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Phoenix Radio Ratings: September 2023

Wow! The Wow Factor has taken on a new meaning as the station drops out of the Top 10. Even below KOOL.

Here's the spin from John Seb:

Nielsen September Monthly
All 55+ Results
#1 Middays
#2 PM Drive
#2 Weekends
#1 Commercial Music Station Time Spent Listening.
Click to expand...
 
Top 5+ demo rankings analysis from the Research Director Inc. "Hot Topics" blog:
(scroll down to see Phoenix market)

RADIO RATINGS ROUNDUP, SEPTEMBER 2023, PART III | Research Director, Inc.

The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. in a tight-knot formation with the math mavens from XTRENDS are back to wrangle more SEPTEMBER data.
researchdirectorinc.com researchdirectorinc.com

25-54: 1. KUPD 2. KSLX 3. KESZ 4T. KALV 4T. KMXP 4T. KYOT (up from #8) 9. KDKB (down from #4) 14. KOOL (down from #5)
18-34: 1. KDKB 2T. KMLE 2T. KESZ (up from #6) 4T. KZZP 4T. KUPD (up from #7) 4T. KNIX (up from #10)
_______ 7. KALV 8T. KMXP (down from #3) 8T. KHOT
18-49: 1. KESZ 2. KUPD 3. KALV 4. KSLX 5T. KDKB 5T. KMXP
 
pjc1961 said:
Top 5+ demo rankings analysis from the Research Director Inc. "Hot Topics" blog:
(scroll down to see Phoenix market)

RADIO RATINGS ROUNDUP, SEPTEMBER 2023, PART III | Research Director, Inc.

The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. in a tight-knot formation with the math mavens from XTRENDS are back to wrangle more SEPTEMBER data.
researchdirectorinc.com researchdirectorinc.com

25-54: 1. KUPD 2. KSLX 3. KESZ 4T. KALV 4T. KMXP 4T. KYOT (up from #8) 9. KDKB (down from #4) 14. KOOL (down from #5)
18-34: 1. KDKB 2T. KMLE 2T. KESZ (up from #6) 4T. KZZP 4T. KUPD (up from #7) 4T. KNIX (up from #10)
_______ 7. KALV 8T. KMXP (down from #3) 8T. KHOT
18-49: 1. KESZ 2. KUPD 3. KALV 4. KSLX 5T. KDKB 5T. KMXP
Click to expand...
I find it odd that KE(S)Z and KMXP pretty much have an identical playlist, yet KEZ targets women 25-54 and KMXP women 18-34, but KEZ does better than KMXP in the younger demo.
 
EricStein said:
I find it odd that KE(S)Z and KMXP pretty much have an identical playlist, yet KEZ targets women 25-54 and KMXP women 18-34, but KEZ does better than KMXP in the younger demo.
Click to expand...
The primary difference between KEZ and Mix is the gold library; KEZ is going to play a bunch of 80s and more recurrents for the 35+ crowd, Mix is going to be heavier on the 90s and more current for 18-34. Given the current pop doldrums, KEZ is playing better music. Mix has a hard needle to thread without stepping on KEZ and KYOT, but if the audience stays within the cluster, everyone wins.

Also, with at-work listening, you could have someone who listens to Mix during the commute, but the workplace radio has been stuck on KEZ since someone put it there 10 Christmases ago, so that's what she hears at work.

...but in general, mainstream AC is now adult top 40 with deeper gold and is no longer the station that promises to never offend your sensitive ears because Gen-X and Millennials all grew up listening to CDs with Parental Advisory stickers meant to warn the previous generation's AC audience what their kids were listening to. Hot AC is just adult top 40.

The only format left that ties its identity around what they don't play is Christian AC. They've adopted the old Alan Burns playbook and have run with it.
 
Last edited:
pjc1961 said:
Top 5+ demo rankings analysis from the Research Director Inc. "Hot Topics" blog:
(scroll down to see Phoenix market)

RADIO RATINGS ROUNDUP, SEPTEMBER 2023, PART III | Research Director, Inc.

The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. in a tight-knot formation with the math mavens from XTRENDS are back to wrangle more SEPTEMBER data.
researchdirectorinc.com researchdirectorinc.com

25-54: 1. KUPD 2. KSLX 3. KESZ 4T. KALV 4T. KMXP 4T. KYOT (up from #8) 9. KDKB (down from #4) 14. KOOL (down from #5)
18-34: 1. KDKB 2T. KMLE 2T. KESZ (up from #6) 4T. KZZP 4T. KUPD (up from #7) 4T. KNIX (up from #10)
_______ 7. KALV 8T. KMXP (down from #3) 8T. KHOT
18-49: 1. KESZ 2. KUPD 3. KALV 4. KSLX 5T. KDKB 5T. KMXP
Click to expand...
It's great to see 98 KUUUUUPD back at #1 in the money demo! :)

Looks like rock-based formats in general performed great! KUPD, KSLX and KDKB all posted very healthy numbers.

