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Post by CAwasinNJ on Dec 1, 2018 7:01:30 GMT -6
Ratings are out again. Even though it's called November it's really mostly October. This is important because of the all important flip of FM 100.3 to Christmas, which was after this period ended. About 3/4 of the NEXT survey will be Christmas. Watch for their next month's numbers to light up like Rudolph's nose.
In other news, the BYU Radio feeds are pretty confusing to me in the publicly released numbers. If what's being published is to be believed (and that's all we have to go on right now) it's really not doing well. There are more or about the same number of listeners to KUMT 107.9 as there are to 89.1 HD2, and both combined are awful. It's still early and talk formats need more time to build an audience than music, but this doesn't look good. (Side note, I wonder how many people are listening on TV to 11.2) Preliminary analysis seems to indicate that keeping 89.1 as classical was absolutely the right move.
Chime in.
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Terry
Silver Level Member
Posts: 488
Usual Listening Area: east Murray
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Post by Terry on Dec 1, 2018 20:02:55 GMT -6
KBEE is doing better. I actually listen to them once in a while now. Somebody at Cumulus must have made a random mistake. Surely they can find a way to screw it up again. Pardon my cynicism.
As for BYU Radio, I’d bet “The Church” is not too concerned about ratings.
KHTB 101.9, a full power FM, is rated lower than a booster (KEGA) and KALL-AM sports. Cumulus strikes again.
It’s interesting that 2 oldies stations top the ratings. Is it time for 101.9 to chase yet another format?
And while I’m contemplating the bizarro world of Cumulus, who does the imaging for conservative talk 860? It’s certainly no one who has ever listened to conservative talk radio. “Talk radio with a pulse”. Does that mean they’re barely alive? Perhaps.
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Post by David on Dec 1, 2018 21:43:29 GMT -6
The voice of the promos on KKAT-AM 860 is Mick Martin from KBER 101, but he's probably just reading the ad copy the corporate suits provide. Based on KKAT's dismal ratings, the station is indeed barely alive; in fact I'd say it's been on life support for a long time now. There's several other formats Cumulus could try on 860 AM if they didn't subscribe to the "we have an affiliate there" mentality of talk radio, but sadly they probably won't. IIRC, KKAT's ratings with the classic county and "true oldies" formats were better than the ratings with the second-rate talk format have ever been. Cumulus has an excellent adult standards station in Tucson (1400 KTUC) which I frequently listen to online, and I think the format would do well on 860. With KKAT's ratings with talk consistently being in the toilet, what have they got to lose by trying something different on the frequency? Even an automated soft a/c or oldies format would be preferable to lame second-rate talk.
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Post by tardiscaptain on Dec 2, 2018 23:25:59 GMT -6
Question, if a station has a feed on both AM and FM, do they combine the ratings or are they recorded separately?
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Dec 4, 2018 10:26:39 GMT -6
David, you answered your own question. Having clearance for those national shows is more important than whatever piddly revenue they might get with a music format there. Any music format on an AM without a translator isn't going to have any chance at all of billing well. A format with very old demos might have some kind of a chance, but even that isn't an option for Cumulus right now anyway. If they were to introduce a new music format, it's got to be on 101.9. That's the only thing that makes sense. tardiscaptain, the answer is yes If the AM and FM are 100% simulcasts (eg KSL 102.7 & 1160) then the owner can combine them. (I believe it's at the option of the owner.) If the two stations aren't always simulcasting (eg KZNS 97.5 & 1280) then they will be reported separately.
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Post by amanuensis on Dec 4, 2018 11:49:40 GMT -6
I've been told that KSL's desire to report 1160 and 102.7 as combined ratings is why the two frequencies never separate their programming. To me, that is the tail wagging the dog. So I guess it is a good thing that I don't work for Bonneville or otherwise have any say how they do things. Because it is not listener friendly to have play-by-play of BYU basketball on during weekday drive time when you are stuck in traffic or there is a breaking news story. So if it was up to me, I would have the stations separate as needed, regardless of how it made the ratings numbers look.
And now that they have 107.9, there is no longer a need for BYU sports to even be broadcast on KSL at all when there is a conflict. I am sure there are contracts involved, but they could be renegotiated for next season.
