Radio Waves Podcast #376

 Guest:  Dave Beasing 

Radio Waves: May 12, 2023

Who do you love?

Last week I spoke of an article from Inside Music Media’s Jerry Del Colliano in which he made a list of easily-fixed programming elements that turn listeners off. In case you missed it and want to take part, I am asking for your “things” … what would cause you to tune to another station or even turn off the radio completely.

Before I follow up, though, I wanted to put together a list of things I like about radio. Scratch that – things I love. What keeps me going back to the radio every day? You can join in this as well.

Without further ado:

I love The Woody Show. Airing on Alt 98.7 FM weekday mornings from 4 a.m. to 10 a.m. (kind of … they definitely repeat segments), the program has been a huge hit for the station … and for good reason.

Starring Jeff “Woody” Fife, (Renae) Ravey, Sebastian “SeaBass” Davis, Greg Gory, Jason “Menace” McMurry, and Sammi Moreno, the show bills itself as “insensitivity training for a politically correct world.” I’d call it more of a gathering place to hang out with friends.

Yes, at times, they get a little raunchy. But usually it’s good clean fun. They make fun of bad behavior, call people on their stupidity, and in general bring listeners in on their party every morning.

I appreciate that, unlike some shows of the past, they are professional broadcasters as well, intelligent, quick-witted and extraordinary funny and entertaining. Ravey’s laugh is infectious. Bits and contests are well-designed, and include DUIQ, wherein listeners try to guess if a drunk partier can answer a simple trivia question, stories on stupid criminals, “redneck” news and occasional interviews. I include The Woody Show in the list of all-time best morning shows; the program has aired locally since April 21, 2014.

I love Booker and Stryker, also on Alt 98.7 FM.  Chris Booker and Ted Stryker got together just over a year ago — February, 2022 — but the flow of the show and the chemistry between the two makes it seem like they have been together forever. Like Woody mornings, they quickly become your friends and make the afternoon drive pass much faster … to the point where you don’t even want to get out of the car. Or leave work. Or whatever. As long as the show is on the air, I don’t care what I am doing; I even listen on my bike ride home from work.

The two wouldn’t hurt a fly; this is one program where all ages can listen. 

I love Go Country 105 FM. Country music purists will disagree, but I really like modern country music … it reminds me of top-40 music of the past – songs you can sing along with in which the artists (or the country version of The Wrecking Crew, if one exists) still play real instruments. DJs are good, the commercial load is not ridiculous, and the station is locally owned by a guy who loves dogs and helps facilitate pet adoptions. What more do you want in a music station?

I love KFI (640 AM). I don’t necessarily listen to every show, but they tend to be entertaining with a variety of topics. But what I really like is the news department – KFI news has always been top-notch, and the long history of good reporting continues today. Without question, KFI produces the best local newscast heard on the local commercial airwaves. Yes, better than KNX (1070 AM, 97.1 FM).

I love the stations that go the extra mile to produce content for niche audiences. For example, you do have to use streaming or an HD radio, but the fact that Saul Levine uses Go Country’s signal to digitally send out classical music, 50s, ‘60s and ‘70s oldies, and adult standards focussing on Frank Sinatra and his friends — commercial-free, no less — does not go unnoticed. He does it because he wants to serve an audience that others ignore, and knows that it will never bring in much in the form of revenue. Levine just loves the art of radio. Local ownership at its best.

And finally, I love that so many stations both locally and nationally stream their programming on apps I can use with my smart speakers phones. Being able to tune stations far and wide wherever I am is much appreciated by me and so many others. I’d mention the distant stations I like, but the focus of this column is local, so I won’t.

So now you have a choice … you can still let me know what bugs you, but besides that … what do you love? Let me know!

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Radio Waves: May 5, 2023

March Nielsens show some changes

What’s happening with KIIS-FM (102.7)? Since December, the hit music station has been on an upward trajectory in the Nielsen ratings; the March results released in late April have the station at second place overall with a 5.0 share of the audience … a full 2 points higher than it earned in December. If memory serves right, this is the highest finish KIIS has had in years … is pop music on the radio making a comeback?

