Radio Wars: June ratings show KNBR maintaining comfortable lead over “The Game”

Bay Area Stats Guy July 11, 2012

The latest Arbitron numbers were released yesterday afternoon, giving us a look at a year of ratings for the San Francisco market!

Here are the numbers updated through June (numbers on demographics or specific shows aren’t available to the general public):

San Francisco
	April		May		June
Station	AQH%	Reach	AQH%	Reach	AQH%	Reach	Owner
KNBR-AM	4.8	842,900	5.1	929,600	4.7	889,400	Cumulus
KGMZ-FM	0.7	219,100	0.8	199,200	0.6	191,700	Entercom
KTCT-AM	0.5	198,100	0.5	212,600	0.6	300,500	Cumulus

*AQH is Average Quarter-Hour Share or the average share during any quarter-hour during the course of the day. Reach is the total number of people that tuned in during the course of the week.

For those who are more visually oriented, here are the ratings in graphical form since I started tracking this going back to June:

There weren’t any big changes the second month in a row. KNBR dropped a little bit going from first in San Francisco to forth. “The Game” too saw a slight ratings drop, but it managed to stay in the same general range of around a 0.7 rating, with around 200,000 listeners. KNBR 1050 saw a pretty big boost in the number of listeners but didn’t see a corresponding jump in their ratings.

Overall, there were no big movers in the ratings numbers.

The one thing I have been looking forward to is the ability to look at the year-over-year (YOY) changes, which give a comparison not biased by the seasonal swings that effect the Sports Talk Radio business.

Well here are the eagerly awaited YOY Changes:

	June 11 – June12
KNBR	-2.1%
KNBR 1050	16.7%
KGMZ (the Game)	16.7%

The 16.7 percent looks pretty impressive, but it is really small change from a small original base. Both “The Game” and KNBR 1050 grew from last year’s 0.5 ratings to 0.6, modest gains compared to the percent change numbers (but if you were at one of these stations and looking to spin it, there’s your talking point). KNBR is down slightly and because they started from a much higher base, the modest decrease is actually reflected in the percent change.

Hopefully, next month, we will see some more excitement in the ratings, but if all else fails, it will give me my first chance to look at year-over-year changes in the number of listeners.

About the Author

Scott "Bay Area Stats Guy" Willis is a life long sports fan who has a fascination with the statistical side of things. He has been writing on these here internets about the San Francisco Giants since 2010 at Crazy Crabbers and at Bay Area Sports Guy since 2011 but if you dig real deep some of his high school newspaper stuff is out there too. You can follow him on twitter @BAStatsGuy or Google +Scott Willis

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85 comments

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Stan

I know AJ made a post to my post...but I can't find it. The software that's supposed to take you to the quote you click...we all know it works only on occasion. When I started here last year..it was 6 posts spread out over 4 topics..now its hundreds. That bug needs to be fixed.

Stan

Are you kidding me? anything that was funny on Stern was replayed for the next three hours.and THEN they talked more about it.and made it the opener the next day. KNBR replays and always has IF they did something..most days they've done nothing. I would guess that 95.7 doesn't have the intern/producer power to screen calls as tightly as KNBR..sure KNBR takes callers who start with how much they love Rod's Bob and the like..try to call in and debate..Raddy will cut you off if he feels your actually going to make a good case. The bay area is still better with two sports shows..I mean the Giants with Comcast and KRON AND KNTV have near a college football team in the south like grip on the media.

I don't know what Stern you're listening to, but I never heard him "reset". It was never a case of "for the listeners just tuning in, let me repeat the same 10 minute I just did 30 minutes ago". Lund does this daily.

Stan

NOW, your post I can see. Stern on AM was like that..with his new show I dont know. But in his old show..the fights were repeated like with Billy and the guy who did Ren and Stimpy for example was replayed over and over...it's why Billy (West?) quit.

Stan

Or,noreast..

