The PPM ratings are in!

[jt99]

A tight playlist approach works best in markets where there is a lot of short-term listening several times a day. And even that is a challenge because you need to set scheduling rules to have the largest gap possible between plays of any one song at the same approximate time (and keep a close eye on that when reviewing the music log before sending it to the automation). Markets with longer listening spans need to use a different philosophy.

Also, to extrapolate from what Vic said above, KRTH draws on the 80s heritage of KROQ and plays a lot of New Wave songs that get little or no spins in other markets (I can confirm this based on my own use of airplay databases). In the vast majority of markets, those songs are relegated to weekend specials, whereas on KRTH they are in regular rotation.

I was only referring to the tight playlist when saying "the KRTH formula", I agree that playing all the minor New Wave hits that KRTH does is something that wouldn't work out anywhere else. While I understand that different markets have different listening patterns, the fact that KRTH is a rare station in its format to consistently rank so high in 25-54 and 18-49 makes me think that other stations in the format should take the tight playlist approach to their playlist. I will concede that it could simply be a matter of other Classic Hits stations finding the minor hits that work well for their market, like KRTH with New Wave, without tightening the playlist. I will also concede that since Classic Hits is mainly a 35-54 format, stations in the format that consistently rank top 3 in 35-54 could make money even if they're only around 7th in 25-54. Regardless, KRTH's success in 25-54 and 18-49 is something I find very interesting, given that Classic Hits stations are notorious for not ranking as highly in 25-54 as they do in 6+

 

[Mido3737]

Which is a better listen K-Earth or Jack?

 

[davideduardo]

Yep. Blew right by me. But it is interesting that KFWB, KHJ, KSPN (the old KMPC) and KBLA have found buyers (even if the KBLA deal is ill-advised and apparently poorly put together) but not KABC. None of those are stellar properties with obvious upsides---which means the math must not work on 790's asking price.

A lot of unknowns. The price for leasing the shared transmitter site is among them, and the availability of good formats is another. The seller has to decide if the sale price covers the loss of network clearances, too.

We already have stations in the major Asian languages, as well as Farsi. Armenian seems to have been moved to cable channels but has no full radio voice. Spanish is not very viable on AM any more except for niche formats.

And, other than sports on 570 and KFI, there is nothing one can do successfully in English... but to even try, you need a signal that covers the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valley areas as well as central and southern OC where the predominantly English dominant non-ethnic audience lives. KABC does not fit any of those criteria.

 

[davideduardo]

Which is a better listen K-Earth or Jack?

Totally different music blend and presentation. Jack, like the old 7-Up campaign, is the "un-radio" with no jocks, wide playlist and snarky liners. K-earth is a taste of the old KHJ only slightly modernized and with a tight playlist.

This is like comparing strawberry and chocolate at Baskin-Robbins.

 

[Mediafrog+]

We already have stations in the major Asian languages, as well as Farsi.

Farsi is an Asian language…

 

[K.M. Richards]

Flipper, I will only agree with you to a point. Yes, the 6+ numbers do spark discussion and that is indeed good for the board.

However, when people make proclamations about how stations are doing based on those numbers, that is assigning weight to those numbers that they do not have. In my opinion, all the non-professionals should refrain from that, and perhaps instead ask specifically how a station they are interested in is performing in its target demo.

David points out, correctly, that the demographic breakouts are useful for sales. Do you have a better indicator of how a station is really doing? I don't.

You accuse me of "harping" on this. I simply want the discussions to be meaningful, and they are not when they are based on 6+.

 

[davideduardo]

Farsi is an Asian language…

I meant that Farsi is not a major Asian language... it is only spoken by Persians. I suppose we could say that there are more such speakers than those who speak Laotian or Burmese, about 30 million each. But there is no all-Laotian or Burmese station in LA.

 

[briancraig]

I find discussions about how stations are doing 6+ to be very interesting and valuable.

The 6+ numbers do tell us how many total people listen to a radio station. What formats and genres of music are doing well and are not doing well overall in certain markets is fascinating.

Since I own no radio stations in Los Angeles, nor work for any or need to buy advertising on any, the “sales demos” are not as interesting to me as the 6+ numbers. Although I certainly always appreciate when David gives info about the various demos.

But the fact that KOST has a lot of listeners and KPFK doesn’t is worthy of discussion. Even if the 6 share of KOST listeners were all 65+ and the .2 share of KPFK were all 41 year old women who were millionaires, it would still be a fact that a lot of people listen to KOST and few listen to KPFK.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

I find discussions about how stations are doing 6+ to be very interesting and valuable.

The 6+ numbers do tell us how many total people listen to a radio station. What formats and genres of music are doing well and are not doing well overall in certain markets is fascinating.

Since I own no radio stations in Los Angeles, nor work for any or need to buy advertising on any, the “sales demos” are not as interesting to me as the 6+ numbers. Although I certainly always appreciate when David gives info about the various demos.

But the fact that KOST has a lot of listeners and KPFK doesn’t is worthy of discussion. Even if the 6 share of KOST listeners were all 65+ and the .2 share of KPFK were all 41 year old women who were millionaires, it would still be a fact that a lot of people listen to KOST and few listen to KPFK.

Agreed.