T-Swift & Christmas tunes power Boise’s top-rated radio station. How many people listen to radio?

Boise has a new most-listened-to radio station in the latest ratings report.

107.9 Lite FM took the overall honors in the fall ratings period, edging out last spring’s winner 101.9 The Bull. During the ratings period, Lite switched from its usual diet of songs by artists like Taylor Swift, Pink and Glass Animals to a holiday feast of Christmas classics.

The data comes from Nielsen Audio, which in the Boise market sends out paper diaries to a random selection of residents in the area and asks them to fill out what they listened to and send them back.

Last fall, in a custom research survey for BoiseDev by Pollfish, 47.2% of adults in the Boise market said they listened to AM or FM radio in the past 30 days. That was ahead of social apps like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. It fell behind Local TV, Streaming Audio, Streaming TV and YouTube. The most used medium we polled on was a statistical tie between Facebook and YouTube at just more than 68%

Demo ratings

107.9 Lite FM led all stations with listeners 12 and older with a 6.2 rating. 101.9 The Bull and 100.3 The X tied for second place with a 6.0 rating. My 102.7 and KBOI rounded out the top five.

In the key demographic, adults aged 25-54, My 102.7’s Joey and Lauren took the prize for most listened-to morning show. The Morning After with Nic and Big J on 100.3 The X came in second, followed by the syndicated show Brooke and Jeffrey on 103.5 Kiss FM, Morning Edition on KBSX 91.5 FM and Mee in the Morning on 101.9 The Bull.

Amongst radio ownership groups, Nampa-based Iliad Media came in first place with 24.1 market share. New York-based Townsquare Media came in second with 18.3, followed by Cumulus Media of Georgia with 14.7 and LA-based Lotus Media with 14.6.

Full 12+ ratings, Fall 2022

• 107.9 Lite FM 6.2

• 101.9 The Bull 6.0

• 100.3 The X 6.0

• My 102.7 5.5

• News Talk KBOI 5.1

• 96.1 Bob FM 4.3

• 91.5 KBSX 4.2

• 103.5 Kiss FM 3.8

• Wow 104.3 3.4

• Kissin 92.3 3.4

• 107.1 K-Hits 3.4

• Newsradio KIDO 3.2

• 96.9 The Eagle 3.2

• 101.5 Kool FM 3.2

• KTSY 3.2

• 105.1 Jack FM 2.6

• 94.9 The River 2.6

• Wild 101 2.3

• Magic 97.9 2.1

• 99.1 I-Rock 1.5

• KBSU AM 1.1

• Mix 106 1.1

• 96.5 The Alternative 1.1

• Sports Radio KTIK 0.9

• KOAY-FM 0.8

• Power 105.5 0.6

• Fox Sports 99.9 0.2

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

Learn more from Nielsen