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Post by CAwasinNJ on Aug 8, 2019 3:47:17 GMT -6
The new ratings are out and KSL has dropped again. Now I'm starting to get worried. They usually have a seasonal dip, but this is getting a little crazy. I'm not really sure what to make of this anymore.
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Post by David on Aug 8, 2019 13:44:03 GMT -6
I'll be interested to see what happens with KSL's ratings in the next 2-3 months, especially now that Jay McFarland is gone. Based on the listener comments that I've read, "Jaymac" was the most polarizing of all the KSL on air talent: people either love him or hate him, with very little middle ground. We're also heading into college football and basketball season; and with KSL being the radio home of the BYU Cougars, I'll be very surprised if their ratings don't increase.
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Post by levoix on Aug 8, 2019 14:53:59 GMT -6
It's interesting for sure. When they relaunched the Afternoon news block, they had fewer reporters contributing local stories. Seems like there's less local content on the air during both the morning and afternoon news shows. KSL TV experienced a drop in ratings when they strayed from their focus on investigative news towards soft stories with "values" in 2013. Other Bonneville news stations are adding more talk shows to their schedules, so maybe KSL is following suit, but maybe listeners here don't want more talk?
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Post by drpepper on Aug 10, 2019 13:58:56 GMT -6
i would listen to KSL consistently if it had less news and mor talk potentially. heres a big reason why i don't. Take a show like Unrivaled. I enjoy it a lot most of the time i do listen which is infrequent, maybe a couple times a month. The hosts get talking about something and have a great flow of conversation going and all of a sudden, we gotta take a break for news. Top of the hour is one thing, but the newsbreak every half hour seems excessive IMO. Especially when it's just recycled events that have already been completely covered. it was the same thing with nightSide. It was just frustrating. that 4th break for commercials and news just ruins it for me and there just isn't enough content. During talk shows, the news should be complementary to the show, not a disruption. since KSL has had great ratings in the past, there may be something to be said for extra add revenue generated by having that additional break, but with lower ratings now, it may be worth considering. Heres hoping someone at KSL has a similar thought.
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Post by drpepper on Aug 10, 2019 14:29:25 GMT -6
I do think the ratings dip for the time being is over though, for the same reasons David mentioned. BYU football/basketball. But it does seem like the sample size for PPM partisipants may be different than in the past, because KNRS has also slid a bit if i'm not mistaken. Also, really wish the Broadway numbers were available. Because by the public numbers we just don't have the whole story. e.G. ZHT is down, and possibly because KJMY is up. KENZ is mor of a direct competitor no doubt, but from the last couple books where Broadway numbers showed it seemd KENZ's ascent came mor at the expense of Mix than anything else.
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Post by oldiesfunhouse on Aug 12, 2019 9:32:24 GMT -6
I must respectfully disagree with Dr. Pepper about the elimination of the bottom of the hour news break. I've always wished that Salt Lake had an all news station like KNX in Los Angeles or WCBS or WINS in New York. But I realize that we're a small enough market that that kind of format probably wouldn't work here especially since the "Traffic and Weather Together every ten minutes on the nines" would be very scant in the middle of the night. In lieu of that, especially if I know there's news happening, or, even sometimes, if I haven't checked in to the news in a while, and it's not morning or afternoon drive, I will check the time and if it's near the bottom or the top of the hour I will tune into KSL just for that news break and then turn it off and go back to whatever else I was doing since most of the talk programming on KSL doesn't interest me much. If they got rid of the bottom of the hour news, I'd only have one window each hour to catch a news update instead of two. I realize I'm probably in the minority with this kind of listening habit because most folks nowadays likely get their news from the internet, but listening is much easier for me. But I know the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few but I hope they don't do away with the bottom of the hour newscasts. As Mills Crenshaw used to say, "One man's opinion. I welcome yours."
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Post by amanuensis on Aug 12, 2019 13:59:53 GMT -6
I must respectfully disagree with Dr. Pepper about the elimination of the bottom of the hour news break. I've always wished that Salt Lake had an all news station like KNX in Los Angeles or WCBS or WINS in New York. But I realize that we're a small enough market that that kind of format probably wouldn't work here especially since the "Traffic and Weather Together every ten minutes on the nines" would be very scant in the middle of the night. In lieu of that, especially if I know there's news happening, or, even sometimes, if I haven't checked in to the news in a while, and it's not morning or afternoon drive, I will check the time and if it's near the bottom or the top of the hour I will tune into KSL just for that news break and then turn it off and go back to whatever else I was doing since most of the talk programming on KSL doesn't interest me much. If they got rid of the bottom of the hour news, I'd only have one window each hour to catch a news update instead of two. I realize I'm probably in the minority with this kind of listening habit because most folks nowadays likely get their news from the internet, but listening is much easier for me. But I know the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few but I hope they don't do away with the bottom of the hour newscasts. As Mills Crenshaw used to say, "One man's opinion. I welcome yours." I'm with you Oldiesfunhouse. I would love for KSL to go full-time news. There are several ways that they could do it without busting the budget, I believe. First, they could go back to CBS News and take their full wheel -- I have the app for that on my iPad and I find it much more interesting than traditional talk radio. player.radio.com/listen/station/cbs-radio-news The CBS feed could be used full-time whenever KSL didn't want to do its own news programming.
