Clear Channel recently made "staff changes" to its Grand Forks radio stations as the company begins a new strategy to boost ratings, a spokesperson confirmed today.
The company has five radio stations in the Grand Forks market, which includes Grand Forks and Polk counties.
Spokesperson Shira Mahler declined to explain the recent "staff changes" or specify which stations were affected by the shift in strategy.
"As a policy, and out of respect, we don't discuss internal staffing matters," she wrote in an email response.
But Mahler said the new strategy will allow the stations "to take advantage of content from the most entertaining personalities in the country while still incorporating local, customized content for their hometowns."
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The changes have been made at other Clear Channel stations across the country, which she said have almost always seen better ratings than they had with their former programming.
"We're making these changes to improve the quality of what we provide to each of our local communities," Mahler wrote.
"Our listeners have voted with their time, and we paid attention."
Mahler said some of the nation's top radio talent will produce custom breaks and localized content for each city. Another part of the change in strategy was promoting 45 people to regional market manager, which she said will allow them to focus more on their local brands and engage more with the audiences.
Local ratings
The latest rankings from Arbitron, a New York-based research company, showed four of Clear Channel's five local stations in the top five station rankings based on market share.
Pop station XL93 (KKXL-FM) claimed the top spot this spring with an 11.7 market share. That's up from the 0.7 and 10.3 market shares in the spring and fall of 2010, respectively.
Rock station KJ108 (KJKJ-FM) slipped to the No. 2 spot this spring with a 10.8 market share, down from a recent high of 13.4 in the fall of 2009.
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Clear Channel's classic rock station, The Fox 96.1 (KQHT-FM), and the company's Cat Country 100.3 (KSNR-FM), tied for fourth place with a 7.2 market share.
That was an increase for The Fox, which had a 6.3 and 6.9 market share in the spring and fall of 2010. But it was a drop for Cat Country, which had an 8.9 market share in the spring of 2010.
Of the top five stations in the Grand Forks market this spring, just one was not operated by Clear Channel -- Leighton Broadcasting-owned country station 97 KYCK-FM, which took third place with an 8.1 market share.
Johnson reports on local business. Reach him at (701) 780-1105; (800) 477-6572, ext. 105; or send email to rjohnson@gfherald.com .
