Radio Wars: Playoff baseball drives record high ratings

Bay Area Stats Guy October 30, 2012

Playoff baseball has been a boon for our local Sports Radio stations.

For the third time in a row, KNBR leads the San Francisco market in the Arbitron ratings. The Game posted it’s highest ratings ever, moving into the top 25 in the market. Even KNBR’s other station had a good month, snapping out of a low ratings funk.

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

San Francisco
	August		September		October
Station	AQH%	Reach	AQH%	Reach	AQH%	Reach	Owner
KNBR-AM	5.2	958,300	5.7	974,800	6.1	990,900	Cumulus
KGMZ-FM	1.1	258,600	0.8	245,800	1.4	418,400	Entercom
KTCT-AM	0.4	160,200	0.5	231,300	0.8	347,000	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 for the last year:

I was disappointed last month that the Game fell back a bit after posting very good numbers in August. This month there was no such disappointment.

While they didn’t really close the gap much in terms of ratings with KNBR, the Game did manage to keep pace. In addition they grew their audience size quite a bit, adding nearly 200k more listeners during the period. I might have been a little quick in writing them off after the bump in the road last month, time will tell.

What might be most encouraging was that this wasn’t necessarily driven by a deep playoff run from the A’s. After reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2006 the A’s were bounced out in the ALDS in five games by the eventual AL Champion Tigers.

Over at KNBR, 680 rode the second Giants Championship in three years to their third straight monthly ratings crown. In addition, this is the third straight monthly gain in both ratings and audience. Things have gotten off to a great start this fall at the “Sports Leader” with the Giants; now it will be interesting to see if they can have a stronger winter than they did last year.

Things at KNBR 1050 don’t look nearly as good. This time last year was in the middle of the “Damon Bruce Surge” that has proven to have not been sustainable. The year-over-year numbers are really ugly, but on the bright side the 0.8 rating is the highest in ten months and the 347,000 listeners is the highest since the November last year.

Here are the YOY Changes:

	October 11 – October 12 Ratings	October 11 – October 12 Listeners
KNBR	43%	30%
KNBR 1050	-50%	-18%
KGMZ (the Game)	43%	58%

October was a good month for Sports Radio. Both KNBR and The Game posted record ratings highs since I started tracking the ratings monthly. Both had great year-over-year growth in ratings and audience size. Everything seems to be moving in the correct direction.

However, winter is coming. If last year was any indication this might be the high point of the year as baseball packs it in until the Spring. It will be interesting to see if the stations can maintain their audiences into the off-season better than last year.

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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35 comments

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Otis Byrd III

I asked this on the Damon Bruce article on here, and I know this is random but, how come KNBR doesn’t have Scott McGrew (sp?) and Scott Budman do the business updates anymore? They have business people from NY doing the business updates now. I don't get it. Does it have something to do with the CBS thing next year? Thanks!

Stan

It must be less costly. Cumulus is all about profit.

Jeff

Yeah, because NO business is about profit.

Fitz's Future Unemployment Check

So is Entercom, and pretty much every other business.

Stan

I will say this for KNBR...for a lineup that never changes year to year,seemingly...the drama is daily with back fighting, who's name goes before who on show titles,raises..and plain don't like each other hosts. Gives me plenty of material on minimal listening!

Stan

What the ratings prove is: When the A's win,they draw fans and ratings. And two: There are fans who want an alternative to KNBR. Its a big letdown though that a year and a half into it..THGAME is KNBR fm. Cant help the regional director for the radio company is an ex KNBR director who Rich Leiberman says..wants to go back to KNBR. That might explain the huge number of names once affiliated with KNBR hired, AND, the dropping of "the chimp" and "social security" biting ads.

Stan

As far as thegame? No chemistry between Tierney and Bucher. They sound like a dating couple who don't have a thing in common. "Oh,you like the color blue? me too!"..its almost that bad. Not enough Papa..and the drop off is huge with fill ins. I did like when Henry Wofford told Romo "He wants to hide all the knives from him" when he shows up in the studio.

3rdNking

Of course gary has haters evwrywhere He is the king

Jeff

King of idiots.

