Courtesy St. Louis Post Dispatch

(January 23, 2009) St. Louis radio now has three stations broadcasting local sports talk, leading many in the business to think at least one will fail. Recent ratings for the final period in which there were just two competitors show a significant downturn for this niche.

According to Arbitron, KFNS (590 AM, 100.7 FM) and KSLG (1380 AM) combined to attract just 3.3 percent of listeners in the demographic they chase — men ages 25-54 — from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. That's when they air their primary lineups. The figure is down from 4 percent last summer and spring, and 6 percent last winter.

KFNS general manager Dave Greene said he is not alarmed.

"Not at all," he said. "There are over half a million men between the ages of 25 to 54 in the metro area and, from what I understand, less than 800 of them are surveyed for these numbers. We had more than that at our last'' promotional event.

Last summer, KSLG overtook KFNS for the ratings lead for the first time, but that advantage all but evaporated. KSLG's market share was 2.1 in the summer but fell to 1.7 in the fall. KFNS slipped from 1.9 to 1.6.

When weekends and evening hours are included, KFNS nearly doubled KSLG in the number of men in the desired demographic who listened for at least five minutes a week — 38,300 to 19,800.

KSLG is crippled by a signal that's weaker at night, affecting its key morning and afternoon drive-time shows. It had significant ratings drops from last summer, when longer daylight hours eliminated that problem.

"It is what it is,'' KSLG general manager John Helmkamp has said. "But we have the best lineup of any of the stations,'' so people listen.

UPS AND DOWNS

The biggest gainer was the Jeff Gordon-Jeff Vernetti show on KFNS, which was up 31 percent. The biggest loss was experienced by KFNS' Frank Cusumano, who was down 56 percent to continue a huge slide. Last winter, Cusumano had the top-rated show on the two stations. His current market share is down 73 percent from then, although he is stronger than that among men age 35 and over.

"The items I'm most concerned about every day are show preparations, guests and generating revenue for the station,'' Cusumano said. "Right now, because of our staff, we're doing the best job we've ever done.''

Greene also is undaunted.

"I always judge our shows by how they do in sales, and Frank has, without question, the most requested show from advertisers,'' he said.

KSLG's morning show (Tim McKernan, Jim Hayes, Doug Vaughn) had the best overall ranking, with a 2.3 market share. That's down from 3.2 from the summer.

Now, WXOS (101.1 FM) is in the fray and management has said it is undeterred by the slipping market share for the fare. Program director Jason Barrett reaffirmed the station's stance that it is in a bigger fight than battling just the sports outlets.

"Our competition is KSHE, K-HITS, the 'Point' and any FM station that attracts men,'' he said. "Our focus is to be a top 5 station with men 25 to 54.''

That's a tall order, as KSLG ranks 20th and KFNS 21st in that group on weekdays, with KSHE (94.7 FM) in the top spot.

"I'm not concerned about 590 or 1380,'' Barrett said. "Tiger Woods doesn't worry about the rest of the field. The Yankees don't worry about the Royals. The Patriots don't worry about the Bengals. That's were we are.''