KUPD has become more metal friendly of late - playing added spins of Slipknot, Tool, Pantera, Metallica (old & new), Rammstein, White Zombie / Rob Zombie and other bands I really enjoy. Looking through their music log of the past 24 hours, I found only 2 or 3 songs that I dislike. Phoenix is lucky to have a station like this!
 
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MarkW said:
It's great to see 98 KUUUUUPD back at #1 in the money demo! :)

Looks like rock-based formats in general performed great! KUPD, KSLX and KDKB all posted very healthy numbers.

KUPD has become more metal friendly of late - playing added spins of Slipknot, Tool, Pantera, Metallica (old & new), Rammstein, White Zombie / Rob Zombie and other bands I really enjoy. Looking through their music log of the past 24 hours, I found only 2 or 3 songs that I dislike. Phoenix is lucky to have a station like this!
Click to expand...
Interesting take Mark. To me, KUPD is just another run-of-the-mill active rock station today. In the 80s up to 1995 or so, it was definitely a different animal though.

I can remember them playing artists as diverse as Judas Priest, Journey, R.E.M., Melissa Etheridge, The Smithereens, Iron Maiden, Bruce Horsby & The Range, The Hooters, and The Outfield. That was just for starters.

Looking back, it was pretty easy to take it for granted. It was also an independent station during that time, which made its success even more surprising in retrospect.

On today's KUPD, it's fair to say that they wouldn't get anywhere near Hornsby, Etheridge, Simple Minds, or The Fixx-- the latter two also being "staples" on the station during that period.

To be fair though, that's what mainstream rock was like during KUPD's first fifteen years--- give or take. They consistently played more diverse forms of rock than they got credit for. Unfortunately, the same can't be objectively said about it today.

You would also hear more "obscure" artists (at the time) like Jon Butcher, Chris Rea, David & David, and even Steve Earle to name a few.

Still, I agree that it is impressive that KUPD remains immensely popular though. To that point, I sincerely applaud them for that. (y)
 
The Media Observer said:
Interesting take Mark. To me, KUPD is just another run-of-the-mill active rock station today. In the 80s up to 1995 or so, it was definitely a different animal though.

I can remember them playing artists as diverse as Judas Priest, Journey, R.E.M., Melissa Etheridge, The Smithereens, Iron Maiden, Bruce Horsby & The Range, The Hooters, and The Outfield. That was just for starters.

Looking back, it was pretty easy to take it for granted. It was also an independent station during that time, which made its success even more surprising in retrospect.

On today's KUPD, it's fair to say that they wouldn't get anywhere near Hornsby, Etheridge, Simple Minds, or The Fixx-- the latter two also being "staples" on the station during that period.

To be fair though, that's what mainstream rock was like during KUPD's first fifteen years--- give or take. They consistently played more diverse forms of rock than they got credit for. Unfortunately, the same can't be objectively said about it today.

You would also hear more "obscure" artists (at the time) like Jon Butcher, Chris Rea, David & David, and even Steve Earle to name a few.

Still, I agree that it is impressive that KUPD remains immensely popular though. To that point, I sincerely applaud them for that. (y)
Click to expand...

KUPD playing The Smithereens? The Outfield? Glass Tiger, too? And some Timbuktu, "Future So Bright" for good measure, too? Are you sure you're not talking about 1060 AM KUKQ? Or KDKB? KDKB sponsored the yearly Jerry Riopelle concerts but I don't think anyone these day could name a single Jerry Riopelle song - let alone describe what the guy looks like - without Google. They also were among the first to promote local (non-cover) music.

But KUPD in the 80's? Autograph, Asia, Cinderella, Triumph, Rush - but only "Tom Sawyer" - and Van Halen and Bon Jovi.
 
indieradioguy said:
KUPD playing The Smithereens? The Outfield? Glass Tiger, too? And some Timbuktu, "Future So Bright" for good measure, too? Are you sure you're not talking about 1060 AM KUKQ? Or KDKB? KDKB sponsored the yearly Jerry Riopelle concerts, but I don't think anyone these days could name a single Jerry Riopelle song - let alone describe what the guy looks like - without Google. They also were among the first to promote local (non-cover) music.

But KUPD in the 80's? Autograph, Asia, Cinderella, Triumph, Rush - but only "Tom Sawyer" - and Van Halen and Bon Jovi.
Click to expand...
Oh, absolutely indie. All of the artists I mentioned were definitely played on KUPD during that first 15 years. To your question about Glass Tiger-- I'm not sure. I do know they opened for Journey during the Raised On Radio tour in 1986. I was there.

