning show. For talent; the rest of the dayparts no longer matter. Problem is; it takes time to find and refine a good AM show that once established, has legs. That may mean some trial and error too, so I suspect the impatient folks here are going to be sucking down Tums wondering why KPLZ isn't flipping to country, rock, or whatever. Patience Grasshopper!
Some of the music "Star" plays is similar to "Warm" though "Star" occasionally plays a Classic Hip Hop title that "Warm" will never touch. Star 101.5 also is slightly more current than Warm 106.9 is and doesn't play that many titles before the 90s.
I meant 2010s.
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