Colorado Public
Radio’s (CPR) News network displayed increasing regional strength in estimated
weekly listeners in the most recent Nielsen Audio PPM and Diary ratings.
Not only did KCFR increase its number of weekly listeners in the Denver/Boulder market
compared to a year earlier, its repeaters gained weekly listeners in all of
Colorado’s Front Range markets.
On the right is a
map showing CPR’s signals from Fort Collins to Pueblo. In addition to Denver/Boulder, a PPM market,
CPR has strong penetration into the Fort Collins/Greeley, Colorado Springs and
Pueblo Nielsen Audio Diary markets. We have written before about the “Front
Range Mega City” that stretches up and down I-25. CPR serves the entire region.
Let’s take the
Diary markets one at a time from south to north:
• PUEBLO
CPR’s News repeater
in Pueblo saw estimated weekly cumulative listeners rise 45% between Spring
2015 and Spring 2016. KRCC from Colorado
Springs still leads in weekly listeners but their trend was down by 13%. Denver-based Classical KVOD was also up.
• COLORADO SPRINGS
The same pattern is
found in “the Springs.” KCFR’s repeaters are up a whopping 52% and KRCC is down
21%. KRCC made changes to its schedule
earlier this year dropping most daytime Triple A music and adding news
programming. Did the programming switch
cause the change? Or is CPR News
increasing its appeal to Colorado Springs and Pueblo listeners. From the topline
data it is impossible to say but a similar trend was observed in the Fort
Collins/Greeley market.
• FORT COLLINS/GREELEY
The biggest change
in the past year in the “Fort Fun” market was the February debut of KJAC aka 105.5 The Colorado Sound and the related
shift by KUNC to 24/7 news. KUNC’s listeners seem to have responded positively
to the change – their number of weekly listeners increased 13% between June
2015 and June 2016. But KCFR also increased its weekly listeners during the
same period by 15%.
Perhaps to biggest
surprise in the Spring 2016 Nielsen Audio ratings was the lower-than-expected
debut by 105.5 The Colorado Sound. Based on KJAC’s strong showing in
Denver/Boulder, I expected them to have 35,000 to 40,000 weekly listeners in
their home market. So 17,800 weekly listeners is less than the number of weekly
listeners I think 105.5 The Colorado
Sound is actually reaching.
When the Fort Collins/Greeley listeners are
combined with the Denver/Boulder listeners 105.5
The Colorado Sound’s weekly listener reach is over 100,000.
{However,
caution must be used in making this calculation because PPM and Diary use different methodologies and some respondents may be duplicated.]
Don’t read too much
into 105.5 The Colorado Sound’s
Spring 2016 debut because one “book” is not a trend. I’ve signed on new stations twice in my
career and never knew what to expect. I
consider a success just to be listed the first time.
WHAT MAKES CPR NEWS SO POWERFUL?
 |
| Kelley Griffin |
1. Kelley Griffin, CPR’s VP of News
I
have been a fan of Kelley Griffin’s work for many years. She has been at CPR
since 1993, starting as a reporter, rising to managing editor and now running
the shop. Folks I know who have worked for her say she is an inspirational
mentor and role model. Plus, she is a
nice person, which counts for a lot in my book.
 |
| Ryan Warner |
2. Ryan Warner and the Colorado Matters team
When
Ryan Warner arrived in Denver from WGCU, Fort Meyers, about a decade ago
Colorado Matters was little more than an idea.
During his tenure as host and Executive Producer Colorado Matters has
risen from an occasional half-hour to a daily one-hour program that often sets
the news agenda for Colorado.
3. CPR's Health Care Coverage
CPR’s
newsroom excels in the coverage of several topics like energy/environment, education
and the arts. But, CPR’s Health Coverage
combines personal stories with big-picture trends and current events such as
election coverage. It is all proof that Colorado Public Radio Matters to
listeners all over the Front Range.
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