Radio: July 20, 2018
I’ve
been listening to KOLA (99.9 FM) since I was in junior high school,
about the time I figured out how to tune it on my family’s “Sonic
Servant FM” home intercom system.
At
the time it was an automated top-40 station; one of my memories of the
time is when the automation system got stuck and the station played
Paper Lace’s “The Night Chicago Died” something like 16 times in a row.
Honestly I don’t know how I was able to listen that long, but I did.
Today
the station is a live personality-driven oldies station. Or in modern
vernacular, “classic hits” as the term “oldies” is apparently a
turn-off. Perhaps more accurately, as rock and roll spans so many years,
the term “oldies” connotes the era of the 1950s and ‘60s, something
KOLA (and LA competitor KRTH) shuns.
With
the current format focussing on ‘80s and ‘90s hits, KOLA certainly
found its niche: it has consistently been among the most popular
stations in the Riverside/San Bernardino area for years. The latest
Nielsen Ratings have it number 2 in the area; prior to that and at least
as far back as January, it was the top-rated station in the Inland
Empire.
Knowing
of and following KOLA for four decades, then, I have no excuse to miss
the fact that they, too, carry classic editions of American Top-40
mentioned last week. In this case they carry recordings from the 1980s,
every Saturday morning from 5 to 9 a.m. and Sunday nights from 7 to 11
p.m.
And
if you can’t get enough of the ‘80s, KOLA features “Absolute ‘80s
Weekends” that start Saturday mornings at 9:00 ... immediately following
AT40.
Through
August 3rd, KOLA is giving away tickets to listeners daily to a weekly
featured local theme park as part of their “Summer Ticket Window.” The
window opens every weekday at about fifty minutes past the hours of
7:00, 10:00 and 11:00 a.m., and 12:00 and 3:00 p.m. Listen for the
window to open; the 19th caller to the station wins the tickets.
Ratings
Not
much change in the Los Angeles ratings since last time I reported on
them: KBIG (104.3 FM) won the most recent survey released July 10th with
a 5.8 share of the audience, followed by KOST’s (103.5 FM) 5.6, KRTH’s
(101.1 FM) 5.1, KTWV’s (94.7 FM) 4.5 and KIIS-FM’s (102.7) 4.3. These
are roughly the same positions -- and ratings -- the stations held three
months ago.
There
were a few interesting results. For example, competitors KPWR (105.9
FM) and KRRL (92.3 FM) -- both playing a similar format -- tied in the
ratings (along with KNX 1070 AM KLOS 95.5 FM and KXOL 96.3 FM) at 2.6.
Alt 98.7 FM beat KROQ (106.7 FM) to take take the alternative crown, but
just barely: 2.8 versus 2.5. And KPCC (89.3 FM) found itself in the
top-10 -- tied with KAMP (97.1 FM) for 10th place -- with a 2.7 share.
KABC
(790 AM) needs to give serious thought to making some major changes.
The one-time talk format leader -- the station originated the format in
the 1960s -- hasn’t broken a 1 share in quite some time; the June
ratings found KABC at the bottom of the English-language talk format
ratings at 0.4 ... tied with oldies KSUR (1260 AM), a station that
doesn’t even reach much of the city. I think it is time to consider a
full-service format similar to the original KMPC (now KSPN, 710 AM). As
it is, KABC was beaten by every other English-language general talk and
sports-talk station in town.
The
full story: Each rating is an estimate of the percentage of listeners
aged 6 and over tuned to s station between the hours of 6 a.m. and 12
midnight.
1.
KBIG (5.8) 2. KOST (5.6) 3. KRTH (5.1) 4. KTWV (4.5) 5. KIIS-FM (4.3)
6. KCBS-FM, KFI (4.1) 8. KLVE (3.5) 9. KYSR - Alt 98.7 (2.8) 10. KAMP,
KPCC (2.7)
12. KLOS, KNX, KPWR, KRRL, KXOL (2.6) 17. KROQ (2.5) 18. KLAX, KRCD (2.4) 20. KKGO (2.3)
21.
KBUE (2.2) 22. KSCA (2.1) 23. KXOS (2.0) 24. KUSC (1.7) 25. KDAY (1.5)
26. KJLH (1.4) 27. KCRW, KSSE (1.3) 29. KRLA, KSPN (1.1)
31.
KLAC, KLYY (1.0) 33. KEIB, KKJZ (0.9) 35. KFSH (0.8) 36. KFWB, KKLQ
(0.7) 38. KDLD, KWIZ (0.6) 40. KYLA (0.5) 41. KABC, KSUR (0.4) 43. KKLA,
KWKW (0.3) 45. KTNQ (0.2)
Ratings are © 2018 Nielsen. May not be quoted or reproduced without prior written permission from Nielsen.
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