In the totally insignificant 6+ ratings for April, KYOT is Number One-est for the third month in a row. https://ratings.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb057 Three stations featuring Adult Hits, Classic Rock, and Classic Hits score with a combined 17.2 share. KTAR widens its lead over KFYI, while Mother Hubbard mines even more nuggets with Oldies 92~Seven. In the Sports Parking Lot arena, only KMVP matters with lights out at the rest of the Parking Lots. KJZZ and KBAQ are winners for Maricopa Community College, and KJZZ HD~Too grabs a half share.
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Mountain Makes It 3 In A Row!
- Thread starter DrAkbar
- Start date
Yay for KJZZ-HD2!
What is the method by which these ratings are derived? Does some entity send out surveys to selected individuals or households? Do they connect a box to a selectee’s radio receiver? Is it an estimate based on social media posts? Do radio stations report when someone physically walks into station HQ and says, “Hey! I listened to your station for more than 15 minutes yesterday at 10AM!”??
What is the method by which these ratings are derived? Does some entity send out surveys to selected individuals or households? Do they connect a box to a selectee’s radio receiver? Is it an estimate based on social media posts? Do radio stations report when someone physically walks into station HQ and says, “Hey! I listened to your station for more than 15 minutes yesterday at 10AM!”??
Adult Hits, Classic Rock and Classic Hits?!?!?!?!? The Olde Fartes are going to take over the world!!!!!!!
When the Mountain first came out, I didn't like it. Didn't like the presentation (still don't like the voice guy), the fact that it's mostly a juke box, and the fact that it was a low-rent version of the Peak obviously thrown together when TMISU abandoned that format for sports.
They've grown on me over the years. Maybe it's that absence (of anything better) makes the heart grow fonder. Maybe it's because they've figured out what they really are and have fined-tuned that formula. Maybe it's the fact that the stations on either side of them are too busy fighting over who plays more 80's.
I think it's that last one, with a little of the first two thrown in. As a listener, I don't care what you tell me you play, but what you actually play. KOOL beats me over the head telling me how much more 80's they play, while KEZ seems to be playing a Madonna song almost every time I stop on their station. Does the Mountain really "play everything?" No. But more often than not they're playing a song that I - being squarely in the upper regions of the target demo - actually want to hear.
Is this the result of some boiler room full of number-crunchers at iHeart headquarters applying a finely-tuned algorithm to anticipate my listening habits? Probably. But at the end of the day - again as a listener - I don't care. And neither do the people who hold the meters. They want to hear the song they like, not be told that the station plays the songs they like.
KYOT is successful because they're giving the audience what they want. It's the oldest trick in the book.
I shudder to think how successful the station would be if they added personalities...
They've grown on me over the years. Maybe it's that absence (of anything better) makes the heart grow fonder. Maybe it's because they've figured out what they really are and have fined-tuned that formula. Maybe it's the fact that the stations on either side of them are too busy fighting over who plays more 80's.
I think it's that last one, with a little of the first two thrown in. As a listener, I don't care what you tell me you play, but what you actually play. KOOL beats me over the head telling me how much more 80's they play, while KEZ seems to be playing a Madonna song almost every time I stop on their station. Does the Mountain really "play everything?" No. But more often than not they're playing a song that I - being squarely in the upper regions of the target demo - actually want to hear.
Is this the result of some boiler room full of number-crunchers at iHeart headquarters applying a finely-tuned algorithm to anticipate my listening habits? Probably. But at the end of the day - again as a listener - I don't care. And neither do the people who hold the meters. They want to hear the song they like, not be told that the station plays the songs they like.
KYOT is successful because they're giving the audience what they want. It's the oldest trick in the book.
I shudder to think how successful the station would be if they added personalities...
Couldn't agree more.
Couldn't disagree more. The lack of personalities really sets The Mountain apart from all the other stations chasing Classic Hits/Classic Rock/Adult Hits. All more talk would do is phuck things up.
I'm gonna have to one-up you on disagreement, there, Doc.
The annoying voice guy is - for all intents and purposes - the most prominent "personality" on the station (sorry, Mountain Man Jay), and I think more personality would benefit them rather than hurt them.
The former Coyote is like a restaurant that has really great food, but the service is...meh. What if they could serve up the same menu, but with engaging waiters and waitresses who didn't interfere too much with the meal, but added a level of service that nobody else is doing? An unobtrusive but talented mid-day jock would be great for that station.
Of course this is all academic because iHeart will never pony up the cash to hire talent to push the Mountain over the...well...hill, but I think they're succeeding not because of a lack of personalities, but in spite of it.
KYOT reminds me somewhat of the pop stations (there were eventually two FMs, as I recall) where I grew up that was a small market dominated by country music. They play a pretty wide range of music which means pretty good variety but quite a bit of stuff I don’t like along with what I do. So sometimes I listen, sometimes I don’t. If I’m not listening to KJZZ, I'm most likely to be on KOOL because I like KOOL-HD1 + HD3 better than any other single-freq combo in that genre.
I’m conflicted as to whether I’d prefer a little more host time on The Mountain or not. Sometimes I think I’d like a bit more host from them, but other times I think I don’t. And as far as what a station tells me they do vs what they do, it sounds similarly silly to me whether the one tells me how much 80s music they play or the other tells me how they play whatever _they_ want.
The Mountain’s voice is the guy who played Buckman in Down Periscope, isn’t it?
I’m conflicted as to whether I’d prefer a little more host time on The Mountain or not. Sometimes I think I’d like a bit more host from them, but other times I think I don’t. And as far as what a station tells me they do vs what they do, it sounds similarly silly to me whether the one tells me how much 80s music they play or the other tells me how they play whatever _they_ want.
