Idaho Radio News Etc.

Dale Jeffries at FM Idaho’s Ontario branch needs some help — and you might fit the bill.

Fruitland High School has a game at Wood River High School in Hailey on August 25th – and Dale needs someone to do play by play for the game.

Anyone at KSKI, KECH, KWRV (or wherever) — that might be of help, drop me a line at idahoradio@gmail.com and I’ll connect you with Dale.

Sorry — had to sort out a little issue.

When Clear Channel acquired KFXD-AM from Doubledee Broadcasting in the 1990s, the station’s talk format was dumped, and “classic country” ushered in. Now the station scores ones and twos.

If you had your shot – what would you do with the freqency? And no, you can’t change the call letters.

KZMG’s contest last week to give away Nickelback tickets – “What the hell is on Joey’s head” – was a fun, imaginative way to tie a pretty routine contest (we give clues, you call in and guess the object) in to the prize.

Brian at Idaho Ad Agencies notes a little mistake on a local station. An old Mountain Home Auto Ranch Spot has been airing for several days. I think it was probably a traffic error — but it does seem “old” ads hit the air more and more in a consolidated VTed world.

Last ratings period, I began to look at a station’s six book average. Since Arbitron numbers are insanely unpredictable, sometimes it can help to take the long view.

The top station over six books is still KIZN, with an average of 7.383. KIDO is second, KQFC third – and KTHI fourth.

Here are the averages:

KIZN – 7.383
KIDO – 6.667
KQFC – 6.167
KTHI – 6.1
KBOI – 5.5334
KQXR – 5.4167
KKGL – 5.2667
KXLT – 4.9833
KCIX – 4.75
KJOT – 5.3833
KZMG – 4.833
KLTB/KTMY – 3.7
KSAS – 3.833
KRVB – 2.283
KGEM – 2.667
KFXD – 1.933
KTIK – 1.8167
KWEI – 1.267

Clear Channel has a big winner this book: KCIX/Mix 106. While the station only gained .3 book to book, it is up a point and a half year-to year. While the overall numbers (a 5.5 spring 2005) aren’t record-setting (the station scored a 6 in spring 2004) – they are part of a growing trend.

Far more impressive is the station’s meteoric rise in the 25-54 numbers, to take the top spot – with an 8, up from 5.9 fall 2005 and a 4.3 spring 2005 – nearly doubling in just a year.

Without access to the breakout numbers – I cannot say anything for sure, but it’s a safe bet that the station’s female numbers are hot, just as it is safe to say that KJOT did damn well with men.

But it seems that for every winner, there is a seeming loser. KXLT/Lite 108 had a “lite” book – dropping from a 6.2 to 3.5 (25-54). While Mix went up 2.7 – Lite went down 2.1.

There’s a bit of a caveat — during a portion of the fall book, KXLT isn’t playing Continuous Lite Favorites — but turns off that light and fires up the Christmas lights. Here’s where it gets a bit confusing: In the 12+ numbers (year to year), KXLT is actually up .3 — but in the demo, the station fell 1.7. Is the 107.9 Lite FM audience aging?

It’s the story of the book – the rise of rock. It’s also reflected in the 25-54 numbers.

KJOT – up 2.4
KKGL – up .4
KQXR – didn’t hit top 10 last fall, unable to calculate
KTHI – up 1.4
KRVB – didn’t hit top 10 last fall, unable to calculate – however the lowest station last book had a 5.5, so KRVB gained at least .5 book to book.

The big loser? Again…. country. KLTB/KTMY dropped out of the top ten, KQFC lost a full point, and KIZN fell 2.9.

Mike Deeds has a good write up on the ratings in this week’s “scene.”

But the one thing that I care about is the 25-54 data published in the back of the book (persons 6a-midnight):

KCIX – 8
KJOT – 7.6
KKGL – 7.6
KTHI – 7.3
KIZN – 5.9
KRVB – 5.9
KQFC – 5.2
KQXR – 4.5
KIDO – 4.2
KXLT – 3.5
KZMG – 3.5

Breakdowns to come…

I received some tickets from Select-a-Seat in the mail today.

The ticket jacket? Emblazoned with “Kool 104.3.”

We’ll do some more digging and pull out the usual charts and graphs as the week goes on.

The tale for KIDO/News Radio 580 is still yet to be told it appears.