Brooklyn Logic

Even if the Oakland A's pull off a miracle and win the AL West, it looks like 95.7 won't see much of an uptick in ratings. Too bad. If the A's relocate to Sacramento or out of California, what will 95.7 do then? Also, Jeremy Newberry failed his audition - at least for this judge. I wish we had a better KNBR alternative, as I've said before. And if Damon Bruce indeed has a "rabid" following here in the Bay Area, I find that bewildering.

Blaster

So, I think it was a couple of weeks ago, but we were chatting here about how 95.7 program director Jason Barrett was going to live chat on FB. Well, it was a slow workday for me, so I brought in my laptop and took a long lunch and logged in. He was taking some pretty light softball questions. I asked three times (very respectfully) why Rick Tittle didn't get a shot at his own show. No answer. When I asked why my questions weren't getting answered publicly on the live chat, I got an answer. "Ask an interesting question and I will give you an answer." Are you f^@&ing kidding me?! no wonder your station is on life support. You have no respect for your listeners. Also asked and answered were probably 20 questions about Ralph B. What I found interesting were his responses to resets and taking callers. Please note: I tried to link the chat here, but strangely, it is "down" and there is no archive. Anyway... So this is going off of bourbon soaked memory, but here goes. Claims that the reason that they don't take calls is because they're trying to be cutting edge with texts, FB, Twitter...etc. Complete BS, IMO as callers have back and forth with hosts and make the host accountable for their stance on a topic. It's pretty easy to mention and then disregard a text. Townsend's show is the only one that takes call after call and is far and away the best show on the station. On resets, Barrett basically said that listeners only tune in for a small amount of time so resets allow for listeners who missed an early part of a show not to miss out. Really?! This reeks of lazy journalism to me. If you show is sooooo good, people should be doing whatever they can to listen to the entire thing. Love him or hate him, D Bruce is lock step on this. His listeners are rabid and don't want to miss a segment. I can't remember what the rest of the questions were, so obviously nothing too riveting. If any of you participated in the chat, please chime in. Or better, if anyone could find the archive, I would be interested in BASG posting it and letting all of us dissect it.

Tommy J

Yeah looking at the stagnant/down ratings, the strategy is really working. Don't mind less callers (KNBR takes too many) but zero/none and constantly repeating topics in a 4 hour show (why not run tape of a two-hour show since its essentially the same in the 2nd half?) No response to Tittle sticking us with Lund (and ALWAYS TOO MUCH Urban) and Tierney is not giving it a chance to succeed. Start calling Barret "Bob Geren", since his responses make as much sense. Hope the Game hires "Bob Melvin" soon!

Blaster

Exactly Tommy J. I don't want too many calls, but SOME calls would be refreshing. Mix it up a bit. Resets are awful. I've never heard them on local radio before that I can remember, and I really wish they would go away. Even a little Urban is too much. I've stated my opinion on Tierney Danza on here to almost dead horse status, so I'll leave it at that. The station needs a complete overhaul. Keep Townsend, Tittle, and ok, the Rise Guys, but completely gut the rest of the house. It's the radio equivalent of hot garbage and it obviously starts with the program director... The so called Pimp. SMH

I couldn't agree with you more, Blaster. I also thought Barrett's chat was weak. I thought most of the questions were either softball and that ones that were compelling, he never really answered. However, I thought the response about resets was idiotic. I have been listening to radio in one form or another for 30+ years and I've never heard of anyone "resetting" until the Game. I also believe it's one of the reasons they're not gaining any ground on the competition. Why would I continue to listen to a station say the exact same thing they said 90 minutes earlier? I use to be a regular Howard Stern listener. One of the great things about his show was that he hit a topic hard and moved on. If you missed it, you missed it. He might make a subtle reference to previously covered topic later in his show, but he wouldn't spend 30 minutes saying that same thing he said 2 hours earlier. You would think that both Barrett and Tierney would be clued into this being from NY and obviously Stern fans since they ripped off his celebrity bit a few weeks back. I also thought the comments about taking callers were really stupid. You have a drive time show that clearly isn't doing well. The vast majority of your audience at that time will be in a car. You know what people tend to enjoy doing in their car? Talking to people. You know what we don't want them doing? Using twitter, facebook, or texting anyone! Mid-day and evenings are fine, but asking people to text, tweet, whatever while they're driving just is moronic.

