July 29

Radio AM to FM: July 29, 2005

Spring Arbitrons

KIIS-FM returned to the top spot in the Spring Arbitron ratings released last week, marking the first time in that position since Power 106 dethroned the once-dominant station eighteen years ago. And to make the victory just that much sweeter, it was Power that KIIS-FM knocked into second place.

Well, knocked is not quite the right word. KIIS-FM actually earned the same rating as last quarter, 4.6, but because Power was down half a point to 4.2, KIIS won by default.

Rounding out the top-5 were KLAX, KLVE and KSCA, proving once again that Spanish-language radio is a real force in Los Angeles.

But where was KFI? Without a hot-button issue -- as well as operating on reduced power from a backup transmitter site -- the station that was once within striking distance of the top was down in sixth place. All talk stations were down, in fact, other than liberal talker KTLK, which earned a 0.8 rating, up half a point from the 0.3 the frequency earned when it was all sports.

Speaking of frequencies, will Clear Channel ever figure out that sports doesn't work in Los Angeles? Case in point: KLAC, which calls itself XTRA Sports 570, was down to 0.6 from the former adult standards format rating of 0.9 -- a 33 percent loss of listeners. XTRA 690, which picked up the standards format using the name The Lounge (are you confused yet?) went up to 0.7 from the all-sports rating of 0.5 -- a 40 percent increase.

If Clear Channel managers were smart, they'd drop sports on 570 and run the old KMPC format: MOR/Standards with sports play-by-play on weekends. That worked well, and the station wasn't hindered by lame sports talk hosts throughout the day. Or better yet: put the standards on an underperforming FM such as KBIG or Star.

Turning to the news, KFWB beat KNX due primarily to an almost full point drop on the part of KNX. Programmer David Hall most likely has some explaining to do, as the trend for the former news champion has generally been down since he took control.

Jack helped push KCBS-FM to its highest rating in years, almost doubling it's last rating as Arrow by earning a 3.0 share. Will it last? I'd say yes ... about a year.

The full story: each rating is an estimate of the percentage of listeners aged 12 and over tuned to a station between the hours of 6 am and 12 midnight. Ratings are copyright 2005, Arbitron, and may not be quoted or reproduced without prior written permission from Arbitron.

Station: Winter-Spring

KIIS-FM: 4.6-4.6; Power 106: 4.7-4.2; KLAX: 3.0-4.0; KLVE: 3.8-4.0; KSCA: 3.6-4.0; KFI: 4.6-3.9; The Wave: 3.6-3.8; KOST: 3.4-3.7; KROQ: 4.2-3.7; The Beat: 2.9-3.2.

KBUE/KBUA: 3.2-3.1; Jack-FM: 1.7-3.0; Hot 92.3: 2.6-2.9; KRCD/KRCV: 2.6-2.6; KRTH: 3.0-2.5; KSSE: 2.1-2.4; KLSX: 2.5-2.3; KABC: 2.3-2.1; KLOS: 1.9-2.0; KXOL: 1.9-2.0.

KBIG: 2.0-1.9; KYSR: 2.0-1.9; KZLA: 2.0-1.8; KLYY: 1.8-1.7; KFWB: 1.6-1.6; KMZT: 1.4-1.6; KNX: 2.2-1.5; KJLH: 1.6-1.4; KDLD/KDLE: 0.8-1.0; KDAY: 1.1-0.9.

KTLK: 0.3-0.8; KFSH: 0.7-0.7; KHJ: 1.0-0.7; KMXE: 0.6-0.7; KRLA: 0.8-0.7; KTNQ: 0.7-0.7; XTRA (The Lounge): 0.5-0.7; KLAC (XTRA Sports): 0.9-0.6; KSPN: 0.5-0.6; KWVE: 0.5-0.6.

KAZN: 0.0-0.4; KEBN: 0.0-0.4; KGGI: 0.5-0.4; KKLA: 0.6-0.4; KLTX: 0.6-0.4; KWIZ: 0.5-0.4; KOLA: 0.0-0.3.

Happy birthday to my wonderful wife, Jean.

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