KC Confidential

Here we go again with the September 2014 Kansas City radio ratings.

Nothing particularly dramatic this month, other than Entercom’s The Point 99.7 FM continued climb as it passes longtime urban powerhouse KPRS FM for the No. 3 slot in Listeners 12 and older, from 6 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Sunday.

Obviously, stations rely on specific demographic breakdowns when dealing with advertisers, but these numbers provide the broadest measure.

Another point of interest is the nearly full share point jump taken by 610 Sports. Gee, you don’t suppose carry the Kansas City Royals broadcasts could have anything to do with that, do you? And if the Royals continue to play fall ball, watch out for the station’s October ratings.

One interesting footnote was that in the key demo of Adults 25-54, Monday through Sunday 6 am to midnight, the ratings for KCFX have declined for four straight months. From an 8.4  share in June to a 7.1 share in September (which includes two months of Chiefs).  A year ago September KCFX posted an 8.7 share which was still No. 1 in the demo but was off by more than a share point from August 2013. All of which is unusual because KCFX ratings all but never go down once Chiefs season starts.

And taking out the “Chiefs Sundays” and looking strictly at 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, KCFX falls to 3rd place with a 6.1 share behind The Rock with a 6.6 and The Buzz with a 6.2 share. That’s right The Buzz in second place. Maybe that’s why nobody got the axe on the recent lawsuit fiasco.

Speaking of which, it will be interesting to learn what the effects of being off a week and the publicity surrounding the station losing a million dollar lawsuit will have on its ratings in the October book.

BTW, there’s a new player in town now that Steel City Media out of Pittsburg has taken over the stations formerly operated by Wilks. The betting money from local broadcasting insiders is that Steel City is going to have its hands full the next couple of years trying to sustain those stations ratings and operate them at a profit.

One such challenge will be KCKC, 102.1 FM – the Triple A station formerly known as Alice – that flipped to a adult contemporary that’s yet to catch on. In fact, even KCKC’s cume sampling has been steadily dropping the last couple months.

Lastly, there’s Channel 19’s The Bridge at 90.9 FM, the Triple A station that is still awaiting liftoff and living off Paul Wilson‘s benevolence. Wrote a check for fifty bucks to KCPT myself last week when one of their reps rang my doorbell.

Now on with the show… Continue reading →