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Whitney Knoerlein (courtesy of DC 101)
Arbitron has released numbers from its first three months of rating the Seattle radio market with the Portable People Meter. Music stations showed the biggest gains, while the new device was hard on talk stations.
In March, when Arbitron issued the last numbers measured with the old diary system, news/talk KIRO was #1 12-plus, leading among all listeners age 12 and older. Next came conservative talker KTTH AM, “The Truth,” followed by country KMPS, KRWM (Warm 106.9), and rhythmic KUBE.
The new PPM numbers, now ranking stations among listeners age 6 and older, put classic hits KJR FM on top, followed by KMPS and KRWM in a tie for second. News station KOMO, which started simulcasting its programming on FM in May, seems have benefited from the move, topping talkers in third.
The next three stations are music-focused (at least outside of mornings): KPLZ (Star 101.5), KBKS (106.1 KISS FM) and classic rock KZOK. Christian KCMS (Spirit 105.3) is next, followed by the jockless KJAQ (Jack FM), then KUBE, country KKWF (The Wolf) and NPR affiliate KUOW. (These initial PPM numbers represent the first time Arbitron has ranked non-commercial stations against their commercial counterparts.) “Smooth Jazz” KWJZ tied The Wolf for tenth.
The KIRO call letters show up at number 15, and it’s the AM, 710 ESPN Seattle. Right behind is News Talk 97.3 KIRO FM at 16, a steep drop from the lofty rankings to which KIRO had become accustomed, pre-PPM.
In other Seattle radio market news, KNDD, 107.7 The End (which, by the way, ranks #12 in Arbitron 6-plus numbers), has chosen Whitney “Red” Knoerlein as its new morning host. Knoerlein previously hosted middays on WWDC, rocker DC 101 in Washington, DC, going by her first name. In her DC 101 bio she describes herself as “a girl with (self-diagnosed) ADD that swears too much, drives a crappy car, loves music, thinks she can sing when the radio is turned up really loud, can’t pay bills, dreams of saving the world, gets off on weird people, lives vicariously thru Hunter S. Thompson stories and looks forward to laughing with co-workers so that I can put off doing any kind of real work.” “Mornings with Red” is expected to debut on KNDD in August.
(Your Seattle Radio Examiner is an on-call producer and host for News Talk 97.3 KIRO FM.)
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