Radio Waves Podcast #330

 Guest:  Dave Beasing, Sound That Brands

Radio: March 4, 2022

If I wanted to, I could write about radio ratings every week. They are released by Nielsen  (officially) every month — years ago it was just quarterly — and there are so many demographic breakdowns that I could start doing nothing but in-depth analysis on exactly who, what and where people listen to their favorite station broken down by ethnicity, age, sex, and more.

That, of course, would be a bit dull after a while, so I tend to stay with quarterly reports and the largest demographic - people aged six and older - unless something interesting comes up. Something interesting came up.

But it’s not really in the way anyone might have thought. I refer to the ratings of KNX (1070 AM, 97.1 FM). I have not seen the breakdown by demographic yet, but it is interesting what Nielsen has done when it comes to how it places the station on the list. Rather than comparing its ratings as an AM station running the all-news format over the past six months, the ratings company is using the FM signal. 

This raises an obvious question of why, due to the fact that the FM simulcast was added to the AM signal, not the other lazy around. So a fair comparison would be the new combined AM-FM ratings against what KNX earned as a standalone AM. 

Related was the big surprise to me: as a combo, the signals are no better than was KNX as an AM signal alone. So creating the simulcast, thus far, has done nothing ratings-wise.

For the month of January, KNX AM/FM earned a 3.1 share of the ratings. In the Holiday ratings - the last four weeks of the fiscal ratings year, also as a combo - the station had a 2.8, lower most likely due to the KOST (103.5 FM) holiday music juggernaut. But compared with Holiday, ’21, KNX as a standalone AM earned a 3.2, in June ’21 it had a 2.8, and in September had a 3.0. Basically, the ratings have held stead at a very respectable level throughout the year, as they have for many decades.

But you wouldn’t know that by looking at the latest list. Nielsen shows KNX (now called KNX-FM)  with a full point increase due to the simulcast, moving from a 1.8 share to the aforementioned Holiday season 2.8 and then January’s 3.1. I don’t know - and don’t think - it is anything truly sinister, but what it doesn’t show is the total loss of at least a 1.5 share, the average 97.1 FM earned when it played top-40 as KNOU ands earlier as KAMP.

In other words, while it is far too early to tell, KNX has not attracted any new listeners, at least as measured by total audience, since adding the FM simulcast, and has in fact lost a substantial share of what they earned as separate stations.

As I said: interesting.

And I know I’m alone here - I don’t expect this to change much. I predict that over time, there will be a few listeners who switch to the FM signal. But my hunch is that most will stay with the AM, and the FM will attract few new listeners in the long run. The FM signal just doesn’t add much appeal over the flamethrower AM — especially for a spoken word format heard over hundreds of miles including many the FM doesn’t even reach — not to mention the available smartphone apps.

New X

San Diego’s version of KROQ (106.7 FM) — XETRA (91.1 FM), officially licensed to Baha California, Mexico  — has been playing some form of new-wave or alternative since 1983. They were the first to do so full-time in San Diego.

But like KROQ here, the station just isn’t the trendsetting station it once was, beaten usually, though close, by competitor KBZT (Alt 94.9 FM) and as far down the list as alternative stations tend to be recently. Alternative is a tough format to be in right now.

So the station is revamping itself into itself … embracing classic alternative rock as well as highlighting new music. Still called 91X, the station has expanded its depth so much that some are calling the format “Classic Alternative.” Programmer Garrett Michaels insists that new music will stay, however.

One thing I noticed in looking at the San Diego ratings: Active Rock station KIOZ (105.3 FM) beats them all: 91X, KBZT, and our own KROQ and At 98.7. Active Rock has fewer limitations on what can be played within the format , and can lean alternative, metal, or anything else as audience tastes evolve. KROQ itself was once closer to Active than Alternative. My favorite streaming station, Rock 108 from Waterloo, Iowa, is Active Rock.

For comparison, in San Diego’s ratings, KIOZ is 4th place with a 4.9 share, KBZT is 16th at 2.2, and 91X is 18th with a 1.9. Without knowing what the new 91X will do, the question to me remains: why isn’t Active Rock being done in Los Angeles, against Alt 98.7’s 2.4 and KROQ’s 1.4?