The Mountain’s voice is the guy who played Buckman in Down Periscope, isn’t it?
I think I've heard a jock on The Mountain in Vegas (same voice guy, same everything else otherwise) and it didn't really add anything to the experience.
Unless you're going to add a real entertainer, a modern-day Dave Pratt or Bruce Kelly (not suggesting they make a comeback, suggesting you find today's equivalent) that's going to engage the audience, there's no point in adding a jock to a jockless variety hits station for the purpose of reading sales liners. It's just adding clutter.
C
CAVEMANager
Guest
Does anyone have any idea why country has declined so terribly in Phoenix ratings? For years KNIX was at the top and KMLE was not far behind. Is it the fact that the country music coming out today is crap? Or maybe KNIX and KMLE are just badly programmed?
Or maybe the demographics of Phoenix have changed.
The market is now 35% Hispanic, and 6% African American and 5% Asian. And it's growth has been principally fueled by the influx of people not from the state...
Of course, country has become an 18-34 and 18-49 format while it was mostly an older leaning one back when those two stations were dominant.
IMHO and just like pop. yes.
Do the second generation Hispanics tend to follow their parents tastes in music or do they follow their mostly White peers?
Country's popularity outside it's core audience tends to wax and wane. In the 90s, for example, there were huge crossover stars like Garth Brooks and Shania Twain that brought a lot of new listeners to the format. A lot of those people have aged out of the demo, and haven't been replaced by a new generation. That, along with shrinking audiences in general due to technology, as well as ratings compression make a country station dominating the market that much more difficult, let alone two fighting for the top like they used to do.
Programming wise, there are times when I can't tell which one I'm listening to. The imaging, contesting, and music sounds so similar, and it didn't use to be like that. KNIX owned the heritage hill, while KMLE was always the young upstart. Now KNIX sounds like any generic iHeart country station, and KMLE sounds like they're trying to copy that formula...poorly. Plus it hasn't helped that KMLE has had a revolving door of talent for awhile now.
Shifting demos (market and format appeal) plus PPM. Back during KNIX's dominance, the Owens family spent generously on advertising that created top of mind awareness of the station; the artists they played; and of course, W Steven Martin. All of that paid off among diary keepers. Different game today, along with a market that is substantially larger and more diverse than 30 years ago. Aside from KEZ during the Holiday ratings, when was the last time any station scored double digits in the beauty contest called 6+ ?
Except Garth didn't cross over. The general rule is the hat made it hard to disguise the music, and Garth was a lot more old school than people know.
There's a lot of crossover taking place now. The best example is Old Town Road by Lil Nas X. This is a rap song that the country audience knows as if it was done by a top country star. The Middle is a pop song using country artist Maren Morris. Meant To Be was a multi-genre hit by BeBe Rexha featuring the country duo Florida Georgia Line. The songs are crossing over, the artists are crossing over, but radio isn't tapping into it and attracting new listeners. My thought is that country wants to retain its niche status, but it's missing out on the potential. If they go too far in any direction, it will alienate the base.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that 100 million records sold sort of says he did cross over. The thing is, he didn't change who he was in order to do so. He put it out there, and audiences responded. That's a bit different from what FGL or Maren Morris are doing. They're deliberately trying to cross over.
My understanding of what KMLE (and successful "young country" stations) did was to play country music, but with a Top 40 presentation.
Now, they (and KNIX, and the entire Nashville establishment) seem to be coming directly at pop music Like "oh, you like Justin Timberlake? Here he is with Chris Stapleton! Isn't that awesome?" and that's very different from what happened with Garth Brooks. Well, except for that Chris Gaines thing...
Here's what we know: His fans bought multiple copies of each of his albums. This was at a time when there were CD players in cars. So you bought a copy for your car, for your house, and for work. That is how his record label explains it.
How do I know he didn't cross over? Look at the charts. Not one of his singles charted on pop radio. Only one charted AC, To Make You Feel My Love, and that was in 1998. However, there was one song that charted pop: Hard Luck Woman from the KISS Tribute album. But it wasn't an official single, and it only reached #26. He took a lot of crap for that Kiss tribute, as well as Chris Gaines.
There is a much more nuclear family in much of the Hispanic USA. Kids grow up in multi-generational homes with large extended families. So they pick up on the music of their parents and even grandparents. But they also develop tastes based on their peers in school.
Of course, second generation Hispanics for the most part live in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods and the schools tend to be in their vast, overwhelming majority, attended by other children of neighborhood Hispanics.
Currently, with Hispanic youth music such as reggaetón becoming the common denominator of Hispanics from all over the world, there is more reason to listen to music in Spanish that is culturally closer to home. Just look at the all-time most streamed YouTube video: Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi's "Despacity" with nearly 6.5 billion views, over 50% higher than any song in English.
So in High school you'll find second generation youth listening to Spanish language reggaetón and trap, and another group listening to Hip-Hop in English. And at home,t hey will hear music in Spanish of a more traditional kind.
The country stations in San Antonio now have nearly half their litening among Hispanics, but that's after 5, 6, 7 or even 10 or so generations. And in that market, there are only a small number of first and second generation Hispanics. That's not the case in Phoenix.
Agree totally. When I was running a country station we did many one-on-one listener interviews and found what you describe to be the case. They bought the albums. They bought the best CDs for the car, too. They bought the WalMart CD Box set. They bought the book with the CDs in it. They traveled hundreds of miles to see a show.
As someone who did all that and more, I understand how he sold 100 million albums with no crossover. I have to go now, as I have friends in low places waiting for me.
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