There’s a new show on Go Country (KKGO, 105.1 FM), and it’s tailor-made for station owner Saul Levine, who has been pushing to highlight female artists on his station for years.
Called “She’s Country,” it’s a brand new syndicated show that made its debut on Go Country — the first affiliate to carry the program — on July 18th. Airing every Saturday from 6-9 p.m., the focus is on women in country music, past and present.
Hosted by Emily Harlan, the program has its genesis at KBAY/San Jose, where it began as part of Harlan’s regular show, one hour a week, a few years ago. “I launched it on International Women’s Day, back in March of 2023,” Harlan told me. Later, it expanded to two and then three hours a week, and became a weekend staple on the station as well as other country stations owned by Connoisseur Media, which owns KBAY.
There will be lots of music from female artists past and present, along with trivia and artist interviews spread throughout the show — Ashley McBryde and Carter Faith, for example — “we’ll also feature new artists and new songs in the She’s Country Spotlight,” Harlan explained.
Landing Go Country as an affiliate adds extra excitement to the launch of the syndication deal. “I grew up in Orange County, and spent my childhood listening to Go Country,” Harlan told me. “And now that I’m going to be on the station, my parents and family told me they are excited to hear me over the local airwaves.”
Levine added, “I am delighted to be the first station to carry this exciting program. It fulfills my mission to create equal opportunities for women to gain exposure to their songs and obtain the respect they deserve.”
This is all happening as Go Country earns its highest rating in the history of the station, dating back to its launch in 1959 … again. More on that in a second.
June Nielsens
Less than a point separated the top-three stations in Los Angeles during the June ratings period released last week, according to Nielsen. KOST (103.5 FM) was the ultimate winner once again with a 6.5 share of the audience. Right behind was sister KBIG (104.3 FM) with a 6.2 share, and then KRTH (101.1 FM) at 5.8.
Rounding out the top-five was Jack (KCBS-FM, 93.1) at 4.6, and KFI (640 AM) — marking its best rating share in quite some time — at 4.5.
In the first full ratings period since KNX (1070 AM) stopped simulcasting with KNX-FM (97.1), the all-news ratings were down to 3.2 compared with the last full month of simulcast at 4.1. Huge drop, right? That FM must have added a point or so to the total, right?
Not so fast. Comparing the change to KFI, it appears — though I don’t have access to the data behind it to actually prove it — listeners moved from KNX to KFI, not that they left the all-news format because it left the FM band. KFI’s increase from April — the last KNX full-simulcast month — is almost the same as KNX’s decline. I wish I had the data to verify it — Nielsen won’t release it — but it seems that the news events of the world may have just caused listeners to move down the dial, and that the FM signal never added many listeners to the KNX news format. I will admit that this is an unprovable conjecture.
In the meantime, how’s that all-sports format doing on KNX-FM? About what was expected: 0.2, making it the lowest-rated commercial FM station in town.
What does the starting lineup for LA’s new all-sports radio station sound like to you?
You may remember that KZLA (now KLLI, 93.9 FM) dropped country music 20 years ago because country doesn’t work in Los Angeles. Hmm. Go Country just hit another high for the 105.1 FM frequency, earning a 3.2 share of the audience, up from the previous high of 2.9 earned in each of the last few months. Go Country is thus tied with KIIS (102.7 FM), KNX, and KUSC (91.5 FM) for 11th place, within striking distance of the top-10. For comparison, KZLA had a 1.7 share in its last full book as country. KLLI currently has a 1.3.
I don’t know what has happened to KSCA (101.9 FM), also known as “La Nueva.” Back in March, the station had a 3.7 share. Since then, it has shown a downward trend and hit a low mark of 1.7 in June. I don’t believe there were any substantial changes to the station or its format, so it makes you wonder. In the battle for alternative music listeners, Alt (98.7 FM) beat KROQ (106.7 FM) … but just barely, 3.1 to 3.0. That’s a statistical tie.
Each rating is an estimate of the percentage of listeners aged 6 and over tuned to a station between the hours of 6 a.m. and 12 midnight, as determined by Nielsen Ratings.
1. KOST (6.5) 2. KBIG “My FM” (6.2) 3.KRTH “K-Earth” (5.8) 4. KCBS-FM “Jack” (4.6) 5. KFI (4.5) 6. KTWV “The Wave” (4.3) 7. KLOS (3.5) 8. KLAX, KLVE, KPCC “LAist” (3.3)
11. KIIS, KKGO “Go Country”, KNX, KUSC (3.2) 15. KYSR “Alt” (3.1) 16. KROQ (3.0) 17. KCRW (2.7) 18. KLYY “Jose,” KRRL “Real 92.3” (2.1) 20. KJLH (2.0)
21. KKJZ, KKLQ (1.9) 23. KBUE, KSCA (1.7) 25. KPWR “Power,” KRCD, KXOL “Mega” (1.6) 28. KLAC (1.5) 29. KLLI “Cali” (1.3) 30. KDAY (0.9)
31. KFWB (0.8) 32. KAIA, KSPN (0.7) 34. KDLD, KEIB (0.3) 36. KNX-FM “The Fan,” KTNQ (0.2) 38. KBIG HD2, KCRW HD2, KKLQ HD2, KMZT “K-Mozart,” KROQ HD2, KRTH HD2, KTLW, KWKW, KXOL Stream (0.1)
Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern California. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com.