KIRO-FM

[The Wrench]

KIRO-FM has a new clock the past 2 weeks or so.  Sounds like the same number of avails, parsed in shorter stopdown sets over the course of the hour. 

The overall effect, I think is to make it sound like they have more frequent and more total commercials. Sounds more cluttered, IMHO.  Especially the spots around 10-11 past the hour.

Also, what's up with the KIRO-FM staff now doing promos for events to occur at 10:03,  11:04, 7:34 etc.?  Sounds stilted, like some bad consultant idea.

What do you think?

[The Street]

promoting events at the "4's" sounds like trying to keep you from punching over to KOMO for the traffic report. They have to do something. The ship is low in the water.

[Goldilocks94941]

I do wish KIRO and KOMO would back off of their "death match" rivalry and realize that the market is stronger when BOTH of these stations operate well, from a position of strength, with a full service news and information format.  A market as large as Seattle-Tacome should certainly be able to afford some competition.   

Therefore, I wish KIRO would quit trying to keep me away from KOMO's traffic reports by stalling theirs until the exact same start time - I'd like to listen to both, frankly, in case it's Friday evening and nobody is giving me information about the best way to get into town and how far the back up is on I-5.    Or if it happens to be a reporter who I don't think does a good job and I'd like a 'second opinion' about the real traffic problems.  If I get an in-car connection to the DOT data, I'll just quit listening to either station altogether. 

And KOMO, why won't you give us traffic AND WEATHER together, like all of the other big news stations in other markets?  Do you really think I'm going to sit thru all of the commercials for five minutes to wait for what often turns out to be a truncated forecast, when all I really want is a traffic and weather update before I actually get to the point where I have to decide to take I-5 or, shudder, Aurora Avenue? 

Respect the listener and his/her time and they'll be loyal and respect you.  Manipulate us in a bad attempt to keep us away from the competition and in the end nobody is served with what they want. 

[AQH]

KIRO-FM has a new clock the past 2 weeks or so.  Sounds like the same number of avails, parsed in shorter stopdown sets over the course of the hour. 

The overall effect, I think is to make it sound like they have more frequent and more total commercials. Sounds more cluttered, IMHO.  Especially the spots around 10-11 past the hour.

Also, what's up with the KIRO-FM staff now doing promos for events to occur at 10:03,  11:04, 7:34 etc.?  Sounds stilted, like some bad consultant idea.

What do you think?

It's called adjusting to the PPM world.

[talkerdjdude]

I thought KIRO made a mistake splitting off from the Mariners, and now with the Sunday Mariner games on both AM and FM it would seem they realize that too. How long before the M's eat up more of the KIRO FM programming? Not soon enough. Games could easily blow out Ron and Don in the afternoon and Luke Burbank at night and the world would be a better place, or at least for that short period of time KIRO FM would be more interesting.

They can fiddle with the clocks all they want to adjust to the PPM world and do specific teases about when stories and talk guests will be on - none of that is a substitute for compelling content, which KIRO lacks greatly and a dynamic news team, which again KIRO lacks. Not that KOMO is any better. I don't get news from the radio any more. I still like talk, but not as much.

[Cumeanary]

It's called adjusting to the PPM world.


No - adjusting to the PPM world means being pre emptive, not reactionary. It means less imaging, long boring promos that flex the production directors muscle and satisfy the Program Director's ego, replaced with real, compelling content. Recall has no place in this world. And it means facing the reality that changes need to be made.

Adjusting clocks and dispensing teases with no real reason to stay tuned will not keep listeners in this PPM world.

[Bongwater]

Well, being pre-emptive for KIRO in the aftermath of PPM is like planning a fallout shelter for a nuclear war after you've already been bombed.

So all they can really be is reactionary at this point.

However life does go on and things will mutate. I still think the move to 97.3 wasn't to their advantage. But this is where they are now and they can't scuttle back to 710.

I think they've already messed up a once unbeatable station enough. Messing up the clocks on top of it won't help that.

There's a LOT they SHOULD have done. Like wait for PPM before making any major changes to KIRO. Had they done that, they'd at least have KBSG to fall back on as the ratings winner until they can figure out what to do next. And we'd still have a classic hits station in the South Sound on 97.7.........

   

[AQH]

No - adjusting to the PPM world means being pre emptive, not reactionary. It means less imaging, long boring promos that flex the production directors muscle and satisfy the Program Director's ego, replaced with real, compelling content. Recall has no place in this world. And it means facing the reality that changes need to be made.

Adjusting clocks and dispensing teases with no real reason to stay tuned will not keep listeners in this PPM world.

What are you talking about?   How is teasing upcoming events "pre-emptive?"  You do understand the math and science about calculating quarter-hours on PPM, right?

[scoobidont]

a dynamic news team, which again KIRO lacks.

But Linda Thomas filled in for Jane for a big chunk of the first PPM month and it made no difference.  I don't think radio reporters or news readers register with typical listeners.

[djdan]

Bonneville may be the cluster that is the biggest loser in the PPM, with none of their stations doing well at all.  Every other group has a big winner.  Clear Channel has KJR-FM, CBS has KJAQ, Fisher has KPLZ, Sandusky has KRWM, Crista has KCMS.  Entercom is a bit challenged with KISW dipping in the PPM compared to the diary.  Only Bonneville has no winners.  News on FM didn't fly in Seattle, maybe because you can already find it on KUOW, which ranked top five in mornings 25-54.