What? NOBODY wants to talk September ratings?

[Mike Brewer]

Yeah, I know...it isn't about TV, Smooth Jazz or a certain Beach Boys song...

http://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb039

In the "beauty contest" numbers, the top 5 are separated by less than a point.

Nice comeback for KIRO-FM. Meanwhile, KOMO continues its downward slide. Guess that Ridgway series didn't help much.

In sportsradio, 710 is killing KJR, even with a crappy Mariners season.

 

[whocares]

I question whether there are any active radio people on or caring about this board? Thanks for posting.

 

[bobdavcav]

Mike, it's because there's nothing really to discuss. Top in men is KISW, top in women is KPLZ, and I didn't even look at the demo numbers as I don't have access to them, but it's been that way for months. The two big things I've noticed about this book as compared to the previous ones is that the overall shares for stations at the top are down, but some of the lower stations are up. KLCK for example jumped from a 2.9 to a 3.4 this month, and KVI is up almost a full share too. Yes, KJR is still getting killed by KIRO, but they're up nicely from last month. One station oddly absent is Hot. It's interesting also, that in 6+, KLCK is actually ahead of KPLZ for the first time since I started watching the ratings back in May.

 

[fordranger797]

Darn! I have been hoping that KIRO FM fails for so long now!

 

[crainbebo]

Well, actually, KPLZ is a 3.0 - kind of dismal. KRWM is way up in the 5's.

-crainbebo

 

[searadiofreak]

As metioned by others, mainly AQH, KPLZ survives by winning young adult women. They have a niche and they work it it to their advantage. What Sinclair does with it is the big question here at the end of 2013. Perhaps 2014 will bring a clearer picture.

KIRO FM, if done correctly, will not fail, in fact will succeed if they make the right programming moves. They should be looking at WTOP-FM Washington, DC for an example of success.

Warm will do well as long as they maintain their Christmas image, and don't stray too far from safe AC mainstream programming.

 

[discjockeyjohn64]

According to Station Ratings.com that posts the monthly trends, KHTP (Hot 103.7) had a 2.1 share 6+ in the September survey just released.
Down a bit from what The Mountain was doing, but they are just getting started, so they had to scare away their previous audience and with the huge load of advertising they are doing right now, and 10,000 songs in a row without ads, that will change by next trend. Funny thing, I saw the KMTT calls were being used by a station in Portland, Oregon on their September trend report.

 

[AQH]

KIRO FM, if done correctly, will not fail, in fact will succeed if they make the right programming moves. They should be looking at WTOP-FM Washington, DC for an example of success.

News and News/Talk can be different animals in of themselves. WCBS and WINS in New York prove there are even differences within the all news format.

I don't think KIRO-FM can do exactly what WTOP does and win. Can they pick up pointers and some guidance? Of course, but as we all know Seattle is a different animal than the rest of the country. Let alone the obvious differences between Seattle and the DC area.

 

[crainbebo]

KRWM's playlist includes "Toxic" Britney Spears and "Love You Like a Love Song" Selena Gomez. This is NOT what I call soft favorites....more like softer dancey top 40 stuff.

-crainbebo

 

[fordranger797]

I thought KIRO was a lot better when they were "Newsradio 710 KIRO". When they went FM, they started to get annoying. Although I do listen to "The Ron and Don Show" at times, and like the hosts, nobody can really argue that the show is trying to attract a young, hip audience. It would be so much better if KIRO moved sports to 770, and put the talk radio back on 710, in my humble opinion.

 

[bobdavcav]

I'm thinking the AC format as a hole is having an identity crisis right now, have you seen the AC charts lately? Blurred Lines is at #10! That's not soft at all, and it's getting significan airplay on many AC stations. Personally, I don't think KRWM is that aggressive, especially compared to other AC stations.

 

[stevensonair]

Talk radio on AM has a clear demographics issue - in a market like Seattle, not appealing to younger people and not being on FM would be a liability for them. KIRO got ahead of the problem by adding 97.3.

 

[Bongwater]

AC these days is CHR Lite. There used to be some real format difference. Now there's hardly any.

 

[fordranger797]

I guess you are right about KIRO. I personally am of the yonger demographic, and when I listen to news/talk radio, I want a station like CKNW 980 in Vancouver, or WABC 77 New York. KIRO seems to be flipping to some sort of lifestyle-metropolitan chat station (with the exception of Dori Monson who sticks to a conventional radio show for the most part).

As for AC, are any of the AC stations still playing older songs such as "rocket man" or "brown eyed girl"? Or has it evolved to pop for soccer moms [who don't find today's male country music stars attractive]?

 

[uncamark]

Sixties music is dead on AC and 70s music is all but gone. As for the 80s, Lionel, Kenny and Gloria have been replaced by Duran Duran, Simple Minds and the Human League--and Phil and Whitney are only getting their up-tempo songs played.

 

[ZooMan7777]

Honestly, I can't tell a different between KPLZ and KRWM playlist-wise anymore. Why are they still calling themselves "Mainstream AC" when Hot AC and Mainstream AC demographics are pretty much the same these days.

 

[searadiofreak]

Honestly, I can't tell a different between KPLZ and KRWM playlist-wise anymore. Why are they still calling themselves "Mainstream AC" when Hot AC and Mainstream AC demographics are pretty much the same these days.

The truth is the only thing saving mainstream AC is their reliability of being the Christmas leader. The rest of the year, the format is generally eroding. They are reactive to Hot AC songs that test very well, end up adding them late, and hope for the best. This is a problem, but it is slowly evolving into a problem, so nobody is really noticing what is happening.

 

[ZooMan7777]

The truth is the only thing saving mainstream AC is their reliability of being the Christmas leader. The rest of the year, the format is generally eroding. They are reactive to Hot AC songs that test very well, end up adding them late, and hope for the best. This is a problem, but it is slowly evolving into a problem, so nobody is really noticing what is happening.

I wonder if that may slightly change now that Hubbard is in control whether it be shifting the deck chairs or new captain of the ship. I'm sure Marc Kaye is asking those same questions.

 

[AQH]

Honestly, I can't tell a different between KPLZ and KRWM playlist-wise anymore. Why are they still calling themselves "Mainstream AC" when Hot AC and Mainstream AC demographics are pretty much the same these days.

Really? There's a lot of difference between the playlists of those two stations.

Reduce the focus on the old school names of Mainstream AC and Hot AC and you'll begin to get a better understanding between the two stations.

Also, it's not all about the music.

 

[AQH]

The truth is the only thing saving mainstream AC is their reliability of being the Christmas leader. The rest of the year, the format is generally eroding. They are reactive to Hot AC songs that test very well, end up adding them late, and hope for the best. This is a problem, but it is slowly evolving into a problem, so nobody is really noticing what is happening.

So people listen to Warm from February though October because of Christmas music? Doesn't make sense.