Regarding The Smithereens, yes, once KSTM went off the air, KUPD started playing them regularly. The first song I remember hearing was Only a Memory from 1988's Green Thoughts.

Then eventually, they played earlier songs like Blood and Roses and Behind The Wall of Sleep from their 1986 major-label debut Especially For You.

Regarding KUKQ, that was a soul music station in the first half of the 80s, then known as KQ. A couple of format changes later, then it went alternative I believe in 1989.

As for Riopelle, yes, KDKB "presented" his infamous New Year's Eve show for years. I remember that well.

And of course, you're absolutely correct that KUPD played the bands you mentioned! Make no mistake, commercial hard rock was alive and well on "98" for sure in the 80s. Good times indeed! (y)
 
The Media Observer said:
Oh, absolutely indie. All of the artists I mentioned were definitely played on KUPD during that first 15 years. To your question about Glass Tiger-- I'm not sure. I do know they opened for Journey during the Raised On Radio tour in 1986. I was there.

Regarding The Smithereens, yes, once KSTM went off the air, KUPD started playing them regularly. The first song I remember hearing was Only a Memory from 1988's Green Thoughts.

Then eventually, they played earlier songs like Blood and Roses and Behind The Wall of Sleep from their 1986 major-label debut Especially For You.

Regarding KUKQ, that was a soul music station in the first half of the 80s, then known as KQ. A couple of format changes later, then it went alternative I believe in 1989.

As for Riopelle, yes, KDKB "presented" his infamous New Year's Eve show for years. I remember that well.

And of course, you're absolutely correct that KUPD played the bands you mentioned! Make no mistake, commercial hard rock was alive and well on "98" for sure in the 80s. Good times indeed! (y)
Click to expand...
In the early 80s, KZZP was a chicken-rock kind of station and shared a lot of titles with both KUPD and KDKB until pop music got out of the doldrums. It wouldn't be out of the question to hear the Allman Brothers on all three of those stations up to 1983.

And yeah, I remember The Outfield and The Fixx on KUPD, too. I won a Fixx record from 98 and had to go down to 20th St & Thomas to pick it up before that office was razed for the Squaw Peak Parkway.
 
johndavis said:
In the early 80s, KZZP was a chicken-rock kind of station and shared a lot of titles with both KUPD and KDKB until pop music got out of the doldrums. It wouldn't be out of the question to hear the Allman Brothers on all three of those stations up to 1983.

And yeah, I remember The Outfield and The Fixx on KUPD, too. I won a Fixx record from 98 and had to go down to 20th St & Thomas to pick it up before that office was razed for the Squaw Peak Parkway.
Click to expand...
I believe KUPD considered itself a "Rock-40" back in the late-'70s when John Sebastian was programming the station. I recall looking at the R&R issues from that era, and they were still a Top 40 reporter while pretty much playing mainstream rock. It wasn't until around 1980-81 when they started moving toward an AOR direction.
 
EricStein said:
I believe KUPD considered itself a "Rock-40" back in the late-'70s when John Sebastian was programming the station. I recall looking at the R&R issues from that era, and they were still a Top 40 reporter while pretty much playing mainstream rock. It wasn't until around 1980-81 when they started moving toward an AOR direction.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that must have been the time when they referred to KUPD as "Cupid"... if memory serves. :unsure:
 
The Media Observer said:
Yeah, that must have been the time when they referred to KUPD as "Cupid"... if memory serves. :unsure:
Click to expand...
It was called Cupíd from the time it went on the air as a Beautiful Music station back in the early 1960's.

1698105236938.png
 
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DavidEduardo said:
It was called Cupíd from the time it went on the air as a Beautiful Music station back in the early 1960's.

View attachment 5906
Click to expand...
Wow--- too funny! Thanks for sharing David. I just remember hearing that reference (Cupid) around 1979--- as I was "turning the dial", if you will.

I was only nine years old, but I remember it vividly because the radio was on all the time in my house. 🤔
 
johndavis said:
In the early 80s, KZZP was a chicken-rock kind of station and shared a lot of titles with both KUPD and KDKB until pop music got out of the doldrums. It wouldn't be out of the question to hear the Allman Brothers on all three of those stations up to 1983.

And yeah, I remember The Outfield and The Fixx on KUPD, too. I won a Fixx record from 98 and had to go down to 20th St & Thomas to pick it up before that office was razed for the Squaw Peak Parkway.
Click to expand...
Interesting john. Given that I only remember the "pop music" KZZP from 1983 onward, what do you mean by "chicken-rock"? That's a term I don't think I've ever heard. 🤔
 
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