The station lost morning team Jon Duane and Chris Kelly in the spring, and just last month installed a permanent replacement.

Jon & Chris resigned while the book was underway – making it hard to gauge the impact their exit had on the numbers. KIDO slid to its lowest number since Spring 2004, but came out on top of KBOI. KBOI dropped 2.7 points, while KIDO lost only 1.7.

We have a new rock radio champion ladies and gentlemen… it is KJOT/J-105.

One of Boise’s most established FM stations nearly doubled its ratings (Fall to Spring), landing at a 6.3. The station broadened its playlist and launched a new morning show. It also launched a heavy promotional campaign, with TV spots running on both sister-station KIVI, and KTVB.

KKGL/96.9 The Eagle is basically flat book-to-book, but dropped about two points from Spring.

The x factor, so-to-speak is, well — The X. KQXR/100.3 The X clearly targets a younger audience, but with KJOT having a slightly more modern spinlist, the two meet somewhere in the early-90s. Combine the two and Journal has the rock wall locked up.
Wonder how this Byl & Doug afternoon numbers look…

Perhaps this wasn’t the best time for KTMY to get in the country game.

As I noted in the KTMY post, KIZN & KQFC both saw big drops, with KQFC dropping 20% of its 12+ audience, while KIZN lost 25%. The one “bright spot” is Clear Channel’s “other” country station – KFXD-AM, which picked up a third of a rating point.

Does this mean that diary-listeners who listened to KTMY just didn’t write it down? Perhaps. As we always say, diary-based ratings are such a subjective game, that it’s hard to tell what’s really going on. But the end result is — it’s all we’ve got…

- KRVB/94.9 The River had its best book since Spring 2004, with a 4.2.
- Spanish radio is here to stay — Bustos Media-owned KDBI scored a 2.2, while locally owned outlet KWEI pulled in a 1.6. That’s a combined 3.8. KDBI has grown from a 0 to a bigger number than any KTIK, KTPZ or KTMY.
- The Original Hits of KGEM continue to just kinda slide along – scoring a sub-3 point number for the fourth book in a row. The station did not pick up any of KLTB’s spilled juice.
- KTPZ/The Music Monster 99.1 saw its best number since the Spring of 2003, with a 1.2

KZMG & KSAS have traded places yet again.

KZMG is the winner this time, pulling down a 4.2 ratings, while KSAS dropped 1.5 to land at 2.6.

It seems there is never a winner in this war… take a look at who came out on top the past seven books:

Spring 2006: KZMG
Fall 2005: KSAS
Spring 2005: KSAS
Fall 2004: KZMG
Spring 2004: KZMG
Fall 2003: KZMG
Spring 2003: KSAS

Back to Spring 2006 – the stations only combined for 6.8 rating, a far cry from the 7.9 Magic score in its last book without competition.

Here’s the average station rating for the three Boise radio groups (for the purpose of this sample, Journal’s KCID-AM is not included – simply because it is not in the Arbitrends).

Citadel – 4.33
Journal – 5.06
Clear Channel – 3.33

In Spring 2005…

Citadel – 5.067
Journal – 4.32
Clear Channel – 3.833

This is the first time that any other group than Citadel has won the “average” race since my tracking began in Spring 1999.

KTHI/107.1 K-Hits is sitting on top the Boise radio ratings roost today. I think the staff is celebrating good times… and great oldies. Sorry, couldn’t help it.

The station grabbed a 7.3 rating – its best number since flipping to the Superhits format. KTHI gained 2.3 points, or about half the audience that KLTB/KTMY lost.

KTMY/My Country 104.3 had its first book.

No way to spin this: the news isn’t good.

Most probably looked at the ratings like this today: OK, K-Hits is #1, J105 two… scan scan scan… where’s KTM-… woah…

KTMY is the lowest-rated station in the Boise market owned by one of the “big three,” scoring a 1.6 (all numbers 12+, Fall 2005 Arbitrends). The frequency shed a stunning 72 percent of its overall audience from the Fall 2005 period. If you compare Spring to Spring – 104.3 FM lost a still surprising 61%.

Jeff Cochran, operations manager for Clear Channel Boise said this of Kool Oldies 104.3 (to the Idaho Statesman) in January: “If a radio station drops off like that,” he said, “it is time to try something different.”

