After several months of reasonably routine numbers, there were some new developments in the Nielsen Audio reports for Houston radio for the October ratings book.
For the first time that I can recall, KILT (610 AM) hit the board with its webstream simulcast of its over-the-air talk shows among men 25-54, the key demo for sports talk radio. I’ve seen streaming numbers in the past for some of the music stations, but never for a sports station.
It’s not much, ranging from a 0.2 share for the Nick Wright-John Lopez morning show to 0.4 for the midday Mike Meltser-Seth Payne program and 0.1 for the Rich Lord-Sean Pendergast-Ted Johnson show in afternoon drive, but at a time when stations are trying to scrape up any digital-driven revenue they can, it’s a promising report.
This monthly rundown on the Nielsen Audio ratings for Houston sports radio covers the period Sept. 10-Oct. 7, including the first weeks of what has been thus far a woeful Texans season plus the final tightrope weeks of Astros season.
As always, we start with 6 a.m. to midnight (Monday through Sunday) among men 25-54. KILT built its lead, arguably with the help of Texans games and programming. However, we’re also starting to see some sports stations with declines from a year ago, which has not been the case for most of 2015.
Stations October September October 2014
KILT (610 AM) 4.0 (10th) 3.4 (14th) 3.9 (T11th)
KFNC (97.5 FM) 1.7 (23rd) 1.5 (23rd) 1.6 (T21st)
KBME (790 AM) 1.6 (24th) 2.3 (20th) 2.0 (20th)
KGOW (1560 AM) 0.1 (T37th) 0.1 (T35th) 0.7 (T27th)
KILT has the edge in morning drive (6-10 a.m.) over KBME (790 AM), which is showing a sharp decline from a year ago, and KFNC (97.5 FM), which moved into second place among the sports stations.
Stations October September October 2014
KILT (610 AM) 3.9 (1th) 3.6 (12th) 3.1 (12th)
KFNC (97.5 FM) 2.2 (18th) 1.7 (21st) 2.3 (T16th)
KBME (790 AM) 2.2 (18th) 2.7 (T16th) 4.0 (8th)
KGOW (1560 AM) 0.1 (38th) 0.1 (T35th) 0.6 (T29th)
KILT is up in middays (10 a.m.-3 p.m.), and KBME is sharply down.
Stations October September October 2014
KILT (610 AM) 4.6 (8th) 4.0 (10th) 4.3 (8th)
KFNC (97.5 FM) 1.7 (22nd) 1.7 (22nd) 1.4 (21st)
KBME (790 AM) 0.7 (27th) 1.7 (T20th) 2.4 (16th)
KGOW (1560 AM) 0.0 (T38th) 0.0 (T39th) 1.2 (23rd)
KILT still leads in afternoon drive time (3-7 p.m.) but was down from a year ago. KFNC and KBME show year-to-year growth.
Stations October September October 2014
KILT (610 AM) 3.9 (T11th) 3.7 (12th) 4.9 (6th)
KFNC (97.5 FM) 2.2 (18th) 2.5 (22nd) 1.9 (20th)
KBME (790 AM) 1.3 (25th) 1.5 (T23rd) 1.2 (26th)
KGOW (1560 AM) 0.3 (T34th) 0.3 (T31st) 0.8 (27th)
Texans programming helped KILT from 7 p.m. until midnight weekdays, and KBME is sliding with the end of baseball season.
Stations October September October 2014
KILT (610 AM) 4.1 (T10th) 2.8 (T16th) 4.1 (12th)
KBME (790 AM) 3.5 (12th) 5.5 (T4th) 1.4 (21st)
KFNC (97.5 FM) 0.8 (T26th) 0.7 (T27th) 1.1 (T22nd)
KGOW (1560 AM) 0.0 (T38th) 0.0 (T38th) 0.1 (T32nd)
Let’s now turn to show-by-show comparisons. All these numbers are over the air only, not including streaming numbers for KILT. It also reflects schedule changes last month on KFNC.
Show hosts/stations/time slots Oct. Sept. Aug.
Paul Gallant/Brien Straw/Texans (7-11 p.m., KILT) 4.4 2.9 2.4
Nick Wright/John Lopez/Texans (6-10 a.m., KILT) 3.9 3.6 3.4
Rich Lord/Sean Pendergast/Ted Johnson (2-7 p.m., KILT) 3.9 3.8 3.3
Mike Meltser/Seth Payne/Texans (10 a.m.-2 p.m., KILT) 3.8 4.0 4.0
Fred Faour/A.J. Hoffman (4-7 p.m., KFNC) 2.5 2.7 3.1
Adam Clanton/Lance Zierlein (6-9 a.m., KBME) 2.3 2.9 2.1
Sean Salisbury-John Granato (noon-2 p.m., KFNC) 2.3 N/A N/A
Barry Warner-Dylan Gwinn (9-10 a.m., KFNC) 1.4 N/A N/A
Greg Koch/N.D. Kalu (9-11 a.m., KBME) 1.3 2.0 1.9
John Granato-Raheel Ramzanali (10 a.m.-noon, KFNC) 1.2 N/A N/A
Charlie Pallilo (2-6 p.m., KBME) 1.1 1.7 2.0
Matt Thomas (11 a.m.-2 p.m., KBME) 0.7 1.5 1.9
Steve Bunon/Sean Salisbury (4-7 p.m., KGOW) 0.3 N/A N/A
Steve Bunin/Sean Salisbury (Noon-2 p.m., KFNC) N/A 2.3 2.2
John Granato/Sean Salisbury (4-7 p.m., KGOW) N/A 0.3 0.0
To read more visit the Houston Chronicle where this article was originally published
Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
