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Seattle-Tacoma Radio Ratings: June 2023
- Thread starter pjc1961
- Start date
Your personal view of the music heard on KEXP and KPNW is exactly the same as mine, and that KPNW has found way to balance the music from the new artist and song you've never heard before, a recent big hit song every knows, or a classic iconic song, going as far back as the 60's.
KEXP is too "out there" for me. When I've listened to them, it's briefly. I like discovering new music and emerging artists, but I prefer to hear that dropped in now and then while listening to familiar music that I know, whether it's a newer song like Rosa Linn's "Snap" or a classic from the past like Jimi Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower". It's narrow casting to a tiny segment of music listeners, one at a time. Which is why I just don't understand how they are able to do well when a ratings book comes out. So yeah, I tune out pretty quickly and go happily back to KPNW. And those theme hours on KEXP like the one that was done at 10am awhile back celebrating the birthday of a rapper I'm not familiar with, and type of music that doesn't appeal to me. You couldn't come up with a faster way to tune me out than that.
I know they have a place and purpose in Seattle radio as they bring to the forefront under-represented music. But it's just not my cup of tea.
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You hit the nail right on the head. I also like to discover new music, but there’s a certain way to approach music discovery from a programming standpoint. Contrary to what some folks might want to believe, the experts are 100% right, familiarity matters. The only approach that makes any sense is to drop a new (well curated) new song into a playlist of music that is already somewhat familiar to the listener. KPNW is doing a very good job of doing this so far, giving us a “like this? try that!” approach.
I’m glad KEXP is able to succeed, because certain people seem to like it. With that being said, I think their constant attempts to be “different” could backfire. It’s meaningless, considering that they are non-commercial and have a primary online audience, but other listeners may decide it’s getting too weird. I once volunteered for a college radio station that also had an oddball format, but even they realized that theme hours and music that was too “out there” wouldn’t work.
KEXP has been successful for an awfully long time. They sure seem to know what they are doing. I applaud the folks behind KPNW, and hope they succeed. That being said, let's see where 90.3 and 98.9 are two, three five years from now. 98.9 is one of those frequencies that just has never really moved the needle, no matter what the format. I am curious how they have billed over the years.
It's almost like it's the frequency causes the low ratings... even though we know it isn't true since 98.9 has a Class C signal. Like there is a curse on 98.9. lol. However, I think the ratings usually have to do with programming and music and it's signal.
Um they are basically a very low signal.
Interesting. Please explain your comment. They transmit from WTM and the same master antenna as several other stations:
| 47° 30' 16.70" N Latitude 121° 58' 07.80" W Longitude (NAD 83) Use NAD83 for FM filings in LMS. | 47.504639 -121.968833 | ' |
Polarization: | Horizontal | Vertical | ||
Effective Radiated Power (ERP): | 68. | 68. | kW ERP | |
Antenna radiation center Height Above Average Terrain: | 698. | 698. | meters HAAT - Calculate HAAT | |
Antenna radiation Center Height Above Mean Sea Level: | 930. | 930. | meters AMSL | |
Antenna radiation center Height Above Ground Level: | 65. | 65. | meters AGL |
Non-Directional Antenna ID: 25076f917357240e01735e3069ad0569
Antenna Make: ERI Antenna Model: SHPXA-16BC-HW-SP-2
No. of antenna sections: 16
Or is this another one of your anecdotal opinions not based on any actual data?
Maybe the listeners don’t like the look of 98.9 on their display. Like the shape of the numbers or combo or something. Or it reminds them of something bad. Like a subconscious thing or something. 👁👁
In all seriousness, I’d argue that 98.9 has gone through too many changes over the years. Hopefully they stick with KPNW and don’t pull the plug prematurely. Even though I like the KPNW format, I’m surprised they didn’t stick with country for a little while longer. Things didn’t seem quite so bad for them when they still had Fitz. It seems like they *could* have made up some ground.
It seems like every market has or had a frequency that appears to be cursed. Since 98.9 dropped Smooth Jazz, that seems to be the frequency in Seattle. Here in Portland, we don't seem to have one anymore, but for the first 9 years of its existence, 105.9 was that frequency. There are numerous other examples, including 93.3 Dallas prior to its run as a CHR, 107.3 in Charleston WV, and 104.5 in Philadelphia prior to its alternative format. In that market, it now seems to be 96.5. Interestingly, it seemed like it was 96.5 in this market prior to Jack.
But since smooth jazz was found to be an inferior format, would this curse have started before that? Smooth jazz just would have been one of the curses.
Maybe some people don’t want to see that frequency because it went away from Smooth Jazz or because it had low ratings with numerous formats.
That may be true but most people wanted “Santa FM” to come…
Is that why you claim the station is inferior?
So, you're now speaking on behalf of the Seattle-Tacoma population? Got it.
Probably cause Jack actually worked cause they play a wide mix of music that people who like heavy rock/or pop would listen to. They could also switch the station when a style they don’t like turns on and switch back when a song they like turns on which is part of the reason why it works. Sometimes, it seems cursed cause of a lower signal and the station can’t get much more traction in the market cause of that.
Well “Star” said it themselves in 2016… that most people wanted them to flip to Christmas Music. There were numerous people wondering when it would flip in 2022 only to find out it wouldn’t flip.
The ratings during the KEZX years before Smooth Jazz were nothing to crow about, so yeah, the curse started before Smooth Jazz. Now what was it before it was gourmet rock and progressive?
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