Otis Byrd III

haha. Even though I'm not a Gary Radnich fan, I wouldn't call him an idiot. With that being said, honestly, Gary really should retire. He just doesn't have it anymore, and even though Krueger helps keep Gary's show relevant, Gary by himself is just unlistenable. The thing is, with the way the Ralph debacle went down, I doubt KNBR wants to be in another legal battle with another OG/long standing member of KNBR, like Gary is. I don't think KNBR would let Gary go, like they did Ralph, if they ever do. Plus, Gary has young kids like I mentioned before. It sounds as if Gary is well off with how many times Gary and Krueger mention Gary's Bentley (Gary is rich it appears), but I'm sure him not having the KNBR gig would hurt him financially a little bit, and that would be tough for him since he has younger kids, and a younger wife. I guess he would still have his KRON gig and maybe Comcast can bring him back for some spots, if KNBR ever let him go or if he all of a sudden retired. But yeah, even though I don't normally agree with Gary's opinions, I agree with people who say that he does do good interviews, and as people have said, he doesn't really buy into BS from some athletes, and as you guys were talking about a week or so ago, he doesn't really buy into the betting guests that KNBR has on, and he doesn't really buy into other KNBR hosts (*cough* Damon *cough*). By the way, on a side note, does anyone get tired of Gary clowning on Ted Ramey, the update guy? Yeah, Gary is just joking, but making fun of Ramey is like low hanging fruit. It makes Gary look like a prick, where you have a big name media guy like Gary, poking fun at Ted Ramey, who's probably trying to carve a niche in the sports media business. It's the freakin' update guy for goodness sake. Relax Gary. LOL. I wonder if Ramey's friendship with Damon, and him doing the sports and traffic updates for Damon's show, has something to do with Gary poking fun at him a lot? Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but as was said on here before, Gary does poke fun at everybody. It still makes him look like a prick, even if he is just joking sometimes, if not most of the time. I know this post seems contradictory because on the one hand, I feel that Gary should retire, but at the same time, he does still have some value in sports talk radio. I mean, there has to be some reason why KNBR still has him there, right?

Slam

I know a Bay Area newscaster through my kid's school; Gary was going off on a tangent and out of right field started clowning on her. Kind of praising her for being attractive, kind of putting her down for being an airhead newcaster. Gary said "Hey if you're listening, call the show and we'll talk about blah blah blah ". The newscaster never called the show. I ran into her and asked her about it; she said "Gary is tricky; he starts out complimenting you then all of a sudden he's making of fun of you. People texted me when he said that, but you couldn't pay me to call his show"

Slam

Maybe I'm out of my expertise here, but I'm looking for Amy Trask, without senile Al looking over her shoulder, to sign a deal with The Drive or KNBR1050 for a Raiders radio "Home" Us Raider fans need a place to call our own !

Otis Byrd III

The Raiders are talked about a lot on 95.7 with the "Raider Fridays" and Tierney and Bucher talk about them quite a bit on their show each day. Yeah, it would make sense for 95.7 to pick up the Raiders, especially since Greg Papa works for 95.7 and calls Raider games on the radio, and 95.7 has "Raider Fridays". Plus, if 95.7 picked up the Raiders, they would basically be the Oakland version of KNBR, where KNBR has Giants and Niners games, while 95.7 would have the A's and Raider games, if 95.7 ever picks up the Raiders. I do see what you mean though. KNBR 1050 probably won't pick up the Raiders since the 49ers are on KNBR 680 and KGO, even though 1050 used to be the home for Raiders football, even though it was technically the Ticket 1050 back then. It would make sense for them to go to 1050 again, but I'm sure the Niners would have something to say about that.

Poop

If the A's win another World Series title will 95.7 let Tierney have his own float like the KNBR guys? I still don't understand the logic of that, the players, coaches, scouts, and front office people won the title not radio personalities. Murph and Mac and Larry Krueger have done nothing to warrant a float in a World Series parade.

B.A. Rich

I was at the parade and just shook my head when I seen Larry on the float waving with his trade out suit and sunglasses on. What a slime ball.

Julie

"What might be most encouraging was that this wasn’t necessarily driven by a deep playoff run from the A’s." Actually the October book is September 13-October 10. KGMZ's numbers were driven from the A's strong September/early Oct. push to win the AL West. The A's dramatic come from behind win against DET in game 4 came on the last day of the book, October 10.

Julie... that's great info, thanks. I wonder if we'll see a sharp decline in the next ratings book.

BA Stats Guy

You're right. Thanks for noticing that.

Cool! Glad to see the game making a wee bit of a climb (not dent though) in the ratings department. This may be a case where The Game may present a 2nd solid alternative to KNBR's Juggernaut (not looking like it'll slow anytime soon with Niners dominating and off-season Giants still carrying post World Series steam) I think The Game did a good thing allowing Rick Tittle to host most of the evening timeframe. I know personally that I tuned into The Game for Giants postgame analysis during the playoffs while KNBR no lie had 14 straight minutes of commercials for the lead in to Ray Woodson's postgame show one night.

TommyJ

I know it will be an unpopular opinion. Even if Tierney is a clown most of the time , "The Drive" is much better than the "Mr T show" because even though Tom has a clear advantage over Tierney, Bucher is eons better than Byrnes which give "The Drive" the advantage for me. Listened to KNBR a little nore with Ratto co-hosting today and Byrnes stuck in NYC (the only good result for SS Sandy). In the words of coach Sing.."Will not, Can not listen to him...Can't do it"

Otis Byrd III

Actually, I totally agree with you. The Tierney and Bucher show is better than the Mr. T show. Yes, if Tierney went up against Tom by himself, Tom would be better, but it is the co-hosts who help make both of these shows. Bucher has been a good replacement for Eric Davis, and he even makes Tierney look bad in arguments, like Eric Davis used to. Byrnes is ok, but yeah, I'm not big on Byrnes either. KNBR seriously needs to focus on getting Tom a better/full-time co-host or simply just have him do the show by himself, and see if he can get better ratings than Tierney and Bucher. If KNBR would've given Bucher a full-time gig, I think he could've been a good co-host to Tom. No offense to Tom, but his show can be kind of boring at times. Yeah, Tom is a chill guy and he knows his sports, but sometimes his show can be boring. Tom going into non-sports tangents doesn't really help either. Despite Tierney's faults, you do have to admit that the Tierney and Bucher show has good energy, that Tom's show doesn't really have. Don't get me wrong, Tom does a good job on his show, but the energy just isn't there, like it is for the Tierney and Bucher show. Anyone agree?

