770 back on top, breeze near the bottom

[AbqAnonymous]

The latest numbers has KKOB back to the top with mostly local talk and since TJ Trout joined to supposedly balance the right wing direction it has had for several years. So far it seems to be doing well though it is not getting the 7s or 8s it had a few years ago.

Whichever direction the breeze is blowing it’s definitely not upwards. Only 0.7 two books in a row and the lowest rated music station tied with the very wobbly KJFA. There are no numbers for 101.3 so it is hard to tell if the format is doing much here or if there is any battle happening in this format. However 99.5 is also down in 12th place.

Now that the public stations are listed we can get a better idea on how they perform. KANW seems to have dropped in each book but is still the top Latin music station. KUNM has impressive numbers for a station that plays obscure music most of the time in just about every genre you can think of! But that is really great that they have that much support! KHFM however has dropped into the low 1s since going public. They used to average in the 2s as a commercial station. I wonder if they changed something there? Maybe they now play long concertos or something.

Everything else is as usual. https://ratings.radio-online.com/content/arb141

 

[K6JHU]

KHFM is running on autopilot. Change to non-comm is really no change at all. Still use 'This is sponsored by ...' which I thought was kind of a no-no for a non-comm. The answer is that they are NOT doing anything new. Maybe they should try a change in direction for classical music.

 

[b-turner]

Non-commercial FMs can sell sponsorships. The FCC regulates the text of the copy that is the Underwriting script. A sponsorship is a tool to command a better underwriting rate per unit by allowing the underwriter to make a feature or time slot their own. Most non-commercial FMs like to sell a show sponsorship of the client's choosing even more than a schedule of units generally because a sponsor usually doesn't want to give up the sponsorship and will continue to do so more consistently even paying a premium to get it. Don't be fooled. When dealing with business owners, selling commercials and selling underwriting is very much the same process. The business owner buys or contributes because they perceive a benefit usually tied to increasing their customer base.

 

[b-turner]

Classical is a very tricky format. You generally have 2 types of classical listener: the casual listener that might consider the classical station a non-primary choice say 4th or 5th on their list of favorite stations. This group wants the hits but mostly feels like a fish out of water with a full scale classical format. They have very little classical music knowledge. The second is the hardcore listener that loves classical music and always up for learning about composers and hearing new works as well as the common titles played by critically acclaimed orchestras. Playing a movement of a classical symphony versus the entire work makes their skin crawl while the casual listener knows only that one movement found on that multi-CD compilation they bought for $10 at Walmart. The contributions come from the hardcore. The casual might not even clearly understand 'listener supported' since they mostly listen to other commercial stations. So as the hardcore ages, the casual looks even more substantial but mixing the two blends about as well as oil and water.

 

[K6JHU]

Said earlier that KHFM was running on autopilot. Listening to a Vivaldi Concerto and right in the middle is an EAS test. No voice, just the tones. If they cared, this would have never happened.

 

[AbqAnonymous]

Well Albuquerque is now a market doing monthly reports! The first one is out today and fortunately all the main broadcasters except Entravision are listed. 94 Rock knocks KKOB from the top which falls a full share. Cumulus also beats out iHeart in the country battle with 92.3 and 96.3 beating 107.9 and 98.1. KHFM is up only a little bit tied with KTEG for 18th place. As for the Breeze it is up 0.1!! Right past 104.7. 1350 is also at the bottom after switching to podcasts. Among the Spanish stations KLVO appears to have stabilized while KJFA has fallen over the past year to almost 0. So what might be going on there? It's possible that the audience has returned to 105.9 but since it keeps changing that may have also helped 97.7. KTBL and KNML are no-shows so I wonder if Cumulus will keep paying the lease at 95.9 since it does not seem to be doing anything to improve its performance. Same with KANW-2 which might lead them to discontinue the service since I believe they pay fees to airs those shows. It's always good to have talk programming that is civil and fact based and not all politics and all this "I'm right, you're wrong and you're stupid if you don't agree" on commercial stations, but then that is probably what gets ratings sadly. But we'll just have to see what happens.

 

[Kent]

Among the Spanish stations KLVO appears to have stabilized while KJFA has fallen over the past year to almost 0. So what might be going on there? It's possible that the audience has returned to 105.9 but since it keeps changing that may have also helped 97.7.

I can't say much more than this, but there are rumors of an impending format change at KJFA.

 

[DavidEduardo]

I can't say much more than this, but there are rumors of an impending format change at KJFA.

It is not on the best of the translators as it is 99 watts, even if it is on Sandia. But more than that, the format execution was not good... poor music library selection, poor rotations. They just did not do that format well.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

I can't say much more than this, but there are rumors of an impending format change at KJFA.

You're a few days late on that new ..radioinsight.com posted a report a few days ago on a new domain and shift to a latin rhythmic format

 

[AbqAnonymous]

102.9 has flipped to "Fuego 102-9" this afternoon with a bilingual rhythmic format. Most of the songs are in Spanish but there are occasionally some rhythmic songs in English. While the 102.9 signal is not the best it still appears to be tunable on most radios. But with a unique format we'll see how well it does. The 1.9 they got last year is some indication as to how well it can do so far. "Area" did poorly but the Spanish formats have done a little better. But then this is the third change the station has made in two years.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Well Albuquerque is now a market doing monthly reports!

