AUSTIN RADIO DIAL GUIDE • KATIE WHITESIDE GETS A NEW JOB

BEGINNING TUESDAY:

NIELSEN AUDIO JUNE 2018 PPM RATINGS & TRENDS

FOR ALL PUBLIC RADIO STATIONS & FORMATS

TUESDAY: CLASSICAL

WEDNESDAY: TRIPLE A & JAZZ

THURSDAY & FRIDAY: NPR NEWS/TALK

As some of you prepare for the PRPD Content Conference [link] August 20 – 23 in Austin, Texas, today we have the definitive dial guide for the market.

All of the stations that subscribe to the Nielsen ratings are doing well. Classical music KMFA hasn’t bought a “book” recently but there is no reason to doubt they are still performing very well.

Two music stations are setting weekly listener records.  Triple A KUTX increased their estimated weekly listeners by 16% compared with June 2016. However, KDRP a/k/a Sun Radio is the fastest growing station in the market.

Consider this: Sun Radio is an amalgamation of five FM signals, none over 100-watts.  They are proof that people will go out of their way to hear programming they really, really want to hear. That is part of the reason we call them The most inspiring noncommercial station in the nation.

KEN’S AUSTIN DIAL GUIDE

Austin has always been a great radio market. Sometimes people forget that not that long ago Austin was considered a small market. The tech boom and other factors have made Austin’s population grow at an amazingly fast pace.

Austin’s growth has had a big impact on local radio.  Once Austin was home to a bunch of owner/operator commercial stations that were particularly innovative in order to survive. Now most of Austin’s commercial stations are owned by mega-corporations in distant cities. But, in reaction to this, a new generation of noncommercial stations has emerged.

Here are eight stations we’d be listening to if we were in Austin. We added reviews from fans that were posted on yelp! to give you listener’s thoughts.

KATIE WHITESIDE IS NOW EMPLOYED, BUT NOT AT KHSU

Katie Whiteside (photo from Outpost)

The Lost Coast Outpost newspaper in Eureka, California, reports [link] that things are looking up for Katie Whiteside:

When longtime program director Katie Whiteside was fired from KHSU two months ago without warning or explanation, it sparked a small-scale rebellion among some of the community radio station’s most ardent supporters, who quickly yanked their financial support and lambasted General Manager Peter Fretwell as an interloper out to destroy the station’s soul.

Throughout the tempest, Whiteside has remained silent. Now there is news that she’s moving on — from public radio to public television.

Local PBS affiliate KEET said in a press release that Whiteside has been hired as channel 13’s new director of community engagement.

KEN SAYS: KEET-TV made a terrific choice by hiring Whiteside. Their karma just went up by double digits.