Tuesday, June 10, 2014

SF Radio Ratings: May 2014; KNBR Dominant at The Top; KCBS Drops to Second; KQED Still Third But Heavy Drop; KGO, 'Talk 910' Flatlines; The Game Too Whose Morning Show is a Flop

 KNBR is king, thank you SF Giants. No big surprise here other than the fact that the all-sports talkie big May underscored how important the Giants are, how much considerable clout they possess and how KNBR has successfully built their programming around Giants baseball. Nothing out of the ordinary.


KCBS still had a considerably good book, so too KQED, although KQED had a bigger drop in the 12+ PPM Overalls.


Note: Advertisers do not buy time on radio stations based on these ratings, they are so-called "Beauty Contest" numbers, essentially bragging rights for the station but somewhat significant nonetheless.


NOTES...KSFO, however slightly, dropped again, and might invigorate rumors of a shake-up in their meager morning show and heighten their sale status...The Game, (95.7 FM), made a modest gain, again due to baseball, but not enough to gather significant status. Their new morning show is a flop; Damon Bruce has re-ignited PM drive but hasn't had a chance to nail his show largely due to East-Coast A's games wiping out his programs after two months...'Talk 910', (KKSF-AM), once again flatlines and drifts aimlessly away as two of its misfits, Frosty The Snowman and Gil Gross talk sweet nothings over test-pattern air...KGO still lingering nowhere as they prepare to re-launch into a new format with 'Live and Local' Talk integrated with news. Yes, the only question is when they re-brand, not if.


Here's the full numbers.




*Follow me on Twitter











19 comments:

  1. Who gets their own talk show on the new, new (old?) KGO when they make the change?

    ReplyDelete
  2. KGMZ's PD tweeted that The Game was top 7 Mon-Fri and top 9 Mon-Sun in May. Probably men 18-34 or something and that's all they should care about. But those numbers have to be propped up by A's games. Certainly can't be that awful morning show.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't think the morning show on the FM sports station is that bad. (possibly because the only comparison I have is the gawdawful KNBR show and Feinstein on 1050 (namedropping, mentioning his books, and NY/Boston centered sports coverage mainly).
    The shows they have that I think are horrible is the one that follows and the one (The Wheelhouse?) that Papa is on after that. Good play-by-play guy though.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Keep in mind that KQED was in pledge mode for more than half of May, and more than a few listeners tune out during the begathons (despite the sexual thrill ride it is each time Cynthia Marcucci pitches the earthquake kit for your pledge of $11 a month). Most return when the news programming resumes, but the PPM still registers that as a tuneout and it affects their ratings downward in those months.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Townsend has always been 2nd rate and it aint ever gonna change. He's kind of a nerd and not in a smart way. Get a new lead for the other two and maybe you got something.

    ReplyDelete
  6. 95.7 just needs to admit their mistake and bring back the Rise Guys - its not the end of the world, and I doubt those guys have new jobs yet. I can't imagine how getting rid of them and replacing them with Bucher, Townsend and Huff followed by Haberman and Middlekauf can be considered any kind of upgrade. I think you have start looking at the PD at some point.

    ReplyDelete
  7. KNBR has to feel very fortunate that it has the three most popular pro teams on their air, and that all three are doing so well. If they had to depend on their morning, or mid day shows to carry the load, they'd be in big trouble. The 'Murph and Mac' and 'Fitz and Brooks' shows are not worth listening to, as it's just a lot of loud mouth know-it-alls telling you what they think they know, with juvenile prattle, and smarmy behavior thrown in to make it that much worse. . Amazing how these shows have lasted as long as they have. If this is the best that KNBR can come up with, that's a sad commentary on local radio sports.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The PD over at the 'Game' doesn't have a clue as to what the bay area sports fan would like to hear. It's reflective on the constant merry-go-round of hosts and voices that have come and gone in a short few years since that station started carrying sports. They have a couple of decent hosts including Greg Papa, but most of their talent is unknown, just up from the Minor Leagues, or retreads from Comcast. Why they're employing TV hosts to be talk show guys is one of the great mysteries. Do they really think anyone likes to listen to them?

