Top four stations hold their ground

Despite some format changes and a barrage of jingle bells, the listening habits of the Los Angeles-area audience remained remarkably steady from the summer to the fall, according to Arbitron radio ratings released Wednesday.

The top four stations in the market among listeners 12 and older saw slight shifts in their audience sizes, but held the same slots as they did the previous quarter. Spanish-language pop KLVE-FM (107.5) placed first, followed by the contemporary hits on KIIS-FM (102.7), while talk station KFI-AM (640) and regional Mexican music station KSCA-FM (101.9) tied for third.

Adult-contemporary station KOST-FM (103.5) came next, rising from a sixth-place tie in the summer to fifth in the fall survey, which tracked programming from Sept. 20 to Dec. 12. KOST’s audience share rose only slightly, from 3.7% to 3.9%, in spite of its perennially popular switch to all-holiday music, which came on Nov. 16. The station has gone wall-to-wall carols for the Christmas season since 2001, and the move even helped push the station to No. 1 in 2005.

KOST’s Clear Channel sister station, KBIG-FM (104.3), tweaked its adult-contemporary format to become “MyFM,” with an updated playlist of female-oriented hits, on Sept. 17. It saw a slight increase in its average share of audience, from 1.7% to 2%, good for a rise from 20th place to 18th in the market, which covers Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Meanwhile, their sibling KYSR-FM (98.7) didn’t fare as well with its changes, as the station hardened its sound with a more male-oriented music playlist. It dropped from 18th to 21st, losing 0.5% from its 1.9% share in the summer.

All-news station KNX-AM (1070) shadowed KBIG, also rising from 20th to 18th. Fellow news outlet KFWB-AM (980) jumped from 25th place to tie KYSR at 21st, with 1.4%.

Talk station KABC-AM (790) held at 17th place, increasing from 2% to 2.1% in the fall.

Among shows in the important weekday “morning drive” period of 6-10 a.m., Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo on KSCA increased his lead atop the ratings, jumping from 6.7% of the audience in the summer to 7% in the fall. Again placing second was KFI’s one-two punch of Bill Handel and Rush Limbaugh, though they fell from a 5.9% audience share in the summer to 5.1% in the fall.

KLVE’s “Omar and Argelia” rose from fourth to third in the morning, despite maintaining a 4.9% share of the audience, because summer’s third-place finishers, Kevin Ryder and Gene “Bean” Baxter on alternative station KROQ-FM (106.7), dropped to fifth. Their audience share fell from 5.1% to 4.5%. KIIS’ Ryan Seacrest inched up from fifth to fourth, increasing his audience from 4.6% to 4.7%.

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Radio ratings

The area’s top 25 stations and their average share of audience as measured by Arbitron for the fall months compared with the previous three-month period.

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Quarter 1 KLVE-FM 5.0 4.9 2 KIIS-FM 4.7 4.7 3 KFI-AM 4.4 4.5 KSCA-FM 4.4 4.5 5 KOST-FM 3.9 3.7 6 KLAX-FM 3.6 3.2 7 KPWR-FM 3.5 3.7 KBUE-FM 3.5 3.3 9 KROQ-FM 3.3 3.8 KRTH-FM 3.3 3.6 11 KTWV-FM 3.0 3.7 KRCD-FM 3.0 2.9 13 KCBS-FM 2.8 2.8 14 KXOL-FM 2.6 3.0 15 KHHT-FM 2.4 2.2 16 KLOS-FM 2.2 2.1 17 KABC-AM 2.1 2.0 18 KBIG-FM 2.0 1.7 KNX-AM 2.0 1.7 20 KLSX-FM 1.7 1.9 21 KFWB-AM 1.4 1.3 KYSR-FM 1.4 1.9 KKGO-FM 1.4 1.4 KHJ-AM 1.4 1.5 25 KRBV-FM 1.3 1.2 *--*

The rating survey covers people 12 and older listening between 6 a.m. and midnight, from Sept. 20 to Dec. 12.