Today: NewsRadio KMBZ Unleashes Ratings Spin on Advertisers

To riff on the old Richard Pryor movie, which way is up?

An email blast from NewsRadio KMBZ to advertisers boasts, "Today we have the facts to prove it! KMBZ AM/FM sees over 25% audience growth in just the first two weeks!"

A bar chart included in the blast shows for persons 12-plus, Monday thru Sunday, KMBZ grew from 178,700 listeners the fourth week of March on AM-only to 231,000 listeners the second week in April broadcasting on 980 AM and 98.1 FM, the former home of KUDL FM.

That’s a 29 percent jump!

And for adults 25-54. KMBZ grew from 76,300 listeners the fourth week of March to 95,000 the second week of April, up 25 percent.  Impressive, huh?

Not so fast!

"I would hope that when you give up an entire radio station (KUDL) you’d get a 25 percent increase in listeners," says one radio exec. "And they’re probably going to get a ratings spike on Bin Laden from last week, too. Because news-talk stations generate growth when an event like that happens."

That said, narrowing things down to a single week does not a trend make.

"Until you see a full month’s ratings you don’t really know anything other than people are checking them out," says a radio source.  "But to claim a victory at this point – to say these are the facts – give me a break!"

On further examination, KMBZ AM & FM is actually below where the station was one year ago!

"In April of last year they had a cume (listenership) of 114,400 in adults ages 25-54," the source says. "So in reality, at 95,000 listeners, they’re down."

http://www.mb-kc.com/
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10 Responses to Today: NewsRadio KMBZ Unleashes Ratings Spin on Advertisers

  1. todd says:

    Get a life
    Give me a break Hearne. Slow Kc Star bashing day? Just because Bob Z’s back in town feeding you all this crap you should check with other sources who don’t have an agenda. Compare Kmbz am & fm against Z’s Kcmo-am. Then check BZ’s revenues against the competitor. That ought to tell the story. Kudl-fm was in slumberland. Kzpt-fm kept a boatload of kudl’s gals at 99.7. So everything’s falling into place just the way the programming gods had intended . Tell Z hello from us.

  2. Hearne says:

    Let’s see…
    Does anyone outside Entercom care who the sources are for the dead accurate ratings information in this story? Doubt it. Or who somebody named “Bob Z” is, for that matter.

    Obviously you’re an Entercom staffer trying to play a distraction game with an anonymous spin. Pretty transparent. Fact is, everybody in radio and media buyers know that cherry picking one week (out of 5 or 6, no less) is all but meaningless. The fact is, this column is about KMBZ and that station’s boast, which can be plainly seen in the accompanying art.

    KMBZ’s ratings may be up 25 percent for one week from a month ago, but it’s actually quite a bit lower compared to where it was at this time last year. So the good news is, it’s almost back to where it was as an AM-only signal.

    By the way, Entercom’s chief exec has yet to return my call, speaking of checking.

  3. kansas karl says:

    great results from KCC
    A big thank you to Hearne and the staff at KCC, month after month KCC is the best provider of click throughs of metro websites, including the TV stations, the fish wrap and local radio, being non existant.

  4. smartman says:

    Golden Oldies
    Seems the appropriate song for the ad blitz would be Three Dog Night’s Liar.

    Pretty shameless to cherry pick like that.

    So what have we learned. Maybe the numbers are up, maybe not, but the listeners are still a bunch of douchebag lemmings listening to a dreadful morning show, Merrill, Rush, Shanin and Parks, Darla Jaye and Glenn Beck.

    These fuckers are so far out on the right wing they make Ronnie Regan look like a pinko.They make me wanna get a sex change and join Code Pink. They’re so whacko they think Sarah Palin would make a good president. There’s your sign right wingnuts. It would be one thing if the babble were coherent but it’s become increasingly divisive, predictable, boring and dogmatic.

    Jesus said turn the other cheek. I say turn to the other station.

  5. Fairplay says:

    Hearne Admits Irrelevence
    If the answer to
    “Does anyone outside Entercom care who the sources are for the dead accurate ratings information in this story? Doubt it. Or who somebody named “Bob Z” is, for that matter.”
    is no…then why not name the source? Also, if no one cares, then why is the story relevant?

    Speaking of relevance:
    “Fact is, everybody in radio and media buyers know that cherry picking one week (out of 5 or 6, no less) is all but meaningless.”
    Then why is this even a story? If those who matter already understand the assertion you make, then who else cares? Is this running on the front page of the Star? Lead story on TV? Is ANYONE else, besides you and douchey Landsberg the least bit interested?

    Finally, if the ratings are BACK to where they were before, then it sounds like KMBZ is successful in their work to reverse the down trend that HAD been present over the last year. Sounds like there is spin coming from KCC as well.

  6. Hearne Christopher says:

    Can you read, Fairplay? The ratings are not back to where they were. They are well down from what they were as an AM only station one year ago.

    The reason it’s a story obviously is that KMBZ sent a bogus email blast out trying to con advertisers and here are the actual facts.

  7. Mark x says:

    News … ? ?
    “…trying to con advertisers.”

    Oh really? …and that is news? ….LOL …

    Radio execs con advertisers (& listeners) and advertisers con listeners … really, Hearne, what is the news here? It’s the American way…

    I think P.T. Barnum had a famous quote about it … but it presently slips my mind .. . . .

  8. Hearne Christopher says:

    It may be the American way, but busting them for bogus bragging is also the American way.

  9. Fairplay says:

    Busted?
    Busted? How about busting Hearne for removing the earlier post that showed him getting pwned? Love the censorship on KCC. Tell you what, why don’t YOU guys start posting your Google Analytics stats so that everyone may have a glance at your numbers. I’m guessing the local right wing rant radio outlet isn’t the only one that’s bogus. What a joke.

  10. Hearne Christopher says:

    And how about you start posting your real name so everybody can get a glance who pwns you?

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