Afc Coverage Gives Krem-2 Good Yardage
Right now, the people at KREM-2 feel as if they have just won the Super Bowl.
Their network, CBS, won the rights to the American Football Conference of the NFL last month. This is the best thing to happen to CBS since, well, since they lost the NFL four years ago.
“We’re just ecstatic to have football back,” said BXBarry Barth BX, the president and general manager of KREM. “And we’re even more ecstatic that it’s the AFC.”
That’s because the two biggest teams for this region are both in the AFC: the Seattle Seahawks, of course, and the Denver Broncos, who just won the Super Bowl and have a strong following throughout the West.
KREM will be able to sell local ads for these games, and the revival of football will help in other, less obvious ways, too. The station can strengthen its local news presence by running news promos for the big football audience. Barth said they can “get viewers back who we lost a long time ago.”
Also, Barth said it will serve to strengthen CBS overall, and it should especially “re-energize” the Sunday night lineup.
Meanwhile, the people at KHQ-6 are being gracious about losing the AFC. Lon Lee, KHQ-6 general manager, took down the NFL flag from the station’s flagpole right after the Super Bowl, folded it up and delivered it to Barth.
“We won’t need this for another five or six years,” he told Barth.
Super Bowl ads
Due to circumstances beyond my control, I did not write my annual roundup of Super Bowl ads this year.
However, a group of readers called the “6th Street Gang” came to the rescue and sent in their own ad-o-meter results. The verdict: They loved the exploding Tabasco mosquito and Primestar ad where the guy sacrifices his car to save his satellite dish.
Those two ads scored a 9.6 (out of 10) on the 6th Street Gang’s ad-o-meter. The conniving lizards of the Budweiser bayou came in a strong third, at 9.0.
Their least favorite ad? The bare-nekkid athletes of Nike, who scored a dismal 1.6.
The eight members of the 6th Street Gang noted that their survey’s margin of error was 100 percent.
A slightly more scientific survey by USA Today showed Pepsi’s flying goose at No. 1, followed by the Budweiser lizards and the Tabasco mosquito. The Primestar ad was No. 8, which is pretty good considering there were over 40 ads.
The Nike ad scored miserably in the USA Today poll, too.
As for me, I thought the Tabasco mosquito and the Bud lizards were hilarious, but I couldn’t help but think that the overall level of the ads was down.
A classic rating for radio
The classic rock of KKZX-FM is back on top of the radio world, according to the just-released Arbitron ratings.
KDRK-FM (country) and KZZU-FM (contemporary hits) are second and third.
The expanded sample size of the Arbitron survey may finally be showing some results: This ratings book doesn’t show too many manic mood swings. The same three stations were all in the top three last quarter, although KDRK-FM and KKZX-FM swapped places.
Here are the rankings for all listeners 12 and over, for the dates of Sept. 18-Dec. 10, based on quarter-hour share, copyright 1997, The Arbitron Company:
1. KKZX-FM (classic rock), 11.8.
2. KDRK-FM (country), 8.2.
3. KZZU-FM (contemporary hits), 7.9.
4. KNFR-FM (country), 6.7.
5. KXLY-FM (adult contemporary), 5.7.
5. KXLY-FM (adult contemporary), 5.7.
6. KAQQ-AM (oldies), 5.6.
7. KAEP-FM (adult alternative), 5.4.
8. KISC-FM (adult contemporary), 5.3.
9. (tie) KCDA-FM (country), 5.0.
9. (tie) KGA-AM (news-talk), 5.0.
11. KXLY-AM (news-talk), 4.8.
12. KHTQ-FM (contemporary hits), 4.
13. KEYF-FM (oldies), 3.9.
14. KNJY-FM (hard rock), 3.7.
15. KTSL-FM (Christian), 2.8.
16. KTRW-AM (sports-talk), 1.6.
17. KKPL-AM (nostalgia), 1.1.
18. KSPO-FM (Christian), .8.
19. KEZE-FM (album rock), .6.
20. (tie) KJRB-AM (talk), .5.
20. (tie) KVNI-AM (adult contemporary), .5.
Morning team rankings
A good morning team makes a healthy radio station, so it should be no surprise that the top morning teams are on the top stations. Here are the morning team rankings, for listeners 12-plus:
1. The Radio Men, KKZX-FM, 117.
2. The Breakfast Boys, KZZU-FM, 83.
3. Diamond and Krystal, KDRK-FM, 78.
4. Jay and Kevin, KNFR-FM, 63.
5. Bud Nameck and Kate McAllister, KXLY-AM, 55.
Radio on the Web
The KXLY group of stations can now be heard all over the world on the World Wide Web.
Through the magic of something called AudioNet, the entire world can hear Rick Miller, for instance, assuming the world would want to.
Here’s where to find these stations on the Net: KZZU-FM, www.kzzu.com; KXLY-FM, www.classy99.com; KXLY-AM, www.KXLY920.com; KTRW-AM, www.score970.com.
The biggest Civic grant ever
The Spokane Civic Theatre has received a $20,000 grant from the Allen Foundation for the Arts (as in Paul Allen), which ranks as the largest single grant in the theater’s 51-year history.
Civic executive director John G. “Jack” Phillips called it a “great step forward” in recognition for the arts in the Inland Northwest. The gift will be used to support special projects at the Civic.
Big shows at The Met
Two touring shows of note are booked into the Met this spring.
The first is “A Closer Walk With Patsy Cline,” a tribute to America’s all-time jukebox champ. This is a two-person show, with a DJ narrating Patsy’s life story and Kayce Glasse singing all of Cline’s big hits. This Oregon Cabaret Theatre production, out of Ashland, will hit The Met for one show only on Feb. 22 at 8 p.m.
The next one is “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” the Fats Waller musical smash. It stars Vivian Jett from the Broadway cast. It arrives at The Met for one show only, March 20 at 7 p.m.
Call G&B Select-a-Seat (800-325-SEAT) for tickets.
, DataTimes