KLAX’s No. 1, but KROQ’s Making Waves : Radio: Ratings show <i> banda </i> music attracted the most local listeners, but alternative rock had a huge draw.

While the banda sounds of Spanish-language KLAX-FM (97.9) continued to draw the most listeners among local radio stations, alternative rock proved to be a huge draw for KROQ-FM (106.7), which registered its largest audiences ever, according to the quarterly Arbitron ratings survey released Wednesday.

“I think that obviously this kind of music is hotter than it’s ever been and it’s becoming even more broad-based,” said Trip Reeb, KROQ-FM general manager. “Young people really are more unified than at any time in recent memory in their musical tastes and we certainly are a reflection of those tastes.”

With 4.7% of the audience tuning in on average, KROQ’s ratings during the past three months ranked third locally and were the highest in the station’s 15-year history. It has risen from a weak-signaled, new-wave oriented station in the early ‘80s to a powerhouse, corporate-owned force in the ‘90s

The KROQ morning team of Kevin Ryder and Gene (Bean) Baxter was in ninth place, just behind the former top-rated duo of Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps on KLOS-FM (95.5), who tied for seventh place with KLVE-FM’s (107.5) Pepe Barretto.

Hip-hop station KPWR-FM (105.9) was in second place overall, as it was in the last survey, boosting its audience share from 4.7% to 5.1%. Its morning team of brothers Erik and Nick Vidal, known as the Baka Boyz, rose dramatically from 13th to fifth place.

KLAX-FM’s morning team of Juan Carlos Hidalgo and El Peladillo (Jesus Garcia) continued to dominate the morning-drive race with 5.6% of the audience, followed by KLSX-FM (97.1) syndicated radio personality Howard Stern with 5%. Stern had been in first place in the last survey.

Spanish-station KLVE-FM has been on a dramatic climb from 17th place last fall to 11th place in the winter to seventh this spring, with 3.7% of the audience.

Los Angeles’ only country station, KZLA-FM (93.9), also jumped, from 19th and a 2.3% share of the audience to 12th place with a 2.9% share. The station refined its format in March, 1993, and is seeing its highest ratings in about six years.

Radio Ratings

The area’s Top 25 stations and their Arbitron ratings for April, May and June of this year compared with the first quarter of the year:

CURRENT LAST QUARTER 1. KLAX-FM 6.1 5.6 2. KPWR-FM 5.1 4.7 3. KROQ-FM 4.7 3.8 4. KOST-FM 4.2 4.7 5. KIIS-FM/AM 3.9 3.8 6. KFI-AM 3.8 4.5 7. KLVE-FM 3.7 3.2 8. KKBT-FM 3.6 3.3 9. KABC-AM 3.5 3.8 10. KRTH-FM 3.2 3.5 11. KCBS-FM 3.0 3.2 12. KBIG-FM 2.9 3.4 KZLA-FM 2.9 2.3 14. KFWB-AM 2.8 3.0 KLOS-FM 2.8 2.7 KLSX-FM 2.8 2.9 KYSR-FM 2.8 2.5 18. KNX-AM 2.6 2.6 19. KTNQ-AM 2.2 2.9 20. KTWV-FM 2.0 1.8 21. KXEZ-FM 1.8 1.8 22. KKGO-FM 1.7 1.9 23. KKHJ-FM 1.7 2.0 KLAC-FM 1.7 1.0 25.KOJY/ KJQI-AM 1.3 0.8 KXED-FM 1.3 1.4

The ratings survey covers people 12 and older listening between 6 a.m. and midnight, from March 31 to June 22.