The great divide in Seattle's radio-listening habits

Well, you always knew, didn't you, that there is ultraliberal, hipster, rather-brunch-on-a-Sunday-than-attend-church Seattle ... and then there is how life is viewed by much of the rest of Puget Sound.

An analysis of Arbitron radio ratings for July confirms the great divide in the listening habits of the two regions: Seattle for the ZIP codes from Greenwood to Seward Park, and then the Metro region encompassing King, Pierce, Snohomish, Thurston, Skagit and Island counties.

In Seattle, KUOW, the National Public Radio affiliate, is No. 1 with its contemplative discourses. And KPTK, "AM 1090 Progressive Talk," comes in at No. 4. That's "progressive" as in "really liberal."

But outside Seattle, KUOW plummets to a five-way tie for No. 15. It gets squarely beaten by Led Zep, the Clash and Lionel Richie. KPTK barely registers a pulse in a tie at No. 30.

Outside Seattle, four stations are tied for No. 1 — two classic-rock stations (KISW and KZOK), an adult-hits station focusing on the '80s (KJAQ) and a soft adult-music station (KRWM).

There are few dittoheads listeners in Seattle, with Rush Limbaugh and other conservative hosts on KTTH not even seeing the Top 25.

In Seattle, KCMS, the contemporary Christian music station, comes in at No. 18, along with four other stations. Outside Seattle, it's No. 5, along with three other stations.

A stark difference in the tastes between the two regions shows in the ratings for KRWM, with its easy, Lionel Richie-type music, and KEXP, a listener-supported hipster music station.

Outside Seattle, soft KRWM shares the No. 1 spot. In Seattle, KRWM drops to No. 18. In Seattle, hip KEXP comes in at No. 3. Outside Seattle, it's somewhere below the Top 25.

One reason why a station can plummet in the ratings outside of Seattle is because of a weak signal.

But a station like KUOW, the National Public Radio affiliate, sinking from No. 1 in Seattle to No. 15 in the hinterlands?

"KUOW's popularity dissipates as you get outside the urban core," says Kathy Neukirchen, president of Media Plus, a Seattle-based media purchasing agency.

She says "it's a vast generalization," but adds, "no offense, KUOW tends to appeal to the egghead, elitist type."

So what's the secret to programming a radio station that would do well both inside the Seattle city limits and out in the vast 'burbs?

Four stations that manage to share top ratings in both regions are KJAQ, KJR-FM, KKFW and KPLZ. They all play music ranging from country to rock, and they generally play the hits, always a tried-and-true programming strategy.

"Hey, hits work," says Carey Curelop, whose duties include being program director for KJAQ. "People want to hear what they know."

Erik Lacitis: 206-464-2237 or elacitis@seattletimes.com

An earlier version of this story, published Sunday, Aug. 30, and corrected on Sunday, Aug. 30, misspelled Carey Curelop's last name. We regret the error.