Joe

95.7 is a local version of ESPN radio because the people Entercom brought in are from the East Coast to run it.... who really wants to hear what a guy who just got off the New York Subway has to say about local sports in an area where he has never even been to? Bay Area natives shouldn't since they know more than the host. Also their classless promos ripping KNBR represent their true colors it seems. There had to have been a better way to go about competing but I guess that's classic East Coast for you. I wouldn't know because I've never been, and I'm not going to pretend to know just like their out of town hosts who pretend to know all about Bay Area sports for a paycheck.

John Sports

Jeremy Newberry was pretty good today on 95.7. It sounds like he may have a permanent gig there. They have him teamed up with Townsend tomorrow, should be way more entertaining than (UGHHH!!) Lund.

Stan

Newberry is a step in the right direction...he's a bit stiff for my taste. There are so many funny black guys who know sports..Barret has to find them and include Asians and Latins..woman too, Diversity brings many different views -even if they agree,they still agree differently. ESPN finds them..a SF based radio station should have no trouble attracting talent I mean,Coco Crisp is funny..better then the duds of Posey and Cain..so why doesn't Coco do A's talk? Never heard him on thegame.

Gooselosgatos

Douchebag KNBR comment of the day.. Rod Brooks Intro To Show: "You know we haven't talked about the Jerry Sandusky thing a lot on the show because it was really hard for me." Hey Rod, you and Fitz are a real credit to your profession.

Fitz's Future Unemployment Check

This isn't a war anymore, it's a one sided bloodbath

Rep the Bay

I think the morning and evening shows are the strongest for the Game, with the Rise Guys and their chemistry down to Towny and the fact that, you know, he actually takes callers. I think Lund is solid, but as he proved last week hes a better Whitey Gleason than Whitey Gleason...he can serve as facilitator while still adding color. Plus the breadth of topics they typically cover in morning shows is more in his wheelhouse (no pun intended). If they had to keep Lund in the 10-2 slot, the least they could do is rotate the guest host more often. I know Big Urbs is out of a writing job but jeez...theres too much talent they're already paying that can come in to give Barry Zito's bff a breather. Steinmitz and Maiocco when their teams are in their offseasons, Rick Tittle, Papa, John Dickinson, Roxy Bernstein, and maybe a polished former athlete every so often. And of course...why not put Ralph on once every two weeks until his voice gives out? It'd give him a proper send off, become appointment radio whenever its made known he'll be on, and directly vie for listeners still fixated on the official fluffer of the Giants. Hell, do it only once a month and you'll be guaranteed to trend on Twitter that day.

