December 5, 2022
With all the wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth over when stations should begin their holiday hoedowns, we saw very little of that in the first 10 markets we examined. To be more precise, only one of the top 10 markets flipped during this survey. Let’s see if that holds true for the final five markets The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. and the kingmakers from XTRENDS will put under the microscope. The NOVEMBER survey began on OCTOBER 13th and expired on NOVEMBER 9th. The clocks were needlessly turned back and votes were cast, but there were no holidays to gum up the works. Our check on ratings reality begins now.
SEATTLE-TACOMA: Lotsa Talk
When the season strikes this market, this market is lousy with pine-scented stations. However, the multitude held off until next month. In its stead, we had three of the top five 6+ stations specializing in spoken word programming. Moving up to the top spot for the first time since JULY was BONNEVILLE News-Talk KIRO-F (7.1-7.0). This ended the two-book winning streak of BONNEVILLE Sports KIRO-A (710 ESPN), which had its first down book since FEBRUARY (7.6-6.6). iHEARTMEDIA Classic Hits KJEB (95.7 THE JET) was still circling the #3 position but with its smallest share since MARCH (6.4-5.6). Two stations crashed the top five and were sharing a moment at #4. LOTUS News KNWN-A-F (NORTHWEST NEWSRADIO) was up from #6 with its highest share since FEBRUARY (4.8-5.2). iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock KZOK advanced from #7 (4.7-5.2). That logically means two stations were excused from the top five. AUDACY AC KSWD (94.1 THE SOUND) and FRIENDS OF KEXP Alternative KEXP had been tied at #4. KSWD slipped to #6 (4.9-5.1), while KEXP landed at #8 (4.9-4.7) where it was tied with UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON News-Talk KUOW (4.5-4.7). Over the last two books, HUBBARD AC KRWM (WARM 106.9) has gone from #7 to #2 to #1 in cume (556,300-570,100). It was up 2.5% this month. The market grew by 0.5%.
The top four 25-54 stations were within a share of each other. KEXP leapt from #3 to #1 with a slight increase. KIRO-A remained at #2 but, once again, with its first down book since FEBRUARY. Last month’s leader was AUDACY Active Rock KISW. The station posted its smallest share in over a year as it dropped into a tie at #3 with KJEB, which moved up a slot despite landing its lowest number since APRIL. HUBBARD Top 40 KQMV (MOViN’ 92.5) was back at #5 as it regained a small portion of last month’s large share loss. It narrowly defeated KIRO, which was up to #6 with its best showing since JUNE.
The 18-34 scenario was in turmoil. KEXP was the leader for the third book in a row but saw its previous share-plus lead shrink to less than a share. Two stations improved their respective lots and moved into a tie at #2. AUDACY Alternative KNDD (107.7 THE END) was up from a four-way tie at #4 with its best book in over a year. KZOK had its highest share since MARCH as it advanced from #8. KSWD and KQMV had also been tied at #4. They still were, with KSWD posting its best number in over a year while KQMV bounced back from a down book. KUOW fell four places to #6 despite only a small share loss. AUDACY Rhythmic AC KHTP (HOT 103.7) also dropped four places, ending up in a tie at #7 with iHEARTMEDIA Top 40 KBKS (HITS 106.1). KISW returned all of last month’s large increase as it slid from the tie at #4 to #9.
The 18-49 race was very tight with the top five stations separated by less than a half share. KISW was back at #1, though it was forced to share the spotlight with KJEB. Both stations had down books. A flat KEXP remained at #3 where it was joined by KQMV, which moved up from #5 as it got back a small portion of last month’s huge share loss. KIRO inched up to #5 with its best outing since JUNE. KIRO-A slid from #4 into a tie at #6 with KUOW.
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