Boise has a No. 1 radio station during COVID. It’s the biggest ratings number in years.

Even if more Boiseans are working from home and not listening during a morning commute, plenty are still cranking up their radios.

Based on newly released ratings, tons are dialing to a specific FM frequency: 101.9 The Bull.

“Boise’s Best Country” dominated the “12-plus” category in the recently released Nielsen Audio ratings, which measure listener share twice a year in Boise. In spring 2020, The Bull earned a gigantic 8.7 share in 12-plus — people 12 and older tuned to radio between 6 a.m. and midnight. That’s the largest 12-plus number in this market in years. (How many years? Not sure. Going back through 2017, at least.)

The Bull’s win came by a country mile, too. The next-closest finishers? News-talk station 670 KBOI-AM — more than 2 full points behind — and Boise State Public Radio (aka KBSX 91.5 FM), almost 4 points back.

Nielsen ratings drill down to mind-numbing demographics and time windows. For advertising sales purposes, stations consider those just as important, if not more important, than the overall 12-plus number, which is mostly about bragging rights.

Also, let’s be clear: The accuracy of audience-diary surveys should be viewed with healthy skepticism.

And toss the coronavirus’ impact into the equation? We’re in uncharted airwaves here.

“There is no question about it. It was a weird book, given the pandemic,” said Darrell Calton, CEO of Iliad Media Group, which owns The Bull and six other Treasure Valley stations.

Country radio seems to be weathering the COVID storm fairly well, he said, based on conjecture and hourly analysis of the top two country finishers, The Bull and Wow 104.3 (which had a modest 3.3).

Certain other formats appear to be feeling some pain.

“Listening habits changed because of the commute,” Calton explained via email. “In our cluster, two of our biggest commuter stations and at work are KZMG (My 102.7) and KSRV (96.1 Bob). They were affected hard Monday through Friday.”

Unusual radio environment or not, this was the second straight ratings period that The Bull finished No. 1. It also won 12-plus in the fall 2019 Nielsen book.

As for morning shows this spring? The Bull was No. 1 there, too. The top three finishers in the 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekday time slot were locals “Mee in the Morning” (aka Kevin and Brenda Mee), followed by the syndicated “Bob & Tom Show” on 96.9 The Eagle, and “Morning Edition” on Boise State Public Radio, which is a blend of NPR programming, local host George Prentice and KBSX-FM’s news department.

Here is the 12-plus ratings breakdown, along with notes when numbers rose or fell significantly. These are quarter-hour share ratings for stations in the Boise market among listeners 12 and older between 6 a.m. and midnight.

▪ KQBL-FM 101.9 (The Bull, country): 8.7

▪ KBOI-AM 670 (news/talk): 6.5

▪ KBSX-FM 91.5 (Boise State Public Radio, news/talk): 5.0

▪ KKOO-AM 1260 (Kool FM, oldies): 4.8 (roaring up from a 1.7 in fall)

▪ KKGL-FM 96.9 (The Eagle, classic rock): 4.6

▪ KWYD-FM 101.1 (Wild 101.1, rhythmic contemporary hits): 4.3

▪ KTHI-FM 107.1 (K-Hits, classic): 4.1

▪ KIDO-AM 580 (news/talk): 3.9

▪ KQXR-FM 100.3 (The X, active rock): 3.7

▪ KSAS-FM 103.5 (Kiss FM, contemporary hits): 3.5

▪ KXLT-FM 107.9 (Lite FM, adult contemporary): 3.5 (down from a 6.2 in fall)

▪ KAWO-FM 104.3 (Wow country): 3.3 (rebounding from a 1.9 in fall)

▪ KZMG-FM 102.7 (My 102.7, Hot AC): 3.3

▪ KBSU-FM 90.3 (Classical): 3.0

▪ KSRV-FM 96.1 (Bob, variety hits): 3.0 (a drop of 2 points from fall)

▪ KJOT-FM 105.1 (J-105, classic rock): 2.8

▪ KCIX-FM 105.9 (Mix 106, Hot AC): 2.2

▪ KIZN-FM 92.3 (Kissin’ 92.3, country): 2.2

▪ KQBL-HD3 96.5 (alternative rock): 2.2

▪ KQFC-FM 97.9 (Magic 97.9, Adult contemporary): 2.0

▪ KRVB-FM 94.9 (The River, adult album alternative): 1.7 (down from 3.9 in fall)

▪ KTIK-FM 93.1 (The Ticket, sports): 1.3

▪ KQBL-HD2 99.1 (I-Rock): 0.9

▪ KFXD-AM 630 (The Fan, sports): 0.2

Explaining the numbers: “Share” is the percentage of listeners tuned in to a station at a given time. 101.9 FM The Bull’s 8.7 means that 8.7 percent of everyone 12 and older in the market listening to the radio at that time was tuned in to that station. These are quarter-hour share, or AQH, numbers — the average number of people listening to a particular station for at least 5 minutes during a 15-minute period. “Rating,” the percentage of potential listeners in the market actually tuning in, is a different thing. Find out more here.

This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 3:06 PM.