3rdKing

...the game comes in fuzzy all over the North Bay...a deathknoll

slack'em jack'em

Was back on east coast for a bit, and will say NY sports radio has all the same issues we talk about here. Really enjoyed the previous RSG post and enjoyed the comments section even more....its kinda shameful that reading the comments on sports radio is more fun than listening to it! A few random thoughts both on this post and the previous RSG post. 1) Every single time period is switch the dial back and forth between 680, 1050, and 95.7. The commercials are just overwhelming...now more than ever. If I ever run into Dr Rosenelli at a bar or party I'm gonna just punch him right in the face. (unless of course he offers me some free hair...i do need some...) 2) That said...when i switch to The Game....I just can't stay there for too long. Maybe I should try harder...but it just doesn't draw me in. Its kinda like the band Radiohead....everyone says OK Computer is great, blah blah blah...but the first couple minutes of that album is like the dentist office... and I just can't make it past that. 3) D-Bruce: For the folks who point out his show has minimal substance and six months later he is arguing the exact opposite point from beforehand....you are 100% right. But it just doesn't matter. Its a fun show and it entertains me...so I listen. Nothing really more needs to be said. No other radio host on any other of these stations....upon a caller calling in to discuss Premier League soccer....immediately stops him with a "I only take 4 soccer related calls per year during non World Cup years....and you are caller #5" and then hangs up. Thats funny. 4) Here is where you are all gonna hate me. Despite my earlier comments on D-Bruce...I do like to hear informed sports opinions...if its good and backed up with solid points. Guess who I think actually makes the best pure sports related arguments and solidly backs up his statements with actual facts.....wait for it.....Fitz. I'm not saying the guy does not have an ego from hell...but the dude knows what he's talking about...which makes him listenable. I think most of his callers are pretty terrible....a much much worse set of callers than say the D-Bruce show....and understand why he shouts them down sometimes. 5) Okay....now for another likely unpopular sentiment amongst this group. I like the Gary and Larry pairing....but pls lose Kate! For whatever reason....the Larry loudest opinion in the bar on sports set up with the Gary just trying to be a borderline stand up comic...actually works. I think they play off each other well.....compared to the chemistry disaster of Gary and D-Bruce. Kate however just doesn't work with this group....it seems like whenever Gary and Larry are on a roll....she tends to chime in with something thats just off-topic to whats going on and either gets ignored or brings things to a halt. Anyway...looking forward to more commentary here....and I will take the over on the 96 comments posted....I know Stan alone is good for about 25 by himself!

Tommy J

Liked Fitz when he was on the night show or those occasions when Rod is on vacation (seems he doesn't get worked up as much without another voice). Now Fitz being paid by someone else besides the radio station, can't get an honest assesment about hoops. Think Fitz is better served doing less sportstalk and more regional national radio coverage (still gets paid and doesn't annoy the locals).

Otis Byrd III

Interesting points..... I agree with you on Fitz actually. Fitz is smart and he does his HW, even though I do agree with everyone elses complaints on him and that he defends every Warrior move and makes excuses for them. But yeah, Fitz is very prepared. As far as Gary and Krueger go, I agree that is a good pairing. They both do have good chemistry and yeah, they balance each other well. Plus, they're both good friends, and the pairing isn't forced, like the Gary and Damon pairing sadly might've been. I'm not sure if they should let Kate go though. She has good insights and she is a real diehard sports fan, but they don't really utilize her well on that show, even though I agree that sometimes she does say things that brings what Gary and Krueger are talking about, to a halt.

B.A. Rich

That's a fair point on Fitz. I normally can't stand to listen to more than 5 mins of his show but your right, usually when he has an argument to make, he has some facts or stats to make a valid point. I can only speak for myself but the reason why I don't like his show is his condescending personality, arrogance and a lame ass sense of humor.

TSL

regarding Fitz's "condescending personality" Very true.

dan

Fitz is also a back-stabber which I don't like. He stabbed Papa and got the tv job. Papa helped him start his career with the W's.

Butcherboy415

Stan, a little one=a baby... That's all, just stinks when people who have families to feed/raise/school change jobs as it affects the entire family. Not trying to be on a high horse just keeping it real, as I grow older with my family that's something I always think about. I know I sound soft or ridiculous i just have a soft heart on that kind of issue that's all

Otis Byrd III

Butcherboy, I totally agree with you. Even though I don't have kids yet, you do hate to see a guy that is just starting out and has a young family, get fired. That was one of the reasons why Larry Krueger getting fired from KNBR back in 2005, was a bad move. I am by no means, condoning what Krueger said about the Giants Caribbean hitters that the had back then, but Krueger had a young family and was kind of just getting started, when he got fired by KNBR in 2005. Felipe Alou and the Giants handled that the wrong way back then, but I'm sure everyone has moved on, especially now that Krueger is back on KNBR. It's kind of too bad that Gary kind of keeps rehashing it whenever they do the reputation.com bit before the rumors segment. You would think he would be trying to forget that. But yeah, I totally agree with you Butcherboy. You hate to see people with young families get fired. I kind of wondered what happened to Dan Browne too. It sucks he got fired from KNBR, but I'm happy that he has a job now, and that he's able to tell us on here about the inner workings of KNBR and sports radio in general, as you alluted to.

