Country station tops local radio ratings

Country radio station KDBR 106.3 FM, "The Bear," attracted the largest share of listeners in a survey conducted last fall by Eastlan Resources.

Owned by Bee Broadcasting, KDBR held a 21.6 percent share of the listening audience for Flathead Valley residents in the 25 to 54 age group, the age demographic with the most expendable income.

"It's no surprise that KDBR has the biggest share; it's the only country station [in the area] and country is a big market here," said Mark Wagner, general manager of Bee Broadcasting.

Anderson Broadcasting's KERR AM in Polson plays country music, but wasn't ranked in the survey.

In last year's Eastlan survey, KZMN 103.9 FM, "The Monster," topped the ratings with a 27.3 percent average share.

The station started in mid-2003 as a classic rock station that was a format change over a former country station.

KZMN's ratings have since leveled out to a 12.1 percent average share, and that was expected, sales manager Mike Jorgensen said.

"We were astounded how high the ratings were last fall," Jorgensen said. "We knew it wouldn't last forever."

KZMN's sister station, KOFI AM, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, held a 6.1 percent share.

Jorgensen said advertisers' satisfaction is the best indicator of how his stations are doing.

"Our advertisers are still enjoying huge results from both our stations, and that's the most important survey for us," he said.

Bee Broadcasting's stations captured the lion's share of listeners, with 48.5 percent overall. In addition to KDBR, they include classic rock station KBBZ B 98.5 FM, with 12.2 percent; talk-radio station KJJR 880 AM with 8.9 percent; and pop-music station KKMT 95.9 FM with 5.8 percent.

FM Christian station KALS captured 4.9 percent of the listening audience, while KQRK FM in Polson had 2.8 percent of the market share.

KGEZ Z-600, "The Edge," an AM station, attracted 1.6 percent of the listening audience.

Public radio and other noncommercial stations were not rated in the Eastlan survey.

Radio stations buy the Eastlan ratings at a cost of about $7,000 to $8,000 for surveys in markets of 100,000 people or less. Surveyors contacted 600 people in the Kalispell/Whitefish/Columbia Falls areas.

Wagner said he's also not surprised that KZMN's market share leveled off after last year's spike.

"A new station creates a buzz and then it stabilizes," Wagner said.

After last year's ratings were released, Bee Broadcasting redefined its programming to keep a competitive edge.

"We re-evaluated where we were at," he said. "We didn't change much, but we did more research and tried to do things better."

Wagner attributed Bee Broadcasting's high ratings to "a great staff and good key people."

Bee is adding a new classic country AM station this summer, KDBR AM 1240, "The Old Bear." The station will play older country tunes by classic entertainers such as Hank Williams, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson.

"It will be a good complement to our existing country station," Wagner said.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com