KCRW EXPANDING INTO SAN LUIS OBISPO • BIG LISTENER GAINS FOR CLASSICAL STATIONS IN TUCSON & TULSA

KCRW is expanding its coverage area to San Luis Obispo courtesy of a donated station from commercial station owner El Dorado Broadcasting. The station is KJRW 101.3 FM licensed to Los Osos, California. When the deal is finalized KJRW will become a full-time repeater of KCRW.

According to news sources, El Dorado is in the process of divesting four stations they own and/or operate in the San Luis Obispo market. The donation will likely give El Dorado a nice tax write-off.

KCRW now has one of the most extensive repeater and translator networks in the nation (see map on the left). KJRW is the sixth full-power station owned by KCRW.

The new San Luis Obispo station has one thing in common with KCRW’s other broadcast frequencies: terrific line-of-site coverage.  KCRW’s Chief Engineer Steve Herbert is a master at maximizing facilities.  Look at the Google Earth slide on the right showing KJRW’s transmitter location. Not only does it have blanket coverage of San Luis Obispo, it provides dominant penetration of US 101, a very, very busy freeway.

It appears KCRW wants to be a presence in the entire Southland, a mega-city stretching from San Diego to Santa Barbara to San Bernardino. The Southland is home to more than 25 million people.

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SPRING NIELSEN AUDIO: CLASSICAL MUSIC TRULY IS RISING IN TUCSON & TULSA

Results from Nielsen Audio’s Spring 2016 Diary market continue to arrive via the Radio Research Consortium (RRC). Today we are comparing estimated weekly listeners from Spring 2016 with Spring 2015 in four markets: Tucson, Tulsa, Harrisburg and Omaha.

Both Classical (KUAT) and NPR News (KUAZ AM & FM) are up substantially in Tucson. Triple A KXCI, one of best “community” stations in the noncom biz is holding its own.

 

In Tulsa things finally are happening for Classical KWTU. Over the past year estimated weekly listeners to KWTU almost doubled. KWGS was a dual format station until about five years ago. KWGS spent a bundle to acquire the license for KWTU.  Now both stations are reaping the benefits.

WITF’s estimated weekly listeners began to climb when they changed to 24/7 news a few years ago. WJTL is an excellent CCM station that has listeners in four rated markets.

Omaha’s KIWR The River is one of my favorite noncom stations. We did a story about them in February 2015 [link]. The River, operated from Western Iowa Tech in “the Bluffs” is the undisputed rock n roll king of Omaha.  Check them out at [link].  Apparently Classical KVNO does not subscribeto Nielsen but they likely have lots of listeners.

Monday-Sunday 6AM-Midnight Persons 12+

These data are provided for use by Nielsen subscribers ONLY,

in accordance with RRC's limited license with Nielsen Inc. Data Copyright Nielsen Inc. Format distinctions are the sole responsibility of Ken Mills Agency, LLC.