Stan

Ohhh,ok ..THAT makes sense. lol, sorry about that.

Papa does not want to do radio again. He had a throat problem while doing the W's on radio. He wanted to switch to doing TV but little dick Fitz got the tv job. Anyway, 95.7 must move to an AM station with stronger signals. Open up the phone line. Stop talking about the fvking G's. The W's will bring a sizable audience if they can get them especially after the BB season is over.

Butcherboy415

FormerKnbremployee, is that you Dan brown? Dude I know you got a little one and are a real great guy, sorry if I outed ya but I hope all is well and you have found a better place to be. Keep posting, to have that insight is pretty cool for us that don't know the inner workings of radio. Btw are you on twitter? And guys as far as 95.7 goes they are finished, just look at the numbers, you can't survive scratching the surface...if tierney had any balls he'd take just one of my calls with out a cut off so I could put his arrogant a$$ in it's place! BT I dare you!!!!

Stan

BB says "Dude I know you got a little one"..eh,what are we talking about here?

B.A. Rich

Haha, your such a square.

Stan

lol,That's what you say, daddy -o.

snarkk

Fitz is, IMO, by far the worst PBP guy of all the major teams in the Bay Area. He stays on KNBR because they apparently don't have to pay him -- the Dubs pay him. To call him a "homer" does a disservice to Homer Simpson. If you listen to him , the Dubs haven't made a bad move in two decades. Thank goodness Barnett is there to bring some sanity to the proceedings...

paperback writer

YAWN! War is over. Peace, Out. HG Wells

Gooselosgatos

This article should be titled 'The Barbieri Effect'.

Otis Byrd III

Greg Papa still works with Lund on 95.7. They still do his "Godfather" commercials on 95.7. He's only on with Lund on Mondays and Tuesdays though. He might be on vacation too, if he hasn't been on this week. Plus, Greg Papa has his other duties to deal with such as his Comcast duties with Giants pre and postgame, and then of course, his Raider duties coming up soon. But yeah, he's probably on vacation right now, if he hasn't been on. As far as wanting him to be the Warriors play-by-play man again, he wouldn't be bad, but would his Raiders duties, and his Comcast duties (Giants pre and post game now, and then Warriors pre and post game during basketball season) prevent him from taking a Warriors gig? I'm sure he wouldn't mind being the Warriors play-by-play man again, but would he want to do it this time around? I think Fitz does a good job on the Warriors telecasts. Yeah, he's a Warrior homer and he makes a lot of excuses for the Warriors, some of them valid, while some of them you can tell he works for the team, but Fitz is very prepared for every telecast. Fitz does his HW, and you can learn a lot from him and Barnett on the telecasts. I doubt the Warriors let Fitz go.

B.A. Rich

Yeah, I remember Papa mentioning he was going on a family vacation starting on the 4th.

snarkk

BTW, whatthehell happened to Papa on theGame? Not enough $ to make it worth his while? I want him back as PBP on Dubs broadcasts...

snarkk

What the hell happened to Papa on theGame? Was he tired of carrying Lund, or did the paycheck bounce?...

Tommy J

Couldn't agree with you more about Lund being a load. The Game didn't take my advice about changing the locks of the building while he was on vacation. He came back on Tuesday, put the suprisingly effective Urban back into smarmy smart-ass co-host and the show is pretty unlistenable again. When is Papa back? Soon please!

B.A. Rich

He's on vacay

snarkk

The only reason I listen occasionally to theGame is just to hear something different from the SOS from KNBR. I love Ray Woodson, he's the smartest guy on BayArea sportsradio, which is why he's neglected. Tierney and Lund don't even know the freeways around here, so commenting on local teams is a joke. Eric Davis giving opinions about MLB baseball is a joke, he has no clue. Football, OK, and that's about it. The main failing at theGame is they refuse to take phone calls, so it's tiresome to hear 2 or 3 dudes just talking back and forth about some scripted crap and drops. They need to change, or die...

