For years, country station KYGO 98.5-FM was the market leader in the Denver radio ratings race.
The rules have been rewritten. KQKS 107.5-FM, the “rhythmic” – i.e. hip-hop station – tops the list among all listeners, ages 12 and up, in the summer 2007 ratings released last week.
In the same way that Nielsen “people meters” have scrambled the television rankings, the new, electronic Arbitron “personal people meters” have altered the radio lineup.
The top-10: KQKS, 6.6 share; KOA-850 AM, 6.4; KOSI 101.1-FM, 4.7; KYGO 4.6; KBCO 97.3-FM, 4.3; KRFX 103.5-FM, 4.3; KXPK 96.5-FM, 3.8; KXKL 105.1-FM, 3.7; KBPI 106.7-FM, 3.5; and KTCL 93.3-FM, 3.1.
Last summer KYGO was hurt by the arrival of country music rival KWLI 92.5-FM. Seems “The Wolf” scored a 2.4 share this summer, still taking a bite out of the country fan base.
For those keeping score at home, Clear Channel Radio owns five of the top 10 stations (KOA, KBCO, KRFX, KBPI and KTCL).
You want to talk about the distressing content that has gotten certain talk radio hosts in trouble in recent times? Talk first about the corporatizing of radio and the support for the industry by appointed deregulators in Washington. But that’s a subject for another time.
NFL Deal
“NFL Network: Total Access,” a new weekly hour, debuts Sept. 8 locally on Channel 20. The exclusive deal with MyNetworkTV, of which Channel 20 is an affiliate, is good news for KUSA Channel 9, which operates KTVD Channel 20 here.
“NFL games do very well here in Colorado, especially when the Broncos are playing,” said 9NEWS president and general manager Mark Cornetta in a fine example of understatement.
A total of 20 original programs are planned (skipping the weeks when there’s a conflict with live NFL games).
Cable’s hot summer
Popular original series, and good ones at that, put cable ratings ahead of broadcast TV for the first time this summer. The broadcast networks’ reliance on reruns allowed cable to set ratings records this year.
According to research quoted by TV Week, ad-supported cable will post double the viewership of broadcast TV in primetime, with a 52.4 share, compared wiht 24.2 for the six major broadcast networks.
“Mad” marathon
Mark the Labor Day calendar for Sunday at 9 a.m. That’s when the first seven episodes of “Mad Men,” the spot-on series about the advertising smart alecks of Madison Avenue circa 1960, air back-to-back on AMC.
This is a good time to catch up on the rewarding series that HBO foolishly passed on, and that is putting AMC into serious series contention. After these seven, the first season has six episodes to go.
Besides an engrossing storyline and great casting, “Mad Men” is graced with the most convincing costuming, food, set design, cigarette atmospherics and other period details of any “moderne” era series.
Check the old typewriters, girdles and chip-and-dip sets.
A memorable moment: When a young child appears with a plastic bag over her head, the mother gasps in fright – she’s upset that the kid has dumped the dry cleaning on the floor in order to play with the bag. The viewer gasps in turn, knowing that the Kennedy-era fear of suffocation, drummed into baby boomers’ heads throughout the decade, hadn’t yet dawned for these Eisenhower-era folks.
Similarly, when a kid spills food on the floor, the father sternly tells him to “go get your mother to clean this up.” Nobody bats an eye. The wives are dutiful and brittle, laced into tight foundations, just waiting for feminism to creep up on them. The suspense is in debating which will come first, “The Feminine Mystique” or a nervous breakdown?
More than “American Dreams,” more than “Hairspray,” this series dramatizes in a very specific way the pain endured by women of that time.
As they drink their vodka gimlets, cough tar from their lungs, dine on
giant steaks and select from the choice of vegetables – creamed corn or creamed spinach – the clever admen try to convince themselves that they’re living the good life. They’ve got it all.
Like modern audiences, the central character Don Draper (Jon Hamm) doesn’t buy it.
TV critic Joanne Ostrow can be reached at 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com.
