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The PPM ratings are in!

Other than for general discussion, I really do not understand the continued obsession with (and posting of) the 6+ numbers, since (as David points out) they are misleading in terms of stations' performance in their desired sales demo.

I'd really like to know why this happens every time: Someone posts the public numbers, includes their analysis as to what those numbers mean (and sometimes gets approval from people who also apparently don't know that those numbers are essentially meaningless) and then David comes along and shows why those numbers have no basis in reality.

Could all of you explain why you perpetuate this cycle? I simply don't get why past experience hasn't caused a greater realization of the truth about those numbers.
Yes they can be misleading
 
Not as bad? They are 43rd in 25-54. They are 39th in 35-64. The few that they have are 65 and over, and then not many.
Not as bad meaning not a .03 which they have been in the past. But they were hovering around a 1 share for awhile that's what I meant but your not wrong David. Can you tell me why does cumulus hold onto that station. Do you think it will ever sell? If so will they blow it up?
 
Other than for general discussion, I really do not understand the continued obsession with (and posting of) the 6+ numbers, since (as David points out) they are misleading in terms of stations' performance in their desired sales demo.

I'd really like to know why this happens every time: Someone posts the public numbers, includes their analysis as to what those numbers mean (and sometimes gets approval from people who also apparently don't know that those numbers are essentially meaningless) and then David comes along and shows why those numbers have no basis in reality.

Could all of you explain why you perpetuate this cycle? I simply don't get why past experience hasn't caused a greater realization of the truth about those numbers.
KMR, You still don't seem to understand that this is a "general discussion" radio board, and its intended audience includes not just radio programmers and executives who have access to demo-stratified ratings, but all members of the public who enjoy and want to discuss radio. If you and the powers that be would like this to be a private board for "insiders only", I am sure that can be arranged, it's just that the vast majority of users will be chased away, which in turn crushes the profit incentive (or at least an incentive not to LOSE investor money) and then the board will DISAPPEAR.

The 6+ numbers are not useless. They are useless for SALES. The vast majority of users and posters to this board are not in sales. They are also pretty much useless for strategic analysis purposes as has been pointed out many times. But users can clearly see from the 6+ numbers what stations are "generally" more listened to than others, and form certain conclusions from the data and have reasonable discussions. Of course the data is not nearly as good as the demo data (who said they were?), but that is what they have to work with; they don't have David's numbers and he cannot just post them for everyone to see. But most of all they spur discussion, postings, and page views for the board. In other words, they are good not just for this board, but for the overall radio business - that is why they are published!

So get over it. Your constant harping on the same point for years has become tiresome. Instead of complaining about other posters, you should be courteous and not talk down to them in your over-the-top patronizing manner. Education is a life-long process, so if you feel you have to keep educating everyone with your much more nuanced insights, then by all means continue to do so. Just don't be a snob about it.
 
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Also, K-Earth is co-owned with Jack FM. K-Earth already plays more Alternative / New Wave compared to a typical American Classic Hits station. A wider playlist could cause K-Earth to trample over Jack.
Even if the K-Earth playlist were to expand, Jack still plays artists I could never see K-Earth spinning, including Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd (songs other than Another Brick in the Wall), the Seattle grunge bands, etc. Not to mention that even though there's overlap, the demographics for the two stations are quite different.
 
KNX is below every month from August to November in 25-54. So far, no additional sales demo audience due to the FM addition.
In a post yesterday you added "KNX is 23rd in 25-54, down from 19th in the month prior to adding the FM simulcast." My question for the group is has KNX done enough - or for that matter anything - to appeal to a younger audience on FM? They even market themselves as "News for a NEW Generation" on Facebook. But other than the name/ID I don't really hear much of a change. The focus of the content hasn't changed a bit. And while I have long aged out of the sales demo (and wear hearing aids) - it even strikes me that the station is still processed like an AM station, not an FM station. For example I notice a lot of the promos have an annoying over-driven sound that seems designed to cut through the AM mush, but is not really pleasant on FM.
 
KMR, You still don't seem to understand that this is a "general discussion" radio board, and its intended audience includes not just radio programmers and executives who have access to demo-stratified ratings, but all members of the public who enjoy and want to discuss radio. If you and the powers that be would like this to be a private board for "insiders only", I am sure that can be arranged, it's just that the vast majority of users will be chased away, which in turn crushes the profit incentive (or at least an incentive not to LOSE investor money) and then the board will DISAPPEAR.
That is a valid point, and that is why many of us who do have access try to clear up the sometimes major differences between 6+ or 12+ and the actual sales demos.
The 6+ numbers are not useless. They are useless for SALES. The vast majority of users and posters to this board are not in sales. They are also pretty much useless for strategic analysis purposes as has been pointed out many times. But users can clearly see from the 6+ numbers what stations are "generally" more listened to than others, and form certain conclusions from the data and have reasonable discussions.
I have a bit of disagreement on that. Many of us in the business don't even look at 12+ as it distorts our perspective on our target. In today's fragmented radio, the 6+ or 12+ can really be deceptive.
Of course the data is not nearly as good as the demo data (who said they were?), but that is what they have to work with; they don't have David's numbers and he cannot just post them for everyone to see. But most of all they spur discussion, postings, and page views for the board. In other words, they are good not just for this board, but for the overall radio business - that is why they are published!
Americans love lists. One night TV show depended on lists as a staple item for years.

But it is sort of like looking at the top box office for movies, without looking at the cost of making each movie. A partial and deceptive view.
 
