KOST-FM Rocks the Competition With No. 1 Rank : Radio: Station’s ‘soft hits’ put down perennial powerhouses KPWR-FM and KIIS-FM to hit the top of the dial.

If the latest Arbitron ratings are any indication, what Southern California listeners want most are kinder, gentler airwaves.

The surprising emergence of “soft hits” station KOST-FM (“Coast 103”) at the top of the heap in the latest quarterly survey seems to indicate a growing taste for pop and rock music that’s easier on the ears--and nerves.

“KOST-FM plays songs,” said morning personality Mark Wallengren. “It’s not synthesizer boom, boom, boom. I think people are getting tired of that. I think this is similar to the disco backlash.”

During the most recent period measured by the Arbitron ratings service (which covered June 22 to Sept. 13), KOST-FM (103.5) rose past Top 40 dance music station KPWR-FM (105.9), which had dominated the airwaves for two years straight, and KPWR’s arch-rival, KIIS-FM (102.7). KOST-FM program director Jhani Kaye says that this marks the first time a station with an adult-contemporary format has topped the Los Angeles ratings.

Industry officials point to several factors for KOST-FM’s ascension to the No. 1 spot:

Competition. The emergence of a third popular rock station, “Pirate Radio” KQLZ-FM (100.3), has taken some listeners away from KPWR and KIIS in the last six months. “By sheer attrition, KOST-FM can move to the top position,” said Gary Taylor, senior vice president of Unistar, which provides live programming via satellite for more than 1,000 radio stations.

Clarity of purpose. “You don’t hear spontaneous, off-the-wall music selections,” said Ken Barnes, managing editor of Radio and Records. “Everything is carefully researched and designed not to offend, which is the basic formula of adult-contemporary stations. . . . They’re out to please the listener target group that they have assigned themselves and they do it real well.”

Consistency. “I think they’re one of the best, most consistently programmed stations in the United States,” said George A. Burns, president of Burns Media Consultants, a market research consulting firm for radio stations. “I know many critics of radio don’t think of consistency as a virtue. But the truth is that consistency is critical. You have to be remembered and consistency is an enormous tool.”

Program director Kaye attributes a good portion of the station’s success to the longevity and personality of its disc jockeys, most of whom have been on the air since the station’s debut in November, 1982. “The audience has gotten to know ‘em and love ‘em because they’re nice people and it comes across on the air,” Kaye said.

Not only are the jocks’ voices pleasantly familiar, so is the music.

Oldies compose about 65% of the music featured on the station, Kaye said. Among the artists featured prominently on KOST-FM’s play list are Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, Linda Ronstadt, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac and Don Henley.

“There are a lot of radio stations in L.A. vying for the younger audience,” Kaye said. “But the population’s growing older, so there are more 25- to 49-year-olds than ever before. . . . We play the music that people remember from their high school and college days, which are always their favorite songs.”

KOST-FM started out with a meager 2% of the listening audience and has steadily climbed to its current place at the top with 6.8%, which translates to about 119,000 listeners per average quarter-hour. It has been among the top 10 stations for about four years and has placed first among adult-contemporary stations since its debut, Kaye said.

Other stations with similar formats have not done nearly as well as KOST-FM. Of the half dozen competitors, only KBIG-FM (104.3) has proven to be a serious contender, coming in at No. 8 in the latest Arbitron survey. But over the years, while KOST-FM has risen in the ratings, KBIG has remained steady with about 4% of the audience.

“KOST has done a remarkable job of rising steadily and it’s definitely one of the great success stories of this market,” said Barnes of Radio and Records.

Softer hits also seem to be capable of drawing the hard cash. KOST-FM ranked fourth--behind KABC-AM, KIIS and KPWR--in advertising revenue last year with about $23 million, said James Duncan, an editor and publisher of books about the radio industry.

The station, which is targeted to 25- to 54-year-olds, is known for its sentimental 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. program “Lovesongs) on the KOST,” where the lovelorn console their broken hearts with music and the smitten can dedicate messages to the objects of their affection.

On a recent evening, deejay Laurie Sanders dedicated the song “Right There Waiting,” by Richard Marx, by echoing the song’s ultra-sentimental lyrics: “Susie, Peter just wanted to let you know no matter where you are, whatever you do, he’ll always be right there waiting for you.”

The station’s play list of ballads and soft-rock songs, combined with the soothing voices of deejays such as Wallengren, his co-host Kim Amidon and midday jock Mike Sakellarides, are heard, perhaps most of all, in offices. In fact, the station advertises itself as “the one radio station that everyone at work can agree on.”

KOST-FM has among the highest “at work” listening of all local stations, according to Arbitron calculations. An estimated 79% of listeners report hearing the station in a place other than their car or home, as compared to 50% who listen to KIIS-FM somewhere other than their car or home.

“It’s the station you can listen to at work because it’s not so loud,” Wallengren said. “It’s a good background station.”

But call KOST-FM an “easy-listening” station--or worse, accuse it of playing “elevator music”--and you are bound to raise the hackles of station officials and deejays.

“When they say ‘elevator music,’ I just say, ‘What station are you listening to?,’ ” Wallengren said. “We don’t play elevator music. We call them soft hits. You can always tell if somebody listens when they tell you that.”

Howard Neal, general manager of KOST-FM and its sister station KFI-AM, is thrilled with the station’s rise to first place. “I’ve got to tell you it’s good,” he said.

But he has been in the business long enough (seven years at KFI/KOST) to know that a station can be on top one day and a has-been the next:

“This is very cyclical. It will come around. The key is not to change. I tell my staff, ‘Don’t do anything different.’ ”

Radio experts agree.

“It’s the perfect time for that station in Los Angeles,” Duncan said. “They’re in a very good position, but in radio that sure can change fast. All it takes is one or two guys to try to copy your format and you can be hurt.”

KOST’S CLIMB TO THE TOP; Percentage of summer audience.; Source: ARBITRON