Oregon Media Insiders

Remember, these don't include NPR and public radio stations. Maybe we should wait until OPB's book is released.

Another interesting thing about the spring ARB's (as first noted on pdxradio.com) is that ALL the conservative political talk stations are down sharply IN AN ELECTION YEAR!!! (Left-leaning KPOJ also dropped, but not significantly.)

Is this a one-time ratings fluke? Or have people ~finally~ had their fill of the same old Limbaugh-Hannity-Savage-Ingraham schtick? The next book will tell!

I find KPOJ's besting of KXL funny indeed.

As for a Spanish speaking radio station coming out on top, I'm not really surprised. We have lots of Spanish speakers in the community and they most certainly listen to radio and watch television -- as demonstrated in other markets all over this country – and their options are limited. Whether we give it much thought, Spanish speakers among us have a hearty appetite for music, news and information about opportunities here and life in their home countries.

Years ago, I have a friend whose father ran a large regional retail concern with a very popular following, and they started advertising on a Spanish speaking radio station about 10 years ago. It has had a very positive impact on their relationship with the Spanish speaking community and helped contribute to the growth of the business. So seeing this trend in radio listenership doesn’t surprise me.

I remember about 10 years ago when KXL got rid of a liberal local talk show host, whose name I can't remember. I called and complained to the station and was told that there was no market for liberal talk. Liberals had absolutely no voice and I became enlightened on corporate owned media. I'm so glad that KPOJ has bitten KXL's butt hard! It's nice to know that even Clear Channel understands that liberal talk makes money!

Si se puede!
Hopefully the rest of the Portland market will soon wake up and realize the Hispanic market is ready to see more stories impacting the Hispanic community.

That's a pretty big number for El Rey, 2.3 points ahead of number 6? Anyone know if they're hiring ad sales?
And here's a question - if OPB's numbers are so good why don't (or can't) they sell ads and diminish the need for membership drives? They sell themselves like they're a charity, but clearly they're doing okay.
And Limbaugh is doing well enough for KEX to help it to a 4.1

Hispanics now account for 10% of the metro population as defined by Arbitron. The Hispanic population is much younger than the overall population, which swells their ranks in the most attractive demos such as 25-54 and 18-49. And the killer -- Hispanics report significantly higher TSL (Time Spent Listening) than any other ethnic or demographic book.

Common sense suggests that more than 10% of the total radio listening in Portland is being done by Hispanics.... and now that we have a reasonably well-signaled pop Spanish station on the FM band means the #1 ranking was almost inevitable.

This week a Spanish language TV station became the overall #1 station in New York. In some cities, spanish language stations account for 3 to 5 of the top 10 stations.

Even in strongly bilingual households, Spanish media is preferred, because it is more reflective of the culture... think futbol and jobs rather than football and Brangalina. Anglo media is far more focused on local fires and celebrity -- news of the rest of the world is almost non-existent.

This story will get really interesting when a second big-signal FM goes Spanish, allowing both choice and more nuanced demographic targeting on the part of the Hispanic stations. And when a third station goes Spanish language news-talk!

[And in an unrelated issue - OPB doesn't have "a book." It's listenership is collected and recorded just like every other radio station, when ARB does its surveys. But because they don't pay for the ratings, and because they have always positioned themselves as non-commercial, Arbitron made the business decision not to publish non-commercial stations ratings in the topline, first-look data. It is, and has always been there for any SUBSCRIBER OR AD AGENCY to see. And as a courtesy, ARB releases the non-commercial ratings (through a third party) a few weeks after the subscribers receive their data. And since OPB is a non-subscriber, they are legally forbidden to quote or reference their results in the ratings...just like any other non-subscriber.]

Radio has become a shadow of its former self.

The majors in this market over-paid for the signals and have run them into the ground.

OPB has to please its listeners or it doesn't have the funds.

With the run-down CBS properties on the market now, we'll see how much they are really worth in the overly consolidated, overly consulted, overly priced real world.

anybuddy know if there are many cities where public radio is Number 1? does it mean our brows are a bit higher?

I'm glad to see that KWJJ is beating Lee Rogers & the people at KUPL.

I don't have any numbers to support my contention, but I'm fairly certain Bill Gallagher had a good following at KXL. His program was top flight and he was always extremely well prepared. And too, to call him a liberal would be overstating it a bit. He tended to be moderate on most issues.

I'm sure he left KXL for more money -- which was reported in print media. But his gig at 620 KEWS was awful -- and the management at 620 KEWS did a very poor job of helping create the success he had at KXL. The time of his program (3pm to 7pm) and the constant interruption of traffic and weather reports made the listening to his program difficult.