KPWR remains a powerhouse

Hip-hop radio station KPWR-FM (105.9) took first place in local radio’s ratings for the fifth straight quarter, extending its lead over alternative outlet KROQ-FM (106.7), while talker KFI-AM (640) jumped to third, according to figures for the spring quarter, released Wednesday by the Arbitron ratings service.

Driving KFI’s move up the rankings was a.m.-drive host Bill Handel, who claimed the top spot among morning shows by rising from third place and pushing the former No. 1 program, KROQ’s “Kevin & Bean Show,” to second. Handel claimed 5.4% of the audience from 6 to 10 a.m., up from 4.9% in the winter, while Kevin Ryder and Gene “Bean” Baxter dropped from 5.3% to 4.9% among listeners ages 12 and older.

The ratings charted the period from March 27 to June 18 and also showed pop station KIIS-FM (102.7) plunging from third place overall to eighth, with 3.4% of the spring audience compared with 4% in the winter. KROQ repeated its second-place performance, keeping its 4.4% of the audience, while KPWR increased its share from 5% to 5.3%. KFI, meanwhile, leapt from a fourth-place tie at 3.7% of the winter audience to 4.3% in the spring, the ratings period that included all but the first week of the war in Iraq, a staple topic on the talk station.

Its talk rivals also saw gains during the span. KABC-AM (790) rose from 15th to 11th place by increasing its audience share from 2.5% to 2.9%. KLSX-FM (97.1) held its 2.5% share of the audience from the winter, but that was good enough to elevate the station from 15th to 13th place.

But the war apparently didn’t compel Southland listeners to tune into the area’s two all-news stations, KNX-AM (1070) and KFWB-AM (980). The audience share for KNX remained at 2.1%, which was good enough to boost it to 19th overall from a 21st-place tie. And even the start of baseball season was no help for KFWB, the Dodgers’ new flagship station, which fell from a tie with KNX to 25th place and a 1.6% share of the audience.

Among morning shows, the same group of contenders has jockeyed for the top spot during the past couple of years. Among those in the horse race with Handel and Kevin & Bean has been KPWR’s Big Boy, who lost audience share this time, dipping from 4.8% of morning listeners to 4.6%, but nevertheless rose from fourth to third place. Pulling the same feat was Steve Harvey on KKBT-FM (100.3), who rose from fifth into a fourth-place tie despite losing .1% of his 4.2% audience share in the winter.

But charging into the race is Howard Stern on KLSX. The latest figures show him moving from sixth among all listeners ages 12 and older into a tie for fourth.

Until Feb. 3, all the English-language morning hosts trailed far behind “El Cucuy” on KSCA-FM (101.9), the alter-ego of host Renan Almendarez Coello. After dominating morning ratings for nearly six years, Coello moved his wildly popular program to afternoons and left his old time slot to Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo. Sotelo’s morning show dropped but still finished second in the winter ratings, but those figures still included some of Coello’s shows. In the spring ratings, the first to chart only Sotelo, KSCA dropped from 5% of the morning audience to 4.1%, falling into a fourth-place tie.

KSCA also dipped slightly overall, falling from 3.7% of the audience and a fourth-place tie to 3.5% and a sixth-place tie with Spanish-language competitor KLAX-FM (97.9).

Also making a jump was smooth-jazz station KTWV-FM (94.7), going from 11th to fifth.

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Radio Ratings

The local area’s top 25 stations and their average audience share of 10.4 million listeners in the spring quarter, as measured by Arbitron, compared with the previous three-month winter quarter.

*--* Current Last Quarter 1 KPWR-FM 5.3 5.0 2 KROQ-FM 4.4 4.4 3 KFI-AM 4.3 3.7 4 KOST-FM 3.8 3.6 5 KTWV-FM 3.6 2.8 6 KSCA-FM 3.5 3.7 KLAX-FM 3.5 2.8 8 KIIS-FM 3.4 4.0 9 KRTH-FM 3.3 3.1 KKBT-FM 3.3 3.1 11 KABC-AM 2.9 2.5 KLVE-FM 2.9 3.4 13 KLSX-FM 2.5 2.5 KZLA-FM 2.5 2.2 KBIG-FM 2.5 2.7 16 KYSR-FM 2.3 2.0 17 KXOL-FM 2.2 2.2 KHHT-FM 2.2 2.6 19 KNX-AM 2.1 2.1 20 KBUE-FM 2.0 2.9 KLOS-FM 2.0 2.4 KCBS-FM 2.0 2.3 23 KSSE-FM 1.8 1.6 24 KZAB-FM 1.7 0.5 25 KJLH-FM 1.6 1.4 KMZT-FM 1.6 1.8 KFWB-AM 1.6 2.1

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The ratings survey covers people 12 and older listening between 6 a.m. and midnight, from March 27 to June 18.