july26

Airwaves: July 25, 2008

KLVE Alone at the Top

In what may be the last traditional ratings report, as Arbitron gears up for the electronic Portable People Meter to replace written diaries in determining the number of listeners a station has, Latin pop station KLVE trounced the competition to claim the top spot in the Los Angeles market.

KLVE's jump of almost 1 point put it ahead of second place, and last quarter's leader, KIIS-FM, 5.6 to 4.9. That's the biggest lead a first-place finisher has had in a long time in the Arbitrons. Meanwhile, KSCA climbed 0.8 - to 4.4 - knocking talk leader KFI down a notch into fourth place, as KFI tied with urban hits station Power 106 (KPWR) at 4.0.

KFI executives aren't doing much crying, though. The station still dominates the talk format in town with that 4.0 share, ruling over KABC (tied for 20th at 1.7), KLSX (tied for 22nd at 1.6), KRLA and KTLK (tied for 30th at 0.9) and KGIL, which didn't show in the ratings this quarter.

Though KGIL didn't fare well this time around, sister station Go Country (KKGO) certainly did, earning its highest rating since debuting more than a year ago - its 1.9 share tied with KBIG for 17th place. Owner Saul Levine has reason to celebrate, considering that some observers thought country wasn't a viable format for the area anymore.

And what about the station that used to run that "unviable format"? Movin' 93.9 (KMVN) found itself in a five-way tie for 33rd at 0.7. Makes you wonder how much longer station owners will continue to rely onresearch to determine format appeal.

Classic rock station KLOS earned its highest share in recent memory with a 2.3, up from 1.9. This placed it just ahead of competitor Jack-FM (KCBS-FM), which dropped a half point to 2.2. Are Jack's days numbered as radio audiences realize they'd rather hear music they want to hear? Or is this a fluke? Hard to tell, but history is against Jack, with the format fizzling in most areas outside of Southern California.

Each rating is an estimate of the percentage of listeners age 12 and older listening to a station between 6 a.m. and midnight. Here's the full report, indicating the station, followed by the winter ratings and then the spring ratings.

KLVE-FM 4.7-5.6, KIIS-FM 5.0-4.9, KSCA-FM 3.6-4.4, KFI-AM 4.4-4.0, KPWR-FM 3.8-4.0, KOST-FM 3.3-3.7, KROQ-FM 3.1-3.5, KTWV-FM 3.5-3.5, KBUE-FM/KBUA-FM 4.1-3.4, KLAX-FM 3.1-3.2, KRTH-FM 3.2-3.1, KRCD-FM/KRCV-FM 2.8-3.0

KHHT-FM 2.5-2.8, KXOL-FM 2.6-2.7, KLOS-FM 1.9-2.3, KCBS-FM 2.7-2.2, KBIG-FM 1.8-1.9, KKGO-FM 1.5-1.9, KYSR-FM 1.4-1.8, KABC-AM 2.3-1.7, KNX-AM 2.0-1.7, KLSX-FM 1.8-1.6, KSSE-FM 1.5-1.6, KFWB-AM 1.5-1.4, KHJ-AM 1.7-1.3, KTNQ-AM 1.0-1.3, KJLH-FM 1.4-1.2, KLAC-AM 1.2-1.1

KLYY-FM 0.6-0.9, KRLA-AM 1.0-0.9, KTLK-AM 0.7-0.9, KWIZ-FM 0.9-0.9, KDAY-FM/KWIE-FM 1.1-0.7, KFSH-FM 0.8-0.7, KMVN-FM 0.8-0.7, KSPN-AM 0.5-0.7, KSWD-FM 1.3-0.7, KDLD-FM/KDLE-FM 0.5-0.6, KKLA-FM 0.5-0.4, KLTX-AM 0.4-0.4, KWKW-AM 0.5-0.4, KWVE-FM 0.5-0.4, KFRG-FM 0.0-0.3.

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