August Ratings

Countdown to "A" telling us how great 98.9 is doing in three, two...

But it still can't beat the Wolf...8th place this month. I see The Jet dropped down to 4th as 94.9 and 97.3 climb up the ratings - thanks to the never-ending roller coaster that is the news cycle. And look - the automated iHeart Christian music on 104.9 gets some 0.1 love, finally. Not as good as 'South Sound's Smooth Jazz' however, lol. The Sound is taking nice bites out of WARM, just 3/10ths of a point below them.
No KNWR, but a few PPM people listen to NWPR through 88.9 KSWS down in Chehalis, which is sitting at 0.1 this month.

Rob Piotrowski said:

Countdown to "A" telling us how great 98.9 is doing in three, two...

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They haven't changed formats yet, have they? In fact they're fairly competitive. They have a full staff of local talent. They're making appearances at all the summer concerts and festivals. And they've exceeded the ratings from the previous format. Meanwhile, the Wolf is still below where KMPS was one year ago.

I was looking at the ratings in other markets, and I noticed that station streams were showing up at the bottom, Philidelphia having a large number of them. I'm surprised that's not happening hear yet. I remember KUOW used to have its stream show up, but that disappeared long ago, and hasn't reappeared.

Here's the analysis of the demo's.

https://www.allaccess.com/net-news/...rch-director-inc-exclusive-august-ppm-analysi

It's not so much the ratings as it is $$$ a station brings in. Hell, it could be dead last in everything else. But if it's making halfway decent money (or for AM, at least pulling it's own weight), what's the incentive to go through the expense of changing it and messing up the cashflow that's already there for an unpredictable future where it may not?

Exactly - look at Star 101.5

It appears 98.9 The Bull has potential.

Seattle has a high tolerance for faux country, evidently.

In the demos that matter, are 93.3 & 106.1 as a pair performing any better than they were prior to the format changes?

MarkW said:

Seattle has a high tolerance for faux country, evidently.

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Current country is no different from any other current format. It sounds current, not classic.

People in Seattle are great fans of music, regardless of format or label.

MarkW said:

In the demos that matter, are 93.3 & 106.1 as a pair performing any better than they were prior to the format changes?

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I just dove into the numbers and below is what it looks like. These are all M-F 6a-7p because that's what matters the most. All numbers are based on 93.3/106.1 as a combo.

P18-34
The combo of KBKS/KUBE peaked in June with a 4.8% increase from KBKS/KPWK’s previous 12 month high which happened in February. This was their highest share since the pre-Power days, going back to September 2015. They were running commercial free during that time and once they added spots back on KUBE, the combo’s share fell by 21.1% in July, and an additional 8.1% in August. Their August 18-34 share was the second lowest the combo has seen in the past 12 months (only December ’17 was worse). Rank wise, the combo of KBKS/KUBE would have been tied for 2nd with KQMV and beat by KISW.

P18-49
Again, the combo peaked in June when KUBE was commercial free. This produced their highest share since January 2018, but only the third highest in the past 12 months. In July they dropped over a share which was a 14.1% decrease. In August the downtrend continued with another 3% drop. The combo’s August share was the lowest since the Holiday 2015 book, literally the month before the flip to Power. Rank wise, the combo of KBKS/KUBE would have been in a distant 3rd place behind KQMV and KISW.

P25-54
June was again the combo’s best producing month after the flip, but was only 4.7% above their 12-month average. Once KUBE added commercials back on in July, the combo dropped 13.6%, and in August dropped an additional 1.8%. The combo’s August share was the lowest since April 2016. As a combo, their August rank would have been 6th behind KISW, KQMV, KIRO-FM, KUOW and KZOK.

Although I know it's commonplace, I have trouble with market groups touting combo numbers. Most groups spread their demos out with multiple stations/formats, but as an example, having an AM that brings in a .1 share lumped in their combo numbers is doing nothing more than putting lipstick on a pig. Yes I know, in this digital vs. traditional agency battle it's all about number of impressions, not actual targets.

Kelly A said:

Although I know it's commonplace, I have trouble with market groups touting combo numbers. Most groups spread their demos out with multiple stations/formats, but as an example, having an AM that brings in a .1 share lumped in their combo numbers is doing nothing more than putting lipstick on a pig. Yes I know, in this digital vs. traditional agency battle it's all about number of impressions, not actual targets.

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The combo was used in this instance to compare/contrast the two stations since they flipped and tweaked their formats at the same time (twice). And to demonstrate how even the two put together still can't beat some standalone stations in these demos.

Belatedly, I want to give a sincere "Thank You!" to iamarussianpirate for taking the time to break down the numbers in detail.

Yeah, his insight is very helpful to many of us who do not know the ins and outs of local ratings and the like.

Much like some of the other experts who come on here, the Big A and Mr. Eduardo, their input is also always pretty helpful.