Radio ratings show a shift in listener tastes
Pacific Business News (Honolulu) - by Erika Engle PBN Staff Reporter
FM100, which plays "Today's Hawaiian Music," has knocked KSSK off the top of the radio heap, ratings for rude radio are rolling downhill and competition is coming from unexpected corners.
According to the Arbitron Co. spring 1999 ratings survey, or "book," covering April through June, the radio audience's preferences may be changing, and KCCN FM Honolulu has earned big bragging rights.
Stations like I94 (KIKI 93.9 FM/990 AM), Extreme 104.3 (KXME FM) and KPOI (97.5 FM) lost listeners.
These stations have provoked controversy with air personalities often criticized for their rude treatment of listeners, or with programming or promotions considered offensive by some community members.
Arbitron ratings for Honolulu are measured via diaries. Listeners selected by the company are asked to fill out a radio-listening diary listing the stations they have "heard" during specific times of the day.
FM100 is the No. 1 station in three categories: age 12 and older; ages 18 to 34; and, the most desirable demographic for advertisers, ages 25 to 54.
Mike Kelly, president and general manager of KCCN FM/AM, and KINE FM, says he's "very proud of Program Director David Daniels and all the people who did such a great job. We just have a real good team."
Bob Longwell, general manager of KSSK AM/FM parent company AMFM Inc. Hawaii (NYSE: AFM), doesn't believe the ratings will have much impact on advertising clients of AMFM's seven stations.
"In the business community, once we get an advertiser that's satisfied, and the station is working for them, they're getting results," he says.
Mike Yamada, media director for advertising agency Starr Seigle McCombs Inc., agrees the ratings won't have much impact.
In fact, he says, the new report shows "how inaccurate the ratings can be." He says the agency uses Arbitron only because "it does give us some direction."
Agencies like Starr Seigle often employ a four-book average to make their advertising purchase plans. Still, Yamada says, "even at that you see huge variations."
He says media buyers are knowledgeable about the stations; they know the formats, what they're about and who they'll attract.
"We'll look [at the ratings], but we can't use them as gospel," Yamada says.
Overall ratings, for programs aired from 6 a.m. to midnight, provide one measure. But stations traditionally derive most of their revenues from their morning shows.
In this area, KSSK still reigns supreme. The Perry and Price morning show, simulcast on KSSK AM (590) and FM (92.3), has twice the audience of the No. 2 show, hosted by Billy V. and Charly Espina on FM 100.
Still, overall, FM100 is the new champ.
Kelly attributes some of the station's success to the company's policy of reinvesting in itself. KCCN FM/AM and KINE FM are privately owned, not publicly traded like AMFM Inc. He says the reinvestment has enabled the stations to increase their promotional budgets and hire more-qualified people.
Traditionally, the spring and fall Arbitron books have been the most important for radio stations' sales strategies.
KSSK's Longwell says they didn't put their "full weight" behind promotions this spring, but they'll "concentrate their forces more for the fall book."
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