March PPM Arbitron ratings; KCBS on top; KGO, KNBR drop big; the Thursday pulse

The radio ratings are out, and while the overalls are more of a beauty contest and don't mean anything to advertisers, some stations took mighty freefalls that are more telling than others.

KCBS is the top-rated station in the Bay Area with a 5.8 book for March, down from 6.4 and 6.6 in both Jan. and Feb. Most important, it now has a firm lead over news rival, KGO, which continues to see declining numbers and whose audience demos remain considerably older, in spite of repeated concert-ticket give-a-ways and hip-hop-style bumper music inserts.

KGO's overall book was a 5.4 in March, down from a 5.6 in Feb, but fell third behind adult-contem KOIT, which had a 5.6 overall book. Ouch.

KNBR fell precipiticiously out of the top 10 Bay Area radio station to 20th!, (yikes) with a 2.1 book, compared to 2.8 and 3.5 in Jan. and Feb. They can make the case that a good deal of that has to do with the March NCAA basketball tourney, but they can also point to content too, or lack thereof, (figure it out.)

The entire numbers are here.

Memo to KNBR's Brian Murphy: at least I'm up front about those who I criticize, as opposed to ripping  someone anonymously, to a caller no less...KGO can tell anyone and everyone I'm wrong about the eventual PM news elimination, but I'll stick by the story...Oh, KNBR, btw dept: Sure, keep dismissing the overalls and stick to the A25-54 beer and guy demos, but eventually figure out that a great deal of sports fans listen to your station in spite of you, not because of you. It helps to have that Giants/49ers badge in spite of team performance. Your "morning show" and mid-day "Rudy and the angry man" are run of the mill audio blips on the dial, and I'm not the only one who says so. Keep selling those toe-fungus ads and make sure the AdamWins account is taken care of...KQED-FM, bolstered by Michael Krasny's Forum Show, had another strong book and whose audience is an advertisers' dream: lots of foodie books, Volvo's and Marin housewifes...

KGO Radio delight: Pat Thurston has grown on me and now look forward to listening to her weekend shows late-night on 810 AM, (Fri/Sat 1-5 AM, 6AM Sunday.) Thurston has scored some key big-name guests, (Russ Baker, author of the Bush family book, for one); most of all, Thurston has now developed into a A-rate interviewer.

Thurston, you may remember, was a featured tonsil of the late, KPIX-FM, from the mid 90's, the first station that brought you "OJ Simpson-trial" radio 24/7. Time flies.

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