One of the things I’ve noticed by following ratings in recent years is that KKMG (98.9 Magic FM) Colorado Springs is one of the stations that has refused to participate in CHR’s downturn. Plenty of heritage Mainstream Top 40 stations in secondary markets have been whittled down to shockingly low numbers. In January, KKMG led the market 6.9-7.4, and has been in the 6.5-7.5 range for months.
In Denver, it’s Hot AC that has been surprising recently. In January, personality-driven KALC (Alice 105.9) rebounded 3.7-5.8, putting it second in the market (behind AC KOSI), followed by rival KIMN (Mix 100), up 4.5-5.1 and tied for third.
Radioinsight’s Lance Venta recently spent some time with Denver/Colorado Springs radio. He came home impressed with the market overall, and particularly with KKMG. Here’s a Fresh Listen to the three stations.
98.9 Magic FM
One of the things that stands out about KKMG is the forward momentum and attention to detail that aren’t always apparent on some of its CHR counterparts. The top of the hour ID is “serving the hits from the top of Cheyenne Mountain,” but always includes a listener drop that mentions a second city in the metro. New songs still get both a new music sweeper—one of which declares Magic “the best station for new music” and a front-sell.
Magic FM is a Jubal Show affiliate in mornings. Here’s the station at 4 p.m. with PD Jeff Haber, wrapping up a commercial-free hour. KKMG’s “Impossible Question”-type contest is “Survey Says” and Tuesday’s prize was Sam Smith tickets.
- David Guetta & Bebe Rexha, “I’m Good (Blue)”
- Miley Cyrus, “Flowers”
- Stephen Sanchez, “Until I Found You”
- The Kid Laroi, “Love Again”
- Meghan Trainor, “Made You Look”
- Rema & Selena Gomez, “Calm Down”
- Doja Cat f/SZA, “Kiss Me More”
- Metro Boomin’ f/the Weeknd & 21 Savage, “Creepin’”
- Olivia Rodrigo, “Good 4 u”
- Kane Brown & Katelyn Brown, “Thank God”
- Taylor Swift, “Anti-Hero”
- Chris Brown, “Under the Influence”
- Glass Animals, “Heat Waves”
- SZA, “Kill Bill”
- Taylor Swift, “Lavender Haze”
- Post Malone f/Doja Cat, “I Like You”
- Niall Horan, “Heaven”
KIMN (Mix 100)
A heritage Hot AC (with heritage Top 40 call letters), Mix 100 had a similar feel to KKMG in the enthusiasm and precision departments. PD/p.m. driver Steve Marshall’s topics included whether to celebrate Pi Day or Taco Tuesday, and the woman who left her boyfriend over his refusal to pay $3 extra for a cheeseburger. Here’s the station in the same 4 p.m. hour:
- Marshmello f/Jonas Brothers, “Leave Before You Love Me”
- Miley Cyrus, “Flowers”
- Panic! At The Disco, “I Write Sins Not Tragedise”
- Ed Sheeran, “Shivers”
- David Guetta f/Sia, “Titanium”
- Justin Bieber, “Ghost”—with a discussion of whether Justin and Hailey had been arguing at the Oscars afterparty
- Jason Derulo, “Want to Want Me”
- Glass Animals, “Heat Waves”
- Tom Odell, “Another Love”
- Chainsmokers f/Daya, “Don’t Let Me Down”
- Jax, “Victoria’s Secret”
- Pink, “Just Give Me a Reason”
- Sam Smith & Kim Petras, “Unholy”
- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, “Can’t Hold Us”
- No Doubt, “Hey Baby”
KALC (Alice 105.9)
Alice 105.9 is one of the stations that helped invent Hot AC’s “morning show in afternoons” model, then saw it threatened when PPM measurement threatened to silence those shows more than a decade ago. On Tuesday afternoon, p.m. drivers Slacker & Steve were talking about women who got makeovers before going into labor (so they would look good for the birth video), airing listener stories about intuition, and asking whether Jesse Palmer was too handsome to be a credible Food Network host (“he looks like he eats only boiled chicken”) compared to Guy Fieri.
Here’s Alice just before 2 p.m. on Tuesday with Amber. Promos were for the upcoming Alice In Onerepublicland concert, starring Onerepublic, American Authors, and Dean Lewis.
- Lil Nas X, “That’s What I Want”
- Meghan Trainor, “All About That Bass”
- Ed Sheeran, “Shivers”
- Stephen Sanchez, “Until I Found You”
- Shaed, “Trampoline”
- Taylor Swift, “Lavender Haze”
- Jonas Brothers, “Sucker”
- Pitbull f/Ne-Yo, “Give Me Everything”
- Maroon 5, “Don’t Wanna Know”
- Meghan Trainor, “Made You Look”
- Em Beihold, “Numb Little Bug”
- Harry Styles, “As It Was”
- Katy Perry, “Firework”
- Dean Lewis, “How Do I Say Goodbye”
- Sam Smith & Kim Petras, “Unholy”