The dominant country station garnered a 10.6 (12 years and older) audience tally for the spring 2008 ratings period, the first time a Tucson radio station has bested the 10-share plateau in more than a year.
KRQQ FM 93.7 and KMXZ FM 94.9 (MIX FM) were second and third for the second consecutive book. KRQQ, the Clear Channel-operated Top 40 format station, delivered an 8.9, continuing an upward trend, while Journal's KMXZ bounced back with an 8.5 number, an improvement from its sluggish winter 2007 effort of 7.8.
As usual, those three stations dominated the numbers. Lotus-owned KCMT FM 102.1 (regional Mexican; 5.9), KFMA FM 92.1 (Lotus; alternative; 4.4), KNST AM 790 (Clear Channel; news-talk; 4.4), KLPX FM 96.1 (Lotus; classic rock; 4.2), KOHT FM 98.3 (Clear Channel; rhythmic; 3.7), KHYT FM 107.5 (Citadel; classic hits, 3.7) and KMWT FM 92.9 (The Mountain) (Clear Channel; adult alternative; 3.3) rounded out the Top 10.
Other than KIIM, KFMA had the best bump among stations in the Top 10. It improved a point from its dismal 3.4 book in the winter.
However, just outside of the Top 10, KCEE AM 1030 delivered a 2.6 share to place 11th in the market. KCEE is the signal purchased by Jim Slone. Slone made more than $60 million on the sale of his radio cluster to Citadel before getting back into the game by buying KCEE, and it looks as though his adult-standards format is paying dividends. It has now moved nearly two share points in a year. Conversely, adult-standards competitor KTUC AM 1400, now owned by Citadel and once part of the Slone cluster, slipped in the ratings for the fourth consecutive book. Last year at this time, it had a 2.8 rating; that share has since been cut in half.
On the low end, Entravision-operated KZLZ 105.3 was the lowest-rated FM station, with a .8 share. Journal-owned talker KQTH FM 104.1 delivered a 1.5 market share, up from its 1.1 and supplanting KJLL AM 1330 as the No. 2 talker in the market. KJLL had a .6 this period, down from the 1.2 it registered last book. Along with Citadel-operated KCUB AM 1290 (the mostly sports-talk station that also employs me from time to time), that was the lowest number in the market.
KVOA ADDS LOCAL OLYMPICS COVERAGE
The Olympics get underway on Friday Aug. 8, and NBC affiliate KVOA Channel 4 is amping up local coverage with live programming before the network's primetime coverage."We're doing an Olympic Zone show from 6:30 to 7 on opening night and that Saturday, then Monday through Friday the following weeks," said KVOA news director Kathleen Choal. "It goes from our newscast and leads up to Olympic coverage. We have so many local athletes, and we'll be profiling them and showing how they did the day before. If they're in a race and an event that night, we'll preview how they're supposed to do and how the race is shaping up."
Sports director Ryan Recker will team with KVOA news anchors Tom McNamara and Kristi Tedesco on the program. Olympic coverage will also push KVOA's 10 p.m. local news to 11.
LANTZ NEW VOICE OF SALPOINTE FOOTBALL
Rob Lantz has been pegged to handle play-by-play for the radio broadcasts of Salpointe High School football, Fridays at 7 p.m. on KCUB AM 1290.Lantz contributes to the local weekday afternoon sports talk show In the House with Glenn Parker and Kevin Woodman (which returned to the air this week after a month-long hiatus). He also handles scoreboard updates during local coverage of UA football and basketball pregame and postgame shows.
"This year, they asked me to do play-by-play, and I couldn't be more excited about it," Lantz said. "It's a great addition to being on the air. It will be a great opportunity to get my voice out there. ... It gives me a little more freedom to pursue some of the things I might want to accomplish in this business."
This is Lantz's second year in the booth. He handled color-commentator responsibilities last season, when he was teamed with Jim Edwards, who is now employed in the Journal radio cluster.
Salpointe's season opens on Sept. 5.
KELLY IS NEW UA NETWORK HOST
IMG Sports, the outlet that handles the UA sports-radio contract, has hired David Kelly to host network pregame, halftime and postgame segments.While UA sports are broadcast on KCUB AM 1290, IMG handles what is called the network portion: the game and segments before and after that are broadcast across the network of stations that carry UA games. What I do--pregame and postgame commentary before and after the network broadcast with co-host Brad Allis--is part of the local programming.
Kelly handled radio and television play-by-play for the Triple-A baseball Memphis Redbirds from 2005-2007. He is the son of NFL Hall of Fame running back LeRoy Kelly, who played for the Cleveland Browns from 1964-1973.
Kelly replaces Ryan Radtke, who will move to Reno, Nev., to handle play by play for University of Nevada football and basketball, and for Reno's new Triple-A baseball franchise (now known as your Tucson Sidewinders).