Perhaps. But it was oldies that won the day, with KRTH (101.1 FM) taking the top spot overall, beating KIIS by almost a full point at 5.8. That’s an increase of just over a point since December, when it had a 4.7 share, and is the highest rating the station has had this year. Oddly, KRTH’s online stream, which led all streams before, was not present in the ratings list this month

The big — and truly surprising — drop came from KOST (103.5 FM), which found itself out of the first place position it has held for much of the past year … tied with KFI (640 AM) and KLVE (107.5 FM) at 5th at a 4.1 share. What makes this surprising is that KOST truly has led for most of the past year. 

Another surprising drop came from Go Country 105 (KKGO, 105.1 FM), coming in with a 1.8 share of the audience compared with 2.1 in February and 2.5 back in December. I doubt this is a long-term trend, though … perhaps the excitement of the Stagecoach festival held last week will help out. Or perhaps it’s one of those anomalies that happen when the ratings meters are distributed to new listeners.

KFI led the talk wars as per usual, it’s 5th place tie dominating the rest, including KRLA (870 AM)’s 0.7 and KEIB’s (1150 AM) 0.6. Where’s KABC? Nowhere to be found, but it doesn’t mean they have no listeners. I confirmed that the area’s talk format originator no longer subscribes to Nielsen and thus does not show in the ratings list. I also noticed that KSPN (710 AM) isn’t on the Nielsen list either, for the same reason. My hunch is that many stations will begin to consider such a move due primarily to monetary savings; I’ll have a story on that in an upcoming column.

More interesting items from the ratings list: Alt (98.7 FM) beat KROQ (106.7 FM), but the two remain fairly close: 2.4 vs. 2.1. KKJZ (88.1 FM) was the top-rated public station with a 2.3 share. Regional Mexican music station KFWB (980 AM) has been moving up, almost doubling its 0.9 December rating with a March finish of 1.6. And the stream for Mega 96.3 (KXOL -FM) came from nowhere to earn a 0.9 share in March. Added to the station’s regular signal 2.6 share, the station would total 3.5 … and would have placed 8th overall in the city!

Overall, two companies have almost half of all listeners tuned into their stations. iHeart has a combined 25.1 rating for its roster that includes KIIS-FM, KOST, Alt, and KFI, among others, while Audacy has a 19.0 total for its stations including KRTH, The Wave (KTWV 94.7 FM), KROQ, and KNX (1070 AM, 97.1 FM). 

The full story: Each rating is an estimate of the percentage of listeners aged six and over tuned to a station between the hours of 6 a.m. and 12 midnight.

1. KRTH (5.8) 2. KIIS-FM (5.0) 3. KBIG (4.5) 4. KTWV (4.4) 5. KFI, KLVE, KOST (4.1) 8. KBUE (4.0) 9. KRRL (3.4) 10. KNX (3.3)

11. KCBS-FM “Jack” (3.2) 12. KRCD (3.0) 13. KLOS, KXOL (2.6) 15. KLAX, KYSR “Alt” (2.4) 17. KKJZ (2.3) 18. KLYY, KPCC (2.2) 20. KROQ (2.1)

21. KUSC (2.0) 22. KDAY, KKGO, KLLI, KPWR “Power” (1.8) 26. KSCA (1.7) 27. KFWB, KJLH (1.6) 29. KCRW (1.3) 30. KLAC (1.0)

31. KXOL Stream (0.9) 32. KDLD, KFSH (0.8) 34. KCSN, KRLA (0.7) 36. KEIB (0.6) 37. KKLA (0.3) 38. KWKW (0.2) 39. KHJ, KNX Stream, KROQ HD2, KROQ Stream, KTNQ (0.1)

Listener Gripes

You already know my opinion of what makes for good radio. Inside Music Media’s Jerry Del Colliano recently put together a list of easily-fixed programming elements that turn listeners off. Before I report on his research, I’d like to hear from you. But I want to expand the list to not just what turns you off, but what turns you on. What is it you cannot stand about the radio you hear, and what is it you you truly enjoy?

Send your thoughts to me and I’ll start compiling our own list to be presented later. it will be interesting to see how your “bad” list compares with Del Colliano’s, and it will be fun to recognize the great things about local radio. 

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