That statement was made before KLTB’s strong Fall 2005 book — he was talking about the trend downard, from a 9.3 in 2001 to a 4.1 in Spring 2005. That drop, of course – is less than the fall the station took this book.

The other side of the coin is this: The station is just out of the gate – and is swimming in a very competitive area: country. CC execs are also likely taking great interest in fairly large drops for both KIZN/Kissin 92.3 and KQFC/The Big 98 – both stations lost ground, which may indicate that KTMY had a tough time getting people to write down its calls in the diary.

Spring 2006 12+ numbers. Slicing and dicing after the day job…

KTHI-FM 7.3
KJOT-FM 6.3
KCIX-FM 5.5
KIDO-AM 5.5
KIZN-FM 5.5
KKGL-FM 5.3
KQXR-FM 5.1
KQFC-FM 4.8
KBOI-AM 4.4
KRVB-FM 4.2
KXLT-FM 4.2
KZMG-FM 4.2
KSAS-FM 2.6
KGEM-AM 2.4
KDBI-FM 2.2
KFXD-AM 2.2
KTIK-AM 1.8
KBXL-FM/KDZY-FM 1.6
KTMY-FM 1.6
KWEI-FM 1.6
KTPZ-FM 1.2

KHTQ/Rock 94 1/2 is the big winner in the Spokane/Coeure d’Alene ratigs race.

Three stations tied for second place: Citadel-owned KEYF/Oldies 101.1, Clear Channel-owned country outlet KIXZ and CC-owned KKZX. You might remember that Big Jack Armstrong is now voice-tracking for KEYF from Boise.

Disect for yourself here

If you logged on to AllAcces today – you saw GREAT news for Citadel.

If you logged on to Radio & Records today — you saw AWFUL news for Citadel.

- AA: Citadel Q2 Revenues Rise
- R&R: Citadel Sees Steep Q2 Loss

R&R notes that Citadel had a net loss of $74.8 million – while AA says the company saw 2nd quarter net revenue rise $112.5 million.

Huh?

Citadel lost money – but revenue went up. The company had to pay up on a $149.58 million “asset impairment expense.” It’s all in the spin I guess.

The company did cite a handful of markets for the revenue rise — including Boise.

Clear Channel Communications wants to up the limit of stations owned in larger markets. Under the proposal, a company could control 10 stations in markets with at least 60 signals, and 12 outlets in areas with 75 stations. The cap is currently eight for any market with 45 frequencies.

This news comes from “The Deal” magazine.

Here’s CC’s take on its proposal to the FCC:

“Easing the ownership restrictions will help level the playing field and let free radio compete with iPods, online music services and satellite radio,” said a Clear Channel spokeswoman. “Certainly, seeing that satellite radio has 150 unregulated stations in every market and free radio is limited to just eight shows the apparent disparity.”

Clear Channel is the nation’s largest radio broadcaster, controlling 1,189 stations nationwide – including six in Boise.

- Citadel Broadcasting is looking for account executives, and is running on-air spots to get resumes in the door

- China Blue’s third anniversary is this month, and the party will be DJed by Efren Ramirez. Who? Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite. Sweeeeet!

- Speaking of Ted Challenger clubs — KZMG night show host “Matty” also holds down the fort on weekend nights at Dirty Little Roddys — continuously working the crowd in to a lather, and reminding folks that “we’ll be going ’til two o’clock in the morning!!!”

- Several Boise-area stations handed out “win ‘em before you can buy ‘em” passes to the Rolling Stones. KKGL/96.9 The Eagle did a “hear two Stones songs back to back and be caller 9 promotion.”

- KSAS/103.3 Kiss FM night host Chase and his crew do a remarkable job of making the show sound local – weaving in Boise-area callers. Why’s that “remarkable?” The show is VTed from Portland.

- “Pack the Track” starts Tuesday.

This news found on the AP wire…

Dennis Carlson has been with Idaho Falls station KUPI for 33 years, much of that time as part of the “The Breakfast Boys” team during the morning drive time.

Carlson played the straight man on the show, while John Balginy was his partner.

Balginy says he’s sorry to see Carlson go.

Carlson is moving to Boise, where his wife, Dani, has taken a job with St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center. Carlson says there may be a radio job for him in Boise, but at this point he’s not sure.