End of 2019 ratings

[CAwasinNJ]

The holiday period ratings came out Friday. The previous report came out at Christmas so I never did write anything about it. I'll cover both here.

I suppose it goes without saying that FM 100.3 had a monster Christmas. Easy 99.1 also had two great reports which is all the more remarkable given the translator's lack of coverage. It hits the offices in downtown Salt Lake well (I presume) but nothing to the north and probably not a whole lot to the south either. Offices are AC's wheelhouse so being strong there is a real asset, but there are a lot more offices outside of that coverage. I'd love to see the breakdown on how many listeners are tuned to 99.5 HD2 even though iHeart seems intent on denying that it exists.

KSL suffered a very noticeable drop after being back near the top for three periods in a row while KNRS didn't have that problem. That's still confusing to me.

Another interesting observation is the combined 101.9/94.9 results. The ratings did go up noticeably in the 2 periods since the joining, but not nearly matching the two stations programed separately. It does make sense that listeners who had trouble with the 94.9 signal up around the northern areas would now find it much easier to get the station. Now that the holidays are over we'll have to see where the numbers go and whether the simulcast stays around.

[henry]

Here in LA, I noticed KFI has taken a *BIG* hit, though KEIB (the much lower-rated conservative talk station) did as well.

I wonder if there is political fatigue. People like me (M 24-29 demo) would couldn't get enough of political talk the last few years finally had it. I started listening to non-political podcasts instead. And the more politically moderate talk stations (KFI, KSL, etc.) --- ones which don't try to preach to the choir (cough KNRS cough cough) --- are more likely to see their moderate audiences burn out.

Either way, KFI and KSL should rebound hard in a couple of books. It's an election year, and listeners like me will be back.

[oldiesfunhouse]

As far as iHeart denying the existence of the HD2 signal for KJMY, during the Christmas season, I did hear them say on Easy that it could be heard on 99.5 HD2 so they haven't completely denied its existence.

[CAwasinNJ]

henry, I thought the same thing when KSL hit historically low numbers over the summer, but then it went back to near the top of the charts for 3 months in the fall before dropping off sharply in the Holiday (Dec) period. Maybe BYU sports has something to do with it? Without seeing the daypart breakdown it's mostly just informed speculation from out here, but that's what we do. I've pretty much given up trying to figure this out.

Thanks for the correction OFH. When I had been listening to Easy a few months earlier there was no mention of the HD2 at all other than the legal ID (which a normal person wouldn't understand anyway) and there was nothing I saw in their quite extensive advertising where it would have made the most sense. Do you happen to remember if you heard it mentioned by more than one personality or was it in a prerecorded sweeper or anything like that? I wonder if someone didn't just decide on their own to mention it without a directive from corporate. Personally I think they should permanently brand it as something like "Easy 99.1 and 99.5 HD2" to get the most mileage they can. Why not?

[oldiesfunhouse]

Regarding Easy 99.'s announcement about it's HD2 signal, it was a prerecorded sweeper kind of thing. If I'm not mistaken, Scott Fisher is their "big voice guy".  I've never heard that said but it sounds like him.  The announcement said something like "We can be heard in lots of places including 99.5 HD2 on your HD radio."  I only heard it once.