The twice-yearly ratings for Boise’s radio stations hit the streets late last month. For the second ratings period in a row, they show a big win for country music, plus strong performances from talk radio, public radio, and oldies.
Iliad Media Group’s 101.9 The Bull topped all stations in the spring ratings period, according to Nielsen Audio. The ratings tally up all the folks over the age of 12 who listen from 6am-midnight throughout the week.
The Bull also led the ratings last fall, but saw the numbers increase, leading the next closest station by a wide margin – more than 33%.
The second-place finisher, Cumulus Media’s KBOI-AM also saw growth from the fall period, with interest in the local impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Boise State Public Radio’s NPR service took third place, followed by Iliad’s oldies format 101.5 Kool FM and Cumulus’ 96.9 The Eagle.
Overall, Iliad Media’s stations snared the highest total ratings for its group, followed by Cumulus and Townsquare Media in a tie.
Programming changes
Since the ratings period ended late last spring, a large number of programming changes came to local stations:
- Wild 101 dropped syndicated morning show Brooke & Jubal for local show Fast in the Morning.
- 103.5 Kiss FM dropped local show Keke & Kat for syndicated show Brooke & Jeffrey.
- Mix 106 added local host Keke Luv to afternoons.
- Mix 106 removed morning host Carly Cash and replaced her with Angie Morales.
- Jeff Caves resigned from 93.1 The Ticket after nearly 25 years. The next weekday, long-time co-host Mike Prater noted his surprise on-air at Caves’ decision.
- 93.1 The Ticket also permanently ended its early-afternoon sports show with Chris Lewis and Bob Behler. Behler is now filling Caves’ role on an interim basis.
Top 20
Here are the top 20 stations in terms of market share:
- 101.9 The Bull – 8.7
- News Talk 670 KBOI – 6.5
- Boise State Public Radio News – 5.0
- 101.5 Kool FM – 4.8
- 96.9 The Eagle – 4.6
- Wild 101 – 4.3
- 107.1 K-Hits – 4.1
- KIDO-AM – 4.1
- 100.3 The X – 3.7
- 103.5 Kiss FM – 3.5
- 107.9 Lite FM – 3.5
- Wow Country 104.3 – 3.3
- My 102.7 – 3.3
- Boise State Public Radio Music – 3.0
- 96.1 Bob FM – 3.0
- J-105 – 2.8
- Mix 106 – 2.2
- Kissin 92 – 2.2
- 96.5 The Alternative – 2.2
Disclosure: Iliad Media is a BoiseDev sponsor. They had no role in the selection or editorial process of this story.
Radio ratings
The share number represents the percentage of listeners listening to a station at any given time.
For example, if 100,000 people are listening to the radio, and a station gets a 4.5 – that means 4500 people were listening, on average. The bigger the number, the higher the rate a station can charge for ads. Nielsen publicly releases “12+” ratings, but subscribing advertisers and stations can slice by timeslot and demographic.
In Boise, Nielsen measures ratings twice each year, in the spring and fall
