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Show KPCW'sne$v programming lures listeners, survey shows by CHRISTOPHER SMART vo Record staff writer : A recent listenership survey'Con-, survey'Con-, ducted in Park City reveals that" the "tough decisions" made one year ago by the local radio station have paid audience dividends'" said KPCW-FM station manager ' Blair Feulner. o With results in hand from a survey taken one year after an initial study . showed KPCW losing afternooH and evening listeners, Feulner said the decisions made last year to build programming consistency and provide pro-vide classical music during evening hours has proved successful. A University of Utah listenership survey in September 1984 showed, that 59 percent of the Park City radio audience listened to the local FM station during the morning hours. However, Feulner noted, the station's sta-tion's share of the audience dropped to 13 percent in the afternoon and fell again to 9 percent after 7 p.m. ' But a new survey conducted by Dr. Tim Larson at the University of Utah reveals that KPCW has captured cap-tured the afternoon and evening lead, based on responses from 233 residents questioned in August and September this year. 'not According to statistics gleaned from the survey, KPCW holds 60 percent per-cent of the radio audience between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.'That audience drops slightly, to 55 percent, per-cent, between the hours of 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Those audiences eclipse the competition, according to the ' -ml .inn Second place in the listenership survey goes to Salt Lake City radio station KLCY, which grabs 8 percent between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and 10 percent between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. 'While KLCY makes slight inroads in the KPCW audience after 7 p.m., the local FM station still holds 45 percent of the market share between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. and 42 percent from 10 p.m. until midnight. Feulner said consistency is behind the station's success. The daytime programming at KPCW is much more consistent than it was one year ago, he explained. While the station is "loosely programmed" during those hours, it is basically older rock 'n' roll. The station manager noted that daytime programming is aimed at the 25- to 45-year-old age group, which he said makes up about 70 percent per-cent of Park City's population. Beyond the philosophy of consistency, con-sistency, Feulner said the other major ma-jor decision made one year ago was to go classical in the evenings. That decision was made, in part, because the radio station's 9 percent share of i local listeners was "unacceptable,"' Feulner said. The fact that the au-i dience knows classical music is broadcast every night has boosted) ratings, he contended. "ii ' "People are creatures of habitulf ' they know classical is there, tbeyi will tune in and they will leave their I radio on. If you start mixing up your 1 programming, you get back in thei same bag we were in before where i people were not digging the inconsistency." incon-sistency." ' i . ; . 1 ' After midnight, when rock 'n roll comes back on KPCW, listenership : increases to 81 percent. However, the survey shows that by that time, the audience is very small. According to the survey, 87 percent per-cent of those surveyed between the ; ages of 26 and 34 do not listen after ! midnight. In the next bracket of 35- j to 49-year-olds, 94 percent of the respondents said they did not listen after midnight. ! However, between the hours of 7 ' . p.m. and 10 p.m., the audience is much larger, the survey indicates. The 26- to 34-year-old audience grows by 21 percentage points and the 35- to 49-year-old group increases by 37 points. The survey shows that 26 percent of the latter category listens to KPCW during those hours. In terms of who donates money to the public radio station, among the 35- to 49-year-old group, 72 percent of the respondents said they have at one time donated money to KPCW. In the 26- to 34-year-old age group, 61 percent said they had donated to KPCW at least once. In the youngest agebracket questioned, those between bet-ween 18 and 25 years of age, 32 percent per-cent said they had given money to the local FM station. And the oldest group; '50 to 60 years of age, 47 percent:!, per-cent:!, said they have donated to KPCWi i'The; figures are really outstanding, outstan-ding, because when you think about it(!! we're not without competition anymore," Feulner said. Seven radio Station signals can be received in the Park City area. |