Airwaves: May 2, 2008
Remembering Big Ron
Former KIIS-FM (102.7) afternoon personality "Big Ron" O'Brien passed
away last Sunday morning from complications of pneumonia. He was 56.
O'Brien was afternoon jock on WOGL/Philadelphia, where he had been since
2002. He had been ill for two months and was recently transferred from Paoli
Memorial Hospital to a rehabilitation center in nearby West Chester; his prognosis
as of the week before he died was good. He is survived by his mother.
O'Brien was afternoon jock on KIIS-FM during the station's heyday of the 1980s,
when it was one of the most popular radio stations in the world. For a time,
the station seemed unstoppable, and it single-handedly revived top-40 radio in
Los Angeles, culminating with ratings breaking a 10 share. O'Brien's afternoon
show was immensely popular among teens and adults alike, and he had the distinct
honor of playing the station's top-30 countdown every Friday.
His resume includes such legendary stations as WCFL/Chicago, WNBC/New
York, and KFI (640 AM) here in Los Angeles back in 1979 when the station
was a high-energy hit music station. He even has ties to alternative rocker KROQ (106.7
FM) -- in the Summer of 1981, he worked weekends as Eugene Oregon.
But it was at KIIS-FM where he hit his stride. His show was rated number one
in its time slot for 14 consecutive Arbitron books, over 4-1/2 years. And you
could
tell he was having fun playing the hits; his energy and attitude transcended
the airwaves all the way into your heart. Like many of his peers who also passed
away far too young, he was a genuinely nice guy.
"He was put on this earth to be on the air," said WOGL programmer Anne
Gress to the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I never knew a guy who loved
being on the air as much as he did." Hear some of his work on www.reelradio.com.
Winter Ratings
KIIS-FM was the big winner in the Los Angeles Winter Arbitron ratings released
this week, switching with current second-place finisher KLVE both in place
and in rating earned in Fall. (5.0 vs. 4.7). KFI was flat at 4.4, but that was
good for a strong third, followed by the KBUA/KBUE at 4.1 and Power 106
at 3.8.
Nothing huge to report otherwise, but there were some interesting results. KJLH,
for example, came in with their highest rating in over a year: 1.4, up from 0.8.
Sports station KLAC doubled their rating to 1.2 from 0.6. Orange County "tropical" station KWIZ tripled
its rating to 0.9 from 0.3, while regional Mexican oldies station KHJ came
in 1t 1.7 from 1.5 ... the last time KHJ was that high was when they played English
top-40 more than 20 years ago.
Go Country 105 was up very slightly to 1.5 from 1.4, but they creamed
the station that used to play country -- Movin' 93.9 -- which at 0.8 is
the lowest-rated high-power commercial FM station in town ... and rated lower
than a "tropical" AM station out of Santa Ana. Perhaps some tweaking
and promotion is in order?
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 as
determined by Arbitron.
Station: Fall-Winter
KIIS-FM: 4.7-5.0; KLVE: 5.0-4.7; KFI: 4.4-4.4; KBUA/KBUE: 3.5-4.1; KPWR: 3.5-3.8;
KSCA: 4.4-3.6; KTWV: 3.0-3.5; KOST: 3.9-3.3; KRTH: 3.3-3.2; KLAX: 3.6-3.1
KROQ: 3.3-3.1; KRCD/KRCV: 3.0-2.8; KCBS-FM: 2.8-2.7; KXOL: 2.6-2.6; KHHT: 2.4-2.5;
KABC: 2.1-2.3; KNX: 2.0-2.0 KLOS: 2.2-1.9; KBIG: 2.0-1.8; KLSX: 1.7-1.8
KHJ: 1.4-1.7; KFWB: 1.4-1.5; KKGO: 1.4-1.5; KSSE: 1.2-1.5; KJLH: 0.8-1.4; KYSR:
1.4-1.4; KRBV: 1.3-1.3; KLAC: 0.6-1.2; KDAY/KWIE: 0.8-1.1; KRLA: 1.0-1.0
KTNQ: 0.9-1.0; KWIZ: 0.3-0.9; KFSH: 0.9-0.8; KMVN: 0.8-0.8; KTLK: 1.1-0.7; KLYY:
1.1-0.6; KDLD/KDLE: 0.4-0.5; KKLA: 0.5-0.5; KSPN: 0.9-0.5; KWKW: 0.4-0.5; KWVE:
0.5-0.5; KLTX: 0.6-0.4
©2008 Arbitron. May not be quoted or reproduced without prior
written permission from Arbitron
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Copyright © 2008 Richard Wagoner and Los Angeles Newspaper Group.
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