The February radio ratings came out a week ago and we didn't have a chance to comment on them but now we will.KCBS is the most dominant station in the market. The all-news 740 AM powerhouse, recorded a solid 6.0, from its previous month, 5.3. There's no doubt that KCBS, firmly #1, has seized its niche as the go-to outlet for breaking news, traffic, weather, and sports.
We always have to remind people that these ratings are not the ratings advertisers use to buy time on each respective station but they do present a fairly good gauge as to what stations are gaining traction, what are flat-lining what others are struggling and just hanging on.
KNBR, for example, fell off the cliff, on the overall 6+ numbers, going from a respectable 4.7 to a paltry 3.1 --as baseball season begins those numbers will increase but KNBR makes its money from a certain key demo: the beer and boobs, male-dominated sports-talk genre that is a hallmark of its 24/7 format. When the Giants are playing, KNBR pretty much goes fulltime baseball. The Warriors impending playoff push will help too although the NBA on radio has always played second fiddle to MLB and the NFL.
Contrast KNBR to Entercom's all-sports FM outlet, "The Game", (95.7 FM) which continues to falter posting a disastrous 0.9 --as flagship station of the A's, the Game figures to pick up some mileage soon and a revamping of their morning show and a new PM show, however meager, can't hurt.
The big disappointments: KGO: out of sight, out of mind to the depth of darkness posting an all-time low of 2.0 getting destroyed amid a plethora of in-house turbulence and a growing sense of desperation within both the rank and file and management ranks. When KSFO beats you, (2.1), you know you're in trouble.
KQED held serve at a respectable 5.3 in second place to CBS--Clear Channel's "Talk 910" posted an embarrassing 1.0 --it's fairly obvious that they have yet to deliver on the "Bay Area only talk-station"--really? One problem: nobody is listening to Gil Gross and Frosty the Snowman. Among others.
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