Kelowna

The people of Kelowna are listening.

With eight commercial radio stations competing in the Kelowna market, along with two from CBC, the choices are many and the competition for listeners is fierce.

The Bureau of Broadcast Measurement (BBM) released their semi-annual ratings for the very busy Kelowna radio market on Thursday.

In truth, each radio station targets a portion of the available radio audience based on the style of music it plays and the information it provides.

Photo: Kelly Hayes

SUN-FM's morning team, Kevin Lim and Sonia Sidhu, currently anchor Kelowna's top radio station.

To be successful, the station tries to garner the most listeners within their "target demo," and as a result are more concerned with serving that portion of the audience.

However, the fall 2011 ratings also provide an overall snapshot of how each radio station is doing on a much broader basis.

The ratings measuring listeners between 18 and 64 years-old show Astral Media on top with CHSU (SUN) FM leading the pack with 22.3 per cent of the market share. CILK (EZ ROCK) is next at 21.6 per cent.

"We're pretty pleased with all the changes we've gone through," says Astral Media Brand Director Mark Burley. "Changes on SUN and the new brand with EZ Rock are holding true and growing all the great work we do in the community."

Astral's other property, CKFR (AM 1150), had 8.1 per cent of the market, good for 5th overall. However, Burley still liked what he saw.

"Phil and Gord and the Early Edition morning show are still at the top of the pile and certainly the sports is paying off with really great 'men' numbers."

The Pattison Group's Power 104 (CKLZ) is continuing its resurgence with a 16.8 per cent share and a 3rd place finish. CKQQ (Q-103), Pattison's other property in Kelowna was 7th, with a 6.1 per cent share. The Pattison Group declined to comment for this story.

CKKO (K96.3) finished 4th with a 13.4 per cent share.

"We're pretty happy with those results," says K96 Program Director David Larsen. "But for us it's all about the 25-54 demo. That's where the revenue is and we grew audience there, so we're pretty happy with everything."

Larsen doesn't foresee any changes with the acquisition of K96 by Newcap Radio. "Newcap is a great company and we're looking forward to being able to tap into their expertise and resources. I think the future looks bright for K96.3."

CJUI (The Juice) was 6th at 6.7 per cent. General Manager Ross Hawse is at the helm of the Juice and he is working to improve those numbers.

"I'm never happy unless I'm number one, because I'm a very competitive person," says Hawse.

"But we're going through a lot of change, both in the imaging and music, and the staff here at the station, so we've got a lot of work to do."

Those changes include introducing a revamped on-air line-up, different from what was in place when the ratings were underway.

CBC Radio, while not competing for ad revenue, still competes for the same audience. When CBC Radio One and Radio Two are factored in, the percentages for all stations are altered slightly.  Radio One posted a market share of 12.6 per cent in the 18 plus demo, good for 3rd place, while CBU-FM recorded 3.5 per cent.

Penticton's CIGV (GIANT-FM), which, pending approval, will be purchased by Newcap Radio, once again included itself in the Kelowna rankings, and finished 8th with 5.0 per cent.

CIGV trailed in its home market also with a 27.5 per cent market share.  CJMG (SUN-FM) grabbed 42.4 per cent of Penticton's 18-64 demo, followed by CKOR (EZ-ROCK) with 30.2 per cent.

In Vernon, CKIZ-FM (KISS-FM), won the two horse race with 56.5 per cent of the market share, while CICF-FM (SUN-FM), pulled in 43.5%.