OBIII - It's all personal preference, isn't it? Does the laid back, chill style of Tolbert appeal to you more or does the hyper, never shut up style appeal to you? For me, "energy" or "passion" doesn't make up for all the other flaws. All the sizzle in the world means nothing if the steak is shit.

TommyJ

I don't need "passion and energy" (JT the Brick), but Tom sometimes seems disengaged if he doesn't have a lot on his plate (interviews etc). I wish he would talk gambling or break out Clipper stories more than some of the shows he runs. What's up with both him and Byrnes taking off Fridays? He's good both he's no Stern with the limited sched. I would imagine its watching his kid play high school football,

Otis Byrd III

haha. Yeah, I guess we all do have preferences as to the kind of sports talk radio shows that we like or dislike, or certain aspects of each show that we like or dislike. I actually don't mind Tom's show, it's just, his show can be kind of boring at times and doesn't really pick up. I see what you're saying and yes, Tierney's flaws/faults does kind of overshadow the energy of the Tierney and Bucher show, but the show has a good flow to it, and it's gotten a little better since they actually take calls now. Plus, they find a way to cover the main sports issues of the day, even though the show can get a little long whenever they have a 4 hr. show. 95.7 really should just keep all their shows to 3 hrs. with the exception of the Rise Guys.

I absolutely agree with you about Bucher being eons better than Byrnes. He can be an awful lot too take somedays, but I'll take Byrnes over Tierney's one trick pony shtick any day of the week.

TommyJ

Agree to disagree AJ; Tiereney is still definitely a problem still (they should swap him with Townsend, that way Tierney and Steinmetz could have "The East Coast Gombah Show" and Townsend could machine-gun KNBR-he's always good when he subs in the afternoon).. For me The Games problems bigger than Tierney are Lund (absolute child most of the time and he gets Papa down that path) and The Rise Guys (OK content ; too many bits-the Dibley "fake arguement, Questions for Kriedler, Word of the Day..don't try so hard felllas: more sports, less grab-ass).

I hear you, TommyJ. I don't have any problems with the Rise Guys, but that's probably because I've only heard them in limited doses. Typically, I give morning shows a pass with the bits since it's part of the vernacular of morning radio, but it does get over the top from time to time. I can't agree with you more on Lund. Although, a small part of the blame rests with Papa as he's always willing to travel down the dumb roads that Lund chooses. I do not understand why the Game doesn't get Brodie Brazil or Scott Reiss in there regularly. Brodie has his fun with "what's on Brodie's iPod" and that can be a funny segment, but it's 6 minutes of fun and the rest of the time, he's awesome. Brodie is easily the best interviewer on the station. I used to be a regular Towny listener when he was on evenings solo, but now Stienmetz has driven me away from that show. Either way, I completely agree that they need to knock off the silly grab ass stuff and eliminate the endless prop segments. It figures that the one show I really liked got moved, cut an hour, and got worse. I just can't listen to this station at all anymore. I've found stations on TuneIn and IHeart that are just so much better than these clowns.

Stan

Radnich is in glee over Bruce's ratings hit. Its gotten to where I cant watch (or listen) to that guy much anymore. His hypocrisy is creepy,and worse then ever. As he does his best to say what a great guy he is, then follows with attacks on people he has grudges against,like Ken Stabler or Felipe Alou or any Asian anchor he worked with. Radnich really is that creepy clown.

Stan

And that cackle he has...it just screams hate more then anything as it usually goes with somebody he has a grudge against's misfortune.

DB3

Stan, just to make sure, you are listening to 680 AM, right? Is it possible you're listening to somebody with the similar name on 1680 AM? Or maybe even 168.0 FM?

Slam

Stan is not alone in his "Anti-Radnich" opinion. While I think he's still the King ( warts and all ), a lot of folks can't stand him

No real surprise with KNBR... the Giants in the post season and the Niners doing well is always sure to give a nice bump. As for the Game, the uptick could be attributed to post season fever, carrying the NFL, or maybe even their programming shuffle. We'll see what happens come winter time. Will we ever see a time when KNBR loses listeners while the Game gains?

There is still some baseball left. The Arizona fall league is in full swing. The Giants #1 prospect, OF Gary Brown, is on fire so far. If the Giants cannot resign Pagan, Pence, or Nady, expect Brown to be playing for SF come next season. As for the ratings, you need to factor in the start of the NBA season and KNBR 1050 is the warriors flagship. That will change the ratings picture over the next few months.

Jeff

Actually this year I think all (or almost all) Warrior games will be on 680 this year. It was announced last month

Donna

Don't forget that The Game is also now carrying NFL football. That has to have contributed to the ratings uptick (and maybe to 1050's downturn? Didn't they use to carry the non-49er NFL games?).