Albuquerque has "always" had continuous diary measurement, with a new report each month. The difference is that in the past, two of the reports were mostly unweighted averages of the sample over 12 weeks, and the third one was a fully weighted and proportional book.

Now, each month gets a book covering the last 12 weeks, but each one is "currency" and fully weighted and proportional.

I wonder if Cumulus will keep paying the lease at 95.9 since it does not seem to be doing anything to improve its performance.

Most syndicated product is delivered via barter. The station pays no cash, but gives up some commercial inventory to carry network spots which the net uses to pay for the operation.

 

[crainbebo]

I'm guessing Vanguard doesn't subscribe for the PPM ratings. Which is why Cindy (KRKE) isn't listed nor The Oasis (KOAZ). Even though they have their audiences. How else does 103.7 organize Smooth Jazz concerts in Albuquerque without the listeners and advertiser base?

 

[DavidEduardo]

I'm guessing Vanguard doesn't subscribe for the PPM ratings. Which is why Cindy (KRKE) isn't listed nor The Oasis (KOAZ). Even though they have their audiences. How else does 103.7 organize Smooth Jazz concerts in Albuquerque without the listeners and advertiser base?

Like all low rated niche formats, they sell to local direct accounts that don't look at numbers. Those are accounts that look at response and the cash register. If the rates are low, and the stations get results, then they can find some advertisers.

Subscribers, of course... and that includes agencies... see all the numbers. But with those stations they will see bottom of the list numbers.

 

[Kent]

I'm guessing Vanguard doesn't subscribe for the PPM ratings. Which is why Cindy (KRKE) isn't listed nor The Oasis (KOAZ). Even though they have their audiences. How else does 103.7 organize Smooth Jazz concerts in Albuquerque without the listeners and advertiser base?

I thought Albuquerque was still a diary market, though I'm pretty sure Vanguard doesn't subscribe.

The last time I saw the numbers there, KOAZ was in the mid 1 share range. Not terrible given its signal limitations but definitely near the bottom of the pack.

As David mentions, there are ways to sell without the numbers. Smooth jazz has historically been an easier sell in Albuquerque than a lot of places. There's less agency business there than in markets of similar size, and Albuquerque has a lot of smaller businesses that can't afford to buy the Cumulus and iHeart properties. I'm guessing KOAZ gets more no-pays than average, but it probably does well enough reaching those businesses to stay in the black. Don Davis has also lived in or near Albuquerque for a long time and knows the market really well. That certainly doesn't hurt either.

 

[DavidEduardo]

I'm guessing Vanguard doesn't subscribe for the PPM ratings. Which is why Cindy (KRKE) isn't listed nor The Oasis (KOAZ). Even though they have their audiences. How else does 103.7 organize Smooth Jazz concerts in Albuquerque without the listeners and advertiser base?

ABQ is a diary market.

The continuously measured diary markets (4 books a year) are now 12 book a year markets, but with the new system each month a new 12 week weighted book is issued, making the markets have 12 currency books instead of 4.

 

[DavidEduardo]

I thought Albuquerque was still a diary market, though I'm pretty sure Vanguard doesn't subscribe.

The last time I saw the numbers there, KOAZ was in the mid 1 share range. Not terrible given its signal limitations but definitely near the bottom of the pack.

Yes, it’s still diary. All that changed is that we get 12 full currency books a year instead of 4 books and 8 not fully weighted trends that are not sales tools.

With a market expert like Don Davis, and a good image-based format like smooth jazz, there are a lot of sales opportunities. And as long as the audience is responsive, and costs are controlled, the station will do well for an owner operator.

 

[AbqAnonymous]

Vanguard just spent $850,000 to buy 106.3. They previously sold two AMs and the amount they got for 1550 they reinvested in purchasing 101.3. It's possible they now have a lot of debt and if so can they continue to rely on low cost ads from small businesses?

 

[DavidEduardo]

Vanguard just spent $850,000 to buy 106.3. They previously sold two AMs and the amount they got for 1550 they reinvested in purchasing 101.3. It's possible they now have a lot of debt and if so can they continue to rely on low cost ads from small businesses?

Look at it this way... how much is one of the nice houses out at the Tanoan area on the foothills? So Mr. Davis' debt is no more than that for a nice home, but it has better payback!

It just takes about $50 k to $60 k a year to pay the interest on a $1 million dollar loan. That is around $4 k to $5 k a month. For a good sales-oriented owner like Davis, that is not hard to achieve if the stations can create traffic and sales for advertisers.

A station with an average rate of about $20 can bill $1 million a year. So it is not hard for a good local operator to sustain "budget" stations and do well for themselves.

P.S. I looked on Zillow at some of the homes in that area... it's been a decade since I was at someone's residence in that area... and realized that for less than a megabuck you can get a house that would cost $5 million or more in LA! And the views are splendid. Makes you wanna' move! I hear there is an opening where Walter White used to "work".