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Post by David on Dec 4, 2018 19:51:15 GMT -6
Sometimes KZNS will split their programming between the AM & FM frequencies. A few weeks ago when I was listening to Utah Car Cents on a Saturday morning, the hosts advised listeners to switch to 97.5 to continue listening to the program. Apparently there was a football game scheduled to air on the AM frequency (1280) at that time, and the programming wasn't simulcast on both AM & FM as it usually is. Since I rarely listen to The Zone except on Saturday mornings, I liked not having Utah Car Cents pre-empted by a football game. :-)
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Dec 4, 2018 23:57:41 GMT -6
107.9 is not a replacement for 102.7/1160, period. Just looking at 107.9 vs 102.7 it's no contest. 107.9 is a rimshot with a much weaker signal along the Wasatch Front. It's just physics. Then when you add in the 1160 signal, which covers most of Utah during the day and the western US at night, it's a slam dunk. There's also the consideration that 107.9 is a non-commercial station and the KSL's are commercial. BYU might be OK with having sports on only 107.9 but that would be a downgrade from also being on KSL.
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dspete
Silver Level Member
Listening to 102.5 KBBL with Troy McClure
Posts: 296
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Post by dspete on Dec 9, 2018 8:46:20 GMT -6
Not liking The Wave's direction maybe it's time to start adding some 90's Alternative to the playlist , expand a little? Has anyone listened to 1320 AM they have it playing in the work office and it's not too bad... a mix of country currents and classic country along with rock and rock oldies actually enjoyable to listen to
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Post by mtndew on Dec 9, 2018 18:31:09 GMT -6
Going to listen to 1320, sounds like a really interesting mix.
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Post by amanuensis on Dec 9, 2018 20:39:56 GMT -6
Not liking The Wave's direction maybe it's time to start adding some 90's Alternative to the playlist , expand a little? Has anyone listened to 1320 AM they have it playing in the work office and it's not too bad... a mix of country currents and classic country along with rock and rock oldies actually enjoyable to listen to They run no commercials. I know they have to run something to keep the license while they are rebuilding, but I am surprised that they at least don't drop in PSAs. I say this because the TOH calls indicate that several other Kona stations are airing the same feed. If all the stations are without commercials then what is the business model?
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Post by amanuensis on Dec 9, 2018 21:03:35 GMT -6
I was curious enough to google Vic Michaels and his station owning history. I guess his business model is fixer-upper flipping. He has KNIT (and an FM translator CP) for sale for $250,000. He spent $100,000 to buy 1320. I wonder how much he is putting in to improving 1320?
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Post by David on Dec 9, 2018 22:47:07 GMT -6
I was curious enough to google Vic Michaels and his station owning history. I guess his business model is fixer-upper flipping. He has KNIT (and an FM translator CP) for sale for $250,000. He spent $100,000 to buy 1320. I wonder how much he is putting in to improving 1320? Based on some quick Google research, the average cost to put up an AM tower and antenna is between $100,000 to $200,000. Kona Coast might save a few thousand by using the existing grounding system from the collapsed 1230 AM tower, but whatever Vic Michael saves by using the existing grounding system will likely be eaten up by the cost of diplexing 1230 & 1320 from the same tower. Setting up a diplexing network can be a costly and complicated operation depending on the frequency variance. I'd say he'll be lucky to break even if KNIT sells for $250,000.
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Post by amanuensis on Dec 10, 2018 16:09:17 GMT -6
KNIT is getting its feed from a station in Doglas, WY (KRKY) that is in the non-commercial FM band. So that explains why there are no commercials. I bet that Michaels is hoping that a religious broadcaster offers to buy KRKY, or LMA it. It appears that several of his stations are presently running religious formats, so I assume LMAs are something that Kona does regularly.
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Post by David on Dec 10, 2018 20:00:07 GMT -6
If Vic Michael does LMA either 1230 or 1320, he'll have some competition to deal with. As far as I know, KDYL's owner is still shopping for an LMA for his station, and a 10 KW daytime signal gives KDYL a huge advantage over KNIT, even if the power increase to 790 watts for 1320 is eventually approved by the FCC.
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