Ray does quite a bit of Fill-in work at KNBR and he provides an extra voice on Gary & Larry

Otis Byrd III

Yeah, I totally agree with you on the taking calls thing. As I said before, the lack of fan interaction via calling in the show, is 95.7's downfall. Yes, you can send them text messages or tweets via Twitter, which the hosts read on air, but it's not the same. You have to take calls. It must be annoying for callers on 95.7 when they keep saying they're going to take calls, but they end up not taking any calls or only taking like 1 or 2 calls, the whole show. Brandon Tierney, I'm talking to you. Callers are what make radio talk shows, especially sports radio talk shows. Yeah, you have some bad callers out there, or callers who don't take the show seriously, but it's good to hear what other fans have to say regarding certain sports issues. We already know how the host(s) feels. Take some calls, and see how some other fans feel, and have good banter there. This is one of the reasons why Damon's show so good. He has good audience interaction, as Dan (aka formerKNBRemployee) alluted to yesterday. Hopefully 95.7 takes this into consideration.

You're absolutely right, OB III. One the things I thought was so idiotic about Tierney is listening to him ask for callers and then never take any. What's even funnier is that he's got a drive time shift and he's asking for people to text, tweet, or facebook. Hello? People are DRIVING. The one thing they can do is CALL. Funniest part... at the end of the Sharks' season, I was listening to Lund with Brodie Brazil. During the segment, they asked for callers. I call in, get right through, and the screener tells me they've already moved on from hockey... when they had literally asked for callers 30 seconds earlier. How long before Barrett gets fired for running this station into the ground? Adapt or die.

Steve

I wish we could see the breakdowns per hour and possibly day. We know the Drive is crushed when it's opposite a Giants game, but want to see how they do HTH with Tolbert. Also, not surprised they are dipping since A's fans who were excited in April had to be pissed to find out that the station will barely talk about them and started tuning out. Here's a long article about how to start sports radio. Wish Tierney would read the part that pissing off the fan base the first week wasn't the best way to start. http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8016912/don-imus-mike-mad-dog-fall-rise-first-all-sports-talk-station-wfan

John Sports

Your right about us A's fans tuning out last Month. I tuned them out more last Month than any other since they started. I can appreciate their effort to cover all Teams, but when you cover the Giants more than the A's, all it does is make Giant fans want to listen to KNBR, who does a better job on the Giants, and it just piss's off A's fans. It's obvious they need to do a MAJOR shake-up or they will be gone sooner than later.

Steve

My biggest disappointment is in Tierney. He worked in a two-team market, he knows both teams have passionate fans so why piss all over one side of the fence when you are the new guy in town? Imagine if he came in and embraced the A's and didn't do that bell thing? Fans would listen. It would be different if Ralph or someone else jumped over because you would know the deal. And I know the Giants drive the boat so they can't be ignored. If you ask The Game, they say they talk more A's than anyone. Just saying the word A's 5x an hour is more than KNBR.

Actually, I remember the bell coming about because when the station was brand new, people were constantly bitching that their wasn't enough A's talk on the flagship station so Tierney had this insanely unoriginal idea to ding the bell every time they mentioned the A's. Instead of embracing the fans, he came in like a jerkoff an alienated most of the fan base. The ratings have proven they don't like the guy, but his ego won't allow him to stop being a jerkoff.

John Sports

If I remember right he rang the stupid bell because he wanted more fans to attend the game's. That's how lame he is...Get after the fans, and he has no frickin idea why their not showing up. Do your homework before judging an area that you don't have a clue on. It was just a couple of Weeks ago that he had this great thought he had to get off his mind..." I think the A's ownership might be more concerned about making money than winning " What a fool.