Nielsen's Holiday survey period, which ran from Dec. 5 to Jan. 8, included two days of radio coverage of the devastating Los Angeles fires, which began on Tuesday, Jan. 7. Breaking out activity for each of those two days (6am-midnight), for eight of the L.A. market's news and/or talk stations, combined station share for persons 12+ was up as much as 115% – with combined average quarter-hour persons 12+ up 112% – compared to the first four weeks of the Holiday book, which included Christmas and New Year's.
While both those increases reflect delivery on the second day of fire coverage, Jan. 8, Nielsen's analysis also shows significant gains for individual stations on either or both days, vs. those first four weeks.
Audacy's all-news KNX-FM (97.1) saw 153% and 133% lifts in AQH persons and share, respectively, for Jan. 7, with even greater growth, 178% and 181%, on Jan. 8. For KNX-FM's stream, average daily cume spiked 199% on that first day, with AQH persons, cume, and share up a respective 158%, 142%, and 152% on Jan. 8.
Other stations with key gains include iHeartMedia talk KFI (640 AM) , up 103% in AQH persons and 107% in share Jan. 8, and Latino Media Network Spanish news/talk KTNQ (1020), where AQH persons, average daily cume, and share saw 162%, 188%, and 171% boosts, respectively.
Also notable is news/talk pubcaster “LAist” KPCC (89.3)'s double-digit growth, with a 42% average daily cume lift on Jan. 7, up to 73% Jan. 8.
“With extreme weather events becoming an increasingly frequent part of daily life, the critical role of trusted local media is more and more elevated,” Nielsen VP, Audience Insights Jon Miller tells Inside Radio. “With this event in Los Angeles, we saw news radio listening jump at the same time that local TV news viewership also increased. Local news was indispensable for the hundreds of thousands who were displaced by the fires.”