Airwaves: February 4, 2011
January Arbitrons
People like Christmas music. More accurately, people love Christmas
music. Thats the only conclusion that can be made judging by the results
of the January Arbitron ratings released January 25th.
Keep in mind that with the new Portable People Meter, ratings are no longer
determined as a rolling average of the previous three months as
was done in the past. Today ratings are determined month to month so comparisons
with, say, the 1980s when KIIS-FM set ratings records are meaningless.
That being said, KOST dominated the entire Los Angeles radio world for the
holiday season, coming in with a 9.3 share of the pie, more than 72 percent
higher than second-place sister station KIIS-FMs 5.4, and more than double
KOSTs normal ratings throughout the rest of the year.
Of course there is the possibility that some of the ratings are from in-store
and in-office listening; KOST is a popular station in those areas anyway. During
the holidays, I would not be surprised if more businesses tuned in to KOST
than normal, and the PPM would thus pick up the sound as listening ... even
if the person wearing the PPM was not. But based on my e-mails, I do know that
the music is indeed amazingly popular.
Other than KOSTs meteoric rise to the top, with very few exceptions the
rest of the pack was the same ol, same ol. Exceptions? KFI dropped
to its lowest point in years, though certainly still respectable: 7th
place and a 3.4 rating. KABC was down as well, to its lowest point ever as
a talk station: 29th place and 1.1. Not to be outdone, KTLK maintained its
low of 0.4, KRLA was at its low of 0.5 even the Spanish talker KTNQ was down
to 0.4.
Are people flocking to other formats? Doubtful, at least in the long term.
My guess is that with all the problems of the world, people used the holidays
as an escape and temporarily left the talk format for ... you guessed it: Christmas
music.
Is Jack becoming yesterdays format? Hard to say, but the trend isnt
promising: Since August, Jack-FM has lost over 21 percent of its audience,
and has been declining every month since a one-time jump in September. Now
it finds itself right behind KLOS at 2.5 (KLOS is at 2.6).
Last time I mentioned this Jack staffers rightly pointed out that the station
is popular (and still is), but unless the trend reverses, Jacks time
may be up in Los Angeles as it already is in most of the rest of the country.
Right now, though, it is too early to call, and Jack does continue to do well
in various demographics.
And finally, on its 25th birthday, Power 106 earned its highest rating in recent
memory, coming in at 5th place with a 3.6 share.
The full story: Each rating is an estimate of the percentage of listeners aged
6 and over tuned to a station between the hours of 6 AM to 12 Midnight.
1. KOST (9.3) 2. KIIS-FM (5.4) 3. KRTH (4.3) 4. Amp Radio (4.0) 5. Power 106
(3.6) 6. KLVE (3.5) 7. KFI (3.4) 8. KROQ (3.0) 9. The Wave (2.9) 10. KBUE (2.7)
11. My 104.3, Hot 92.3, KLOS (2.6) 14. Jack-FM, KNX, KRCD, KSCA, KYSR (2.5)19.
KUSC (2.4) 20. KPCC (2.3)
21. KLAX (2.2) 22. The Sound (2.1) 23. KXOL (2.0) 24. Go Country (1.9) 25.
KSSE (1.6) 26. KDAY (1.5) 27. KXOS (1.4) 28. KHJ, KLYY (1.3) 30. KABC, KDLD,
KFSH (1.1)
33. KCRW (1.0) 34. KJLH, KSPN, KWIZ, (0.8) 37. K-Jazz (0.7) 38. KFWB, KJLL,
KWKW (0.6)
41. KCEL, KLAC, KOLA, KRLA (0.5) 45. K-Talk, KTNQ (0.4) 47. KKLA (0.3) 48.
KCAQ, Radio Disney, K-Frog, KGGI, KGIL, KMRO, KSFV, K-Wave (0.2) 56. KGMX,
KLAA, KLTX, KPFK, XKAM, KPRS (0.1)
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Copyright © 2011 Richard Wagoner and Los Angeles Newspaper Group.
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