Local radio’s KIIS-FM still on top

Though the race for the top spot in local radio tightened slightly in September, pop station KIIS-FM (102.7) remained ahead of the pack — as it has for 20 of the last 26 months, according to ratings figures released Wednesday.

KIIS garnered 6% of the Los Angeles-Orange County listening audience ages 6 and older, down slightly from August but still ahead of second-place KRTH-FM (101.1).

“K-Earth,” the classic hits station, took 4.8% in what Arbitron calls the September ratings period, though it actually surveyed listeners from Aug. 19 to Sept. 15. The gap between KIIS and KRTH was 1.2%, when it had been 1.6% the month before.

But KIIS’ domination is clear from the size of its mammoth audience: 4.15 million listeners tuned in o the Top 40 station for at least five minutes every week. The next-closest station in September was KIIS’ pop rival KAMP-FM (97.1) at 3.38 million. Only one other station, KOST-FM (103.5), topped the 3 million mark.

KAMP finished fourth in the race for audience share — a measure that also takes into account the length of time people tune into the station. KAMP averaged 4.1%, behind adult-contemporary station KOST-FM, which placed third at 4.3%. The two flip-flopped their positions from the month before.

Rounding out the Top Five, just like the previous month, was talk station KFI-AM (640), which claimed a 4% share of the audience.

But KFI kept its firm grip on the morning drive, the key listening period for most stations. From 6 to 10 a.m., during which KFI airs local host Bill Handel and the first hour of Rush Limbaugh’s syndicated show, the station garnered a 5.7% share in September — the same slice as the month before.

The rest of the morning Top Five held steady, as well: Second-place KIIS, home of Ryan Seacrest’s morning show, took 5.3%, followed by Kevin Ryder and Gene “Bean” Baxter on alternative rock station KROQ-FM (106.7), Gary Bryan on KRTH, and regional Mexican music station KBUE-FM (105.5) with “Don Cheto,” alter ego of Juan Carlos Razo.

KRTH was No. 1 between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays, but KIIS captured that spot between 3 p.m. and midnight. It also was a strong No. 1 on weekends.

This was the first ratings period since talk show host Laura Schlessinger announced Aug. 17 she was retiring from radio, effective at the end of the year. The polarizing family and relationship advisor said she’s giving up the medium in which she gained her fame after 30 years, amid the uproar that came after her comments about race and use of the N-word in response to a caller on her show.

Schlessinger’s program airs locally on KFWB-AM (980) from noon to 4 p.m. weekdays. Following her announcement, the numbers barely budged for the station’s midday time slot — 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. — which encompasses most of her show. In August the station was 31st during that time, with a 1.1% audience share; in September it was in a five-way tie for 27th, with 1.2%.

KROQ, the main outpost for alternative music for two decades, has been in a ratings fight for most of the year with upstart KYSR-FM (98.7). The latter, once the female-oriented soft-rock station “Star 98.7,” hardened its image in 2008 and has been climbing in the ratings since January, when it leapt past KROQ. The two stations tied for sixth in June, and KYSR remained there through August while KROQ rolled backward. In September, though, KYSR slipped from 3.5% and sixth place to 3.1% and 11th. KROQ maintained its 3.3% share from August, yet still climbed from a 10th-place tie to a three-way tie for seventh.

KYSR maintained its lead in cumulative weekly audience, though — 2.33 million to KROQ’s 2.18 million.

Among local public radio stations, classical music outlet KUSC-FM (91.5) and news-and-talk station KPCC-FM (89.3) performed best, tying at No. 20 with a 2% audience share.

The September ratings period includes some of August because Arbitron divides the year into 13 four-week ratings periods — the 12 months plus a “holiday” segment to end the year. That’s why the current (October) ratings period runs from Sept. 16 to Oct.13 — actually including more days of September. This year, the holiday time frame will span Dec. 9 to Jan. 5, 2011.

calendar@latimes.com