KIIS-FM continues its domination of the L.A. airwaves

Fueled by the latest hits from such artists as Rihanna, Usher, the Black Eyed Peas and Nelly, KIIS-FM (102.7) continued its domination of the radio airwaves last month, figures from the Arbitron ratings service showed Wednesday.

The Top 40 music outlet, part of the Clear Channel chain, was the most-listened-to station in the Los Angeles-Orange County market in the survey from Oct. 14 to Nov. 10, a position it has held throughout 2010. At any given time, Arbitron reported, KIIS was pulling in an average of 5.6% of the audience, with nearly 4 million people tuning in for at least five minutes each week.

By contrast, runner-up KRTH-FM (101.1), an oldies station, averaged a 4.9% market share, with about 2.8 million people checking it out each week.

Rounding out the top five were adult contemporary station KOST-FM (103.5), talk station KFI-AM (640) and KAMP-FM (97.1), another Top 40 outlet. The same stations were in the top five in each of the preceding three survey periods, although some of the positions varied.

The only challenge for KIIS now is to see whether it can complete the year at No. 1. In recent years, KOST-FM has grabbed that spot with its all-holiday-music playlist, which began this year on Nov. 17.

KIIS’ popularity was apparent throughout the day. On weekdays, it placed second in the 6-10 a.m. block (behind KFI), fourth from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (when much of its audience is in school), then first from 3 p.m. to midnight. It was also first on weekends.

KFI remained the dominant talk radio station, averaging twice as many people tuning in each week as its closest competitor, KABC-AM (790), which ranked No. 30 in the latest listening survey of 62 stations. KFWB-AM (980) was 36th, KRLA-AM (1110) was 37th and KTLK-AM (1150) was 41st.

But KABC got a slight bump in its morning ratings with the return of Larry Elder, who rejoined the station Sept. 27 after an absence of nearly two years. KABC attracted 1.4% of the 6-10 a.m. audience in the most recent survey, compared with 1.1% in the previous four-week period.

Among public radio stations, classical music’s KUSC-FM (91.5) ranked highest, at No. 21, followed by talk-and-news outlet KPCC-FM (89.3) at No. 23. Music-and-news station KCRW-FM (89.9) placed 35th, while jazz station KKJZ-FM (88.1) was 40th, public-affairs station KPFK-FM (90.7) was 57th and pop music outlet KCSN-FM (88.5) was tied for 61st.

lee.margulies@latimes.com