JOPLIN, Mo. — Arbitron ratings just haven’t held much drama for me since I moved to Joplin from Springfield.

It was there where I first got into radio -- I was trained to press buttons, adjust levels and rock the mic by Steve Kraus (now program director for “Kissin’ 92.5” and the best guy in radio). It was at that station where I re-met my future wife: The Lovely Paula Hadsall and I were interns for that station -- she even got her nickname from the people there.

I learned how stations live and die by the biennial ratings. Over there, ratings have drama with a capital “DRAMA.” You haven’t lived until you’ve fought a banner-fight.

There is genuine competition for the top spots AND the middle spots -- such that even though I was on air for only a few months, I am biotuned to when ratings are released. I feel it in my bones every February and August.

Here? Not so much. Especially according to the fall ‘10 numbers, which were released last month.

Full disclosure, before I get into these numbers: Paula has worked for two of the area’s radio companies. Also, keep in mind that this is a column, and therefore includes a lot of my opinion and analysis. Take it for what it’s worth.

~ KIXQ-FM (country, “Kix 102.5") is still No. 1 and KSYN-FM (pop, “Kissin’ 92.5") is No. 2. KIXQ pulled a 16.3 share, rising from its previous 15.9; KSYN pulled a 9.3, down from its previous 11. Both stations are owned by the Zimmer Radio Group.

~ KMXL-FM (adult hits, “Mike FM") is still No. 3; Mike got an 8.1, down from a 9.1.  The station is owned by Carthage Broadcasting Company, Inc.

~ The big ratings surprise is No. 4: KBTN-FM ("Classic Country 99.7") jumped from a 5.5 to 7.6. The classic country station is owned by American Media Investments. It jumped ahead of Zimmer’s two other music stations, KJMK-FM ("Lite Rock 93.9") and KXDG-FM (classic rock, “Big Dog 97.9").

The only real story behind this period’s ratings is that they give a glimpse at how recent format changes are working out. Usually, when a radio station changes formats, it’s because ratings just aren’t there, or advertisers aren’t buying in.

AMI changing KCAR-FM from an oldies station into an all-comedy format ("Laugh Out Loud Radio,” 104.3 FM) is a format-change success story. Kicking off at about the beginning of the ratings period, the new format earned a 2.9 over the previous format’s 2.4.

However, AMI’s switching of KMOQ from a pop format to Christian format didn’t work, ratingswise. Where the pop station raked in a 1.8, “New Life Radio 105.3” dropped to a 1.2.

An even bigger failure would be KZYM-FM, Zimmer’s second talk radio station. The station hasn’t changed its .6 share its had since the spring ‘09 period. The station changed from a sports station to “The Talker” in the last half of 2009.

All these numbers read harshly. But the reason the numbers are harsh is because they are simply inefficient and skewed.



Why Arbitron is worthless for Joplin

The numbers listed above come from listeners who dedicate themselves to filling out journals with specific data about their listening habits. Using that data, Arbitron names what percentage of a market a certain station gets. Arbitron determines market shares for all sorts of demographic groups.

All those ratings above are for the 12 and older demographic listening from 6 a.m. to midnight all week. In other words, all the stations are competing with each other.

But radio stations are more interested in competing against stations with similar formats. You think the guys at the rock stations care about competing with talk radio? Completely different markets.

Unfortunately, Arbitron doesn’t release specific market information. If you, a member of the public, want to know the top station with women between the ages of 25 and 34, tough luck. You’ll have to get that information from one of the stations -- and according to Arbitron’s rules, that station can tell you only its own ratings performance.

That means every radio station can spin the ratings to claim a victory. To their credit, I don’t hear a lot of radio stations trumpeting spun success stories in this market. They must have the same sense of Arbitron’s value as me.

Also, the ratings are skewed because stations will turn up the promotional juice during the ratings period, then back off once it’s over.

But even the notion of overall market rankings don’t work for Joplin. According to the ratings, Kix 102.9 has a commanding lead on the country market. And that just isn’t true: AMI’s KKOW-FM, the country station out of Pittsburg, has a strong signal that gives Zimmer all kinds of competitive fits.

And if anyone thinks the advertisers on New Life Radio are going to bail because of a .5 dip, then I have a classic Ford Pinto to sell them.

Pittsburg has already let its Arbitron market fizzle, because not enough stations were interested in keeping it around.

I could see the same thing happening for Joplin. The money to pay for Arbitron’s services would be better spent on more on-air personalities and promotions -- you know, things with a local interest.