KTAR FM will always have an excuse for under performing because they continue to make tweaks to the schedule, imaging, positioners--and just about everything else. When you have an inconsistent product, you have inconsistent results. I applaud some of the moves KTAR-FM has made, and continue to question others. They have a lot of work to do if they're interested in dethroning KFYI. As I see it, the 'fanboys' of KTAR that inhabit this board are perfectly able to make their case by saying "hey, they just brought in Mac, Glenn Beck and Phil Hendrie, so give it time", which is accurate, of course they fail to note that these changes prevent real growth and only confuse the audience.
What makes KTAR-FM's challenges even more dubious is that they have promised one thing but deliver another. For my money, KTAR-FM is improving, but I will say that the commitment to news oriented programming and less 'political' type programming has completely gone by the wayside. Again, I like the direction, but it's not really my opinion that counts--it is the opinion of the audience... and thus far, it's a fairly luke warm response in the arbitrons.
Incidentally, and I feel that this may warrant it's own post, I should note that Jay (jayaz) has gone oddly silent since our last conversation. I told you that KFYI's down trend was an anomaly and they would return to their pattern of success, but the KFYI haters came out in full force just a couple months ago... but where are you now? All those people that talked about how JD Hayworth was a failure before he even got on the air seem to have egg on their face--again, his show really isn't my cup of tea, but I quietly root for the guy since he was buried by everyone on the board. I see Jacobs and Barry Young are 2nd M25-54 with an astonishingly high number... again, predicted by me and it seems that all the detractors are silenced again. When KFYI has another bad trend in a few years they'll be back but will disappear shortly thereafter. I love it.