    ReplyDelete
  9. KNEW, 960AM the Patriot, has done horrible in their all Con hate radio format. Limbaugh and Hannity can't save them. They're sinking from a .8 to a .6. Might as well go back to Lib radio, which I miss so much

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's definitely not coming back. If Air America couldn't survive in San Francisco, it can't survive at all.

      Delete
  10. RE: Feinstein on 1050

    Absolutely, the guy is just a schmuck. Obnoxious. just plain horrible

    ReplyDelete
  11. No surprise that 910 Gil and Frosty is flatlining, they are boring to the 9th degree, I think Gil more so than Frosty, perhaps because he is on for 4 hours. Gil does decent interviews with very intelligent knowledge people, if he would take calls following the interview he might have something resembling an interesting show, but then he tells his stupid stories that no one (or hardly no one) cares about or he does his dumb criminal segment, which also is boring. Then 910 put on Joel and Corey for 2 hours after Randi Rhoades left, I pretty much agreed with Randi on many issues, having said that although her show was informative and intelligent, she did not set the world on fire, I like her and liked her sense of humor, however compared to Joel and Corey she was so much more entertaining and informative. Those guys and there show is the worst, (worse than Sussman, Gill not sure) they seem like nice enough guys, but who is the program director who thinks listening to 2 guys talking about their personal lives, even when interjected with some news talk, or whatever format you might want to call it, is interesting. What kind of mindless idiots do they think their listeners are??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Corey IS the program director! Haha apparently HE thinks he's interesting!

      Delete
  12. Ric Bucher on 95.7 The Game comes across as such a prick. I was so glad when ESPN dumped this pompous ass.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ric Bucher is the least talented radio personality in the entire bay area. All formats.

    ReplyDelete
  14. "BTH" is pretty awful...Bucher is pompous, and Townsend is simply an annoying hack who is frankly too stupid to be the backbone of the show, but they were okay in the afternoon. But in the morning, when they think they have to be "edgy", talking about bodily functions and sex? Lame and creepy. And Huff is HORRBILE...only so many times you can talk about the rally thong, 2010, how much money you made, and Pat Burrell. Dude has zero knowledge of non-baseball sports, and surprisingly doesn't have much of baseball, either...sure, he might have some insight on, say, hitting, but just general knowledge of the game and its history? Nada, doesn't even compare to someone like Kreidler.

    And all 3 of them complain on-air about how early they have to get up. Guaranteed this show isn't around in 2015. All that said, they're STILL far better than Murph & Mac or anything else on KNBR, except for Giants broadcasts. PD needs to admit his mistake and bring back the Rise Guys.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Won't happen. The 'Game' PD there isn't from the bay area, doesn't know what the listeners want, and will continue to fire and hire in an effort to get some traction. If you look at what KNBR did and has done over the years, they didn't have to make radical changes every other rating period. They stayed with the same formula and it worked, for better or for worse. Granted, they've got the advantage with a 50,000 watt clear channel signal, a history of carrying sports for many years, and the most popular three teams in the bay area being carried on their air. I actually feel kind of sorry for the 'Game' because I think that within about 2 or 3 years, the owners of that station will be tired of beating their heads against the wall, and will fire almost everyone and change the format. They'll probably continue carrying the Raiders and A's so they'll have to keep a few people around, but they'll pretty much 'throw out the baby with the bath water.' That would not surprise me in the least.

    ReplyDelete
  16. What is with all the gay sex innuendo's in sports radio now? Pandering to the locals? All the gays I see at the ballpark are lesbians. I am sure they don't care about Papa and Lund's fakie thang goin on.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Even Kruk and Kuip were doing that weird old married couple schtick last year. Ick. Seems to have abated this year. Where does that !@#$ come from?

    ReplyDelete