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Post by drpepper on Aug 13, 2019 0:41:51 GMT -6
Great points no doubt. i didn't want to be long winded, but i thought about writing about how generally, so much of what KSL does in their immaging is tied to their programming in a major way. obviously of course, but people do count on stuff like what Oldiesfunhouse has mentioned about knowing when to tune in for something. That's one of the greatest traits a station can have imo. I do Wish i'd also written that while i'd like mor talk, i'd also love an all news station. occasionally, like during the earthquake most recently in parts of So cal, i tuned into KNX right away and sometimes will to them or 1010 WINS. Sometimes others. Not just when i know i can tune in for breaking news coverage as something is ongoing, or has very recently occured, but also knowing i can hear news when i want to, and with not much effort. no need to record something etc. Not that that is a hard thing at all, just a general example. Theres so much to be said for use cases like yours oldiesfunhouse, and that's part of what makes radio great imo. Heres to a future with KSL News and KSL talk radio. If only.
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Post by David on Aug 18, 2019 14:40:44 GMT -6
All news radio formats are very expensive to produce, which is probably one of the reasons why there's so few 24/7 news stations. In fact, back when 1280 held the KDYL calls, the station had an all news format from 1976-1986. When it became cost prohibitive to continue the all news format, KDYL dropped it and switched to nostalgia/adult standards with Danny Kramer and Mark Van Wagoner. All news radio can succeed in major markets like Los Angeles and New York because of population density and advertiser support, but I just don't see it working in market #29.
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Aug 19, 2019 0:47:32 GMT -6
Let's be realistic here. Does anyone really think that KSL is going to dump the news/talk format that they've had for forever? I can't say with absolute certainty that it won't happen (I don't make those decisions), but the odds are so remote that it's practically impossible. Yes, in a huge metropolis like New York or LA there's a lot of news that's constantly changing not to mention the constant need for traffic reports, people are on the move during the entire workday and so on and so on.
Let's also not forget that Bonneville HAD another signal that they were looking to do something with back in the 2005-2008 timeframe. That was KUTR 820. As I recall they tried a female leaning talk format to complement KSL and they also tried music. Neither worked and they sold the station.
One idea that I think might possibly work would be using a digital subchannel on 102.7 as a news rerun channel, similar to what KUTV 2 does with KMYU over on TV. The schedule would look like this: From 5-9AM simulcast KSL 102.7/1160. 9AM-Noon, repeat the 8AM hour. Noon-12:30 simulcast. 12:30-3, repeat the noon newscast. 3-7PM, simulcast. 7PM-3AM, repeat the 6PM hour. 3AM-5AM (maybe), simulcast America in the Morning
There's very little overhead there, so it's pretty cost effective. It also gives an additional outlet that complements the main KSL brand without screwing up the legacy format, and there's not going to be a huge issue with staleness since within those windows not a lot is likely to change anyway and listeners could always ignore it if they care anyway. They already have digital on 102.7 and if I'm not mistaken they only have one other subchannel so they could add a talk channel without worrying about compromising bandwidth. They could also throw it on KSL-TV 5.4 for additional coverage for the heck of it. If it doesn't work, they're really not out much.
And for everyone at Bonneville who's reading, feel free to use this idea. I don't mind.
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Post by drpepper on Aug 20, 2019 0:04:29 GMT -6
The HD Sub channel idea is a really great suggestion. maybe they could work in some of the podcasts they have as well.
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Post by commanderlumpy on Aug 23, 2019 19:36:47 GMT -6
I do not mean to be disrespectful here. But does KSL care that much that they are low in the ratings? Look at who owns KSL. Bonneville Communications is owned by the LDS church. From my observation, KSL’s core audience is very LDS. These people I know that constantly listen to KSL don’t care about the programming. I think it is because owned by the LDS church and they fill safe listening to it with kids around etc. Let’s be honest here folks. KSL could have some of the dullest programming and its core audience wouldn’t care. Also, I’ll bet you Bonneville Communications or the LDS church could por a whole lot of money in to KSL regardless if they have great or pore ratings. Just my thoughts and observations.
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Post by David on Aug 23, 2019 23:04:00 GMT -6
I think most radio stations, KSL included, care about ratings quite a bit. It's much more difficult to sell advertising on a station when the ratings are continually dropping, or when you've only got a 0.3 share like some AM stations. Ratings affect what stations can charge for advertising, and broadcasters are in business to make money. It costs a lot of dough to run a 50 KW AM transmitter as well as a full power FM, and the LDS Church can only prop up Bonneville for so long if their ratings continue to decline.
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