By David Barron
Sports radio generally thrives on chaos and controversy, and the continued series of upheavals involving Deshaun Watson, Nick Caserio, Jack Easterby, Cal McNair and David Culley, and the upheaval has paid benefits for the team’s flagship radio station, KILT (610 AM).
In the most recent Nielsen Audio ratings for Houston, KILT ranked in the top 10 for all four major day parts among men 25-54, the primary advertising demo for sports radio, for the first time in years.
The station was tied for 10th place between 6 and 10 a.m., ninth from 10 a,m.-3 p.m. and seventh from 3-7 p.m. in the men 25-54 demo. That’s the best ranking for KILT in afternoon drive in almost a decade, when the station was in the top 10 for 21 consecutive months from September 2011 through April 2013 and ranked as high as No. 4 in the afternoon.
Rockets flagship station KBME (790 AM) also had a high point in the latest ratings book, ranking 12th among all stations in men 25-54 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The station ranked 19th from 6 a.m.-7 p.m. in the demo to KILT’s 11th place finish. KFNC (97.5 FM) ranked in the mid- to low-20s among all stations in all day parts in men 25-54.
In the overall January ratings period, KODA (99.1 FM) and KTRH (740 AM) led the way among all stations in the persons 6-plus category, each with 7.5 percent audience shares. KILT was at 1.9, up six-tenths of a point from December, while KBME was at 0.6 and KFNC at 0.4 in the broadest demographic.
In other developments of interest this week:
— AT&T has sold a minority share of its video subscription services DirecTV, U-Verse and AT&T, which analysts say portends a change in affiliation for the NFL Sunday Ticket package once the current contract with DirecTV expires after the 2021 season.
— Only one Rockets game over the second half of the season has been picked up for national distribution, the Saturday, May 1, home game against the Warriors on ESPN. The March 3 game against the Nets also will be on ESPN. There are no Rockets games scheduled for TNT or NBA TV. That means that AT&T SportsNet Southwest has clear sailing the rest of the season as viewers’ only Rockets outlet.
— Baylor-Texas at 6 p.m. Monday on ESPN2 is among ESPN’s featured women’s games over the next few days.
— NBC plans to boost its Paralympic coverage from Tokyo this summer with 12 hours of live daily coverage on NBC Sports Network, prime time highlights on NBC and programming on the Peacock streaming channel and NBC Sports app.
— Local gymnasts Simone Biles and Colin Van Wicklen will not be competing, but there will be USA Gymnastics coverage at 6:30 p.m. Friday (men’s events live) and women’s highlights at 8:30 p.m. Monday (women’s taped highlights) on Olympic Channel.
— Looking ahead, March 9 will be MLB Network’s day to feature the Astros during the annual “30 Clubs in 30 Days” series.
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