Research Director’s Exclusive PPM Analysis for Seattle

Seattle-Tacoma: Manic Compression

This is quite possibly one of the most compressed markets in the U.S.  Not only were the top four stations separated by less than half a share, in any given survey, the #1 station could be one of five different stations.  This time, the honors went to HUBBARD AC KRWM (WARM), which moved up from #4 with its best BURL IVES-free book in over a year (5.0-5.7).  ENTERCOM Active Rock KISW scored its highest share since AUGUST to move ahead one spot to #2 (5.2-5.6).  HUBBARD Top 40/M KQMV (MOVIN) moved out of the penthouse and landed at #3 (5.7-5.5).  CBS RADIO Classic Rock KZOK also moved down the ladder from #2 to #4 (5.6-5.3).  In case you’re keeping score, that’s four stations within .4 of each other.  CRISTA Christian Contemporary KCMS (SPIRIT) had its best book since it was in the holiday spirit (4.2-4.5) to move ahead three places to #5.  Last month’s co-inhabitants of the #5 position dropped lower on the chart.  BONNEVILLE Talk KIRO-F landed at #6 (4.7-4.3) while UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON N/T KUOW dropped to #9 with its lowest share since AUGUST (4.7-4.0).

The order of the top five 25-54 remained completely unchanged from the previous survey.  Unlike the previous demo, however, the stations are not nearly as bunched together.  KISW was #1 for the third straight book with its best share since AUGUST while KQMV fell back a bit while holding on at #2.  KZOK was off slightly at #3 while KCMS was up slightly at #4.  KIRO-F also shed some share while remaining stationary at #5.

KISW was #1 18-34 for the third straight month but that wasn’t the big news.  The station actually hit double digits for the first time.  It has almost doubled its share since the HOLIDAY book.  Pretty impressive stuff.  KQMV also had a strong book but had to settle for remaining a now-distant #2.  CCM+E Top 40/M KBKS (KISS) bounced back from an unusual down book to move back to #3 (from #7).  Two stations were locked in arms at #4, and they both happen to share the same lunchroom.  ENTERCOM Country KKWF (THE WOLF) remained in place with a flat book while ENTERCOM Rhythmic AC KHTP (HOT) posted its lowest number since it flipped last fall to drop back from #3.  The two stations that were tied at #5 last time fell out of the top five.  CCM+E Top 40/R KUBE ended up at #6 with its lowest share in over a year –– and it is off by over two shares from a year ago.  KZOK lost enough share to land at #7.

This should not be a surprise – KISW was #1 18-49 for the third straight survey and posted its best number in over a year.  KQMV remained at #2 but slipped back a little while KZOK held on at #3 despite a bit of share loss.  KBKS was also off slightly but did not move an inch from #4.  KKWF remained in place ratings-wise but moved up a spot to #5.  KHTP was not very hot as it dropped two spots to #7.