In a post yesterday you added "KNX is 23rd in 25-54, down from 19th in the month prior to adding the FM simulcast." My question for the group is has KNX done enough - or for that matter anything - to appeal to a younger audience on FM? They even market themselves as "News for a NEW Generation" on Facebook. But other than the name/ID I don't really hear much of a change. The focus of the content hasn't changed a bit. And while I have long aged out of the sales demo (and wear hearing aids) - it even strikes me that the station is still processed like an AM station, not an FM station. For example I notice a lot of the promos have an annoying over-driven sound that seems designed to cut through the AM mush, but is not really pleasant on FM.
Yes! I agree that they still seem to have that "wall of sound" approach to the staging. They would be better served to emulate TV newscasts with hand-offs without all the sound effects. It is over-produced and sounds like Y2K, not 2022.

And the audio processing on FM should not be the same as on AM. The FM sounds too thickly compressed to me (or did last weekend when I was in the signal range).
 
Not as bad meaning not a .03 which they have been in the past. But they were hovering around a 1 share for awhile that's what I meant but your not wrong David. Can you tell me why does cumulus hold onto that station. Do you think it will ever sell? If so will they blow it up?
I think they want more than anyone is willing to pay. They do benefit by LA clearance on their in-house syndicated stuff, but nobody is listening. Right now there are more AMs for sale than buyers.
 
The 6+ numbers are not useless. They are useless for SALES. The vast majority of users and posters to this board are not in sales. They are also pretty much useless for strategic analysis purposes as has been pointed out many times. But users can clearly see from the 6+ numbers what stations are "generally" more listened to than others, and form certain conclusions from the data and have reasonable discussions. Of course the data is not nearly as good as the demo data (who said they were?), but that is what they have to work with; they don't have David's numbers and he cannot just post them for everyone to see. But most of all they spur discussion, postings, and page views for the board. In other words, they are good not just for this board, but for the overall radio business - that is why they are published!
I'll just jump in to say that you're both right. The 6+ numbers are all we who aren't subscribers get. So they're conversation starters. They're also an excuse for David to hop in with some demographic rankings that he might not start a thread for.

But---if they're useless for sales, then they're useless in determining whether the talent, the PD, the format, the station itself, lives or dies. They really aren't any kind of measure of success. If every adult over 65 in L.A. were to suddenly decide that K-Mozart was their station, it would be number one 6+. And still not making Saul any money.
 
I wonder how many former KNOU listeners were shuffled around to other stations after it became KNX-FM? That would definitely be the cause of a big uptick, somewhere. Perhaps that's why stations like KOST, KRTH (despite that Classic Hits format), and KIIS are a bit on the high side?
 
I wonder how many former KNOU listeners were shuffled around to other stations after it became KNX-FM? That would definitely be the cause of a big uptick, somewhere. Perhaps that's why stations like KOST, KRTH (despite that Classic Hits format), and KIIS are a bit on the high side?
There weren’t that many KNOU listeners and even fewer, if any, exclusive ones. Their time spent listening to their other choices may have increased a bit, but probably not enough to make waves.
 
There weren’t that many KNOU listeners and even fewer, if any, exclusive ones. Their time spent listening to their other choices may have increased a bit, but probably not enough to make waves.
If you look at the last book's audience sharing, you see (as you do with most stations) that it is not just with one or two stations but with a dozen or more that have significant sharing. And you see all kinds of unexpected things, like sharing with KLAX or KSCA or KLLI or KXOL.
 
It's not that there are not buyers, it's just that they can't come up with $7 million.
There are plenty with $7 million, but the issue is whether a limited coverage station with low power is worth that.
 
KMR, You still don't seem to understand that this is a "general discussion" radio board, and its intended audience includes not just radio programmers and executives who have access to demo-stratified ratings, but all members of the public who enjoy and want to discuss radio. If you and the powers that be would like this to be a private board for "insiders only", I am sure that can be arranged, it's just that the vast majority of users will be chased away, which in turn crushes the profit incentive (or at least an incentive not to LOSE investor money) and then the board will DISAPPEAR.
That is a valid point, and that is why many of us who do have access try to clear up the sometimes major differences between 6+ or 12+ and the actual sales demos.
The 6+ numbers are not useless. They are useless for SALES. The vast majority of users and posters to this board are not in sales. They are also pretty much useless for strategic analysis purposes as has been pointed out many times. But users can clearly see from the 6+ numbers what stations are "generally" more listened to than others, and form certain conclusions from the data and have reasonable discussions.
I have a bit of disagreement on that. Many of us in the business don't even look at 12+ as it distorts our perspective on our target.
Of course the data is not nearly as good as the demo data (who said they were?), but that is what they have to work with; they don't have David's numbers and he cannot just post them for everyone to see. But most of all they spur discussion, postings, and page views for the board. In other words, they are good not just for this board, but for the overall radio business - that is why they are published!
Any discussion is good, as it brings out ideas and possibilities that might otherwise stay hidden.
 
I think more likely can’t justify $7 million for KABC. I can’t even imagine a scenario for making back your investment in a reasonable amount of time.
Wrong station. I think you and David missed the joke, which I won't explain other than to say I was specifically referencing a station further up the dial that is having a hard time, ahem, "closing the transaction".
 
Wrong station. I think you and David missed the joke, which I won't explain other than to say I was specifically referencing a station further up the dial that is having a hard time, ahem, "closing the transaction".
That's because the KBLA purchase is for very specifically $7.15 million, not "$7 million".
 
Wrong station. I think you and David missed the joke, which I won't explain other than to say I was specifically referencing a station further up the dial that is having a hard time, ahem, "closing the transaction".
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.
 
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