Last month, I sort of half-jokingly noted that with the 0.9 winter share
pulled in by KLIF-AM (570), it was tempting to say that the station had
nowhere to go but up – although there was always 0.8.
Well, guess what.
The spring Arbitron ratings came out Tuesday, and it's a good thing I
hedged my bet.
KLIF fell from a 0.9 share to 0.8. With a share point representing
6,000 listeners in an average 15-minute period, that's, uhm, fewer than
6,000 people.
But it gets worse.
Among listeners 25 to 54 – one of the advertising industry's favorite
demographics – KLIF's share fell from 0.9 to 0.6, half what it
was last fall.
In morning drive, Jay and Hilarie fell from 27th to 30th place overall,
0.8 to 0.6, and they ranked 30th among older listeners with a 0.5 share,
also down from 0.8.
From 3-7 p.m. – most of which is taken up by Tom Kamb from 2-6 p.m.
– the ratings fell from a 0.7 winter share overall to a 0.6 in the
spring, and from a 0.7 to a 0.4 among the older crowd.
If the trend continues, these guys are going to wind up talking to
themselves.
But KLIF general manager Lon
Bason says the station plans no major changes.
"We're going to do a little bit more research into what we are
doing and what people like and don't like, and do more of what people
like," he says.
But KLIF will remain a local talk station, he says, discussing local
issues and filling in the gaps left by other talk stations.
And speaking of other stations, Arbitron made several of them very
happy this week.
At "Kiss FM" KHKS-FM (106.1), morning-drive host Kidd
Kraddick remained No. 1 among all listeners and the older crowd.
Even more impressive were his ratings among various female
demographics. He ranked No. 1 among females 12 and older, 18 to 34, 18 to
49 and 25 to 54.
At KYNG-FM (105.3), afternoon-drive
host Russ Martin continues to
impress his bosses by pulling in consistently higher ratings. Among
listeners 25 to 54, he jumped from 11th to 5th place, 3.6 to 4.9.
Since he took over the afternoon show in January, ratings have zoomed
from an inherited 19th to ninth place overall, 2.6 to 3.7, and gained
ground in targeted male demographics.
Program director Bob McNeill says he's always been confident in Mr.
Martin's talent, "but I'm just surprised at how quickly he's been
able to accomplish what he's accomplished."
