Holiday tunes give KOST a lift

Christmas came, the gifts got delivered, and KOST-FM got exactly what it wanted: another ratings win for the station in its 10th season of nonstop holiday music.

KOST, at 103.5 on the dial, is normally home to adult-contemporary hits such as Elton John, Kelly Clarkson, Madonna and others. But every year from mid-November on, the station flips to “White Christmas,” “Silver Bells,” “Deck the Halls” and the like. According to figures released Tuesday by Arbitron, KOST decisively won the year-end ratings battle, grabbing the top spot with an 8.5% share of Los Angeles-Orange County listeners 6 and older.

Far behind, in a three-way tie for second place, were hip-hop outlet KPWR-FM (105.9), top-40 KAMP-FM (97.1) and talk station KFI-AM (640), each with a 4.5% audience share.

“I love Santa!” proclaimed KOST program director Stella Prado, who said that the Christmas music reminds her of her childhood, and she suspects many listeners keep tuning in for the same reason. “It’s just the time of year for that special music. It’s so important for everybody — it just fits.”

The latest figures reflect listening habits from Dec. 8 to Jan. 4, Arbitron’s “holiday” time frame. The ratings service divides the year into 13 survey periods of four weeks apiece — one for each month, plus the holiday segment.

KOST started with the constant caroling on Nov. 13. But for the first time since it began the practice in 2001, the station had a substantial competitor: KTWV-FM (94.7) made the same switch two days earlier, and began calling itself “L.A.’s new Christmas station.”

The tactic looked like a failure for the smooth-adult-contemporary station when it dropped from 11th place in November to 14th in December. But “The Wave” surged back, finishing sixth in the holiday ratings with a 3.7% share. Both stations resumed normal programming Dec. 26.

“We’re really pleased with the holiday numbers,” said KTWV program director Jhani Kaye, who added that their listeners didn’t seem ready for the seasonal music until the weather cooled off a little more. After the poor December ratings book, Kaye said the station tightened its playlist, eliminating some songs that weren’t resonating with listeners.

“We simply looked at those numbers and we adjusted the music slightly, and it paid off immediately,” he said. “Christmas music is like top 40 — the hits are the hits, and the non-hits do not deliver.”

Kaye said KTWV learned from the experience, and will be ready to assail KOST again next Christmas. “We believe we had a better blend of music,” he said, “and definitely kept our vibe when it came to provide a soft and relaxing place to come and enjoy holiday tunes.”

KTWV also swelled its average weekly audience, unique listeners who tuned in for at least five minutes, from 1.74 million in December to 2.15 million. KOST still led all stations, at 4.31 million.

KOST did not fare as well as it did in 2010, a monster year for the station in which it won the holiday period with a 9.3% audience share, attracted 4.9 million listeners and won every part of the daily schedule.

This year, though, KFI — which normally dominates morning programming — held onto its title in the crucial 6-10 a.m. weekday slot. For the 2011 holiday period, KFI and its morning tag-team of local host Bill Handel and the first hour of Rush Limbaugh’s syndicated national show claimed a 7% audience share. KOST followed at 5.9%, while news station KNX-AM (1070) placed third, at 4%.

KOST nevertheless won the holiday battle for midday, afternoon drive, evening, nighttime and weekend listeners, continuing its dominance from the preceding month. Though down from 2010, the station’s numbers were more in line with its showing at the end of the year in 2009.

Prado said she’s still examining the results, and couldn’t say yet if KTWV stole listeners or if last year was the aberration.

“When there’s competition in the market, numbers do shift,” she said. “I’m still very pleased with our rank of No. 1.”

Pop station KIIS-FM, sister station to KOST, had been the market’s top-rated station for most of the past three years. But rival KAMP made a year-end run at KIIS, finishing only one-tenth of a ratings point behind the top-40 stalwart in December. Then in the holiday ratings, KAMP surpassed KIIS for the first time as the latter — an outlet for pop hits for three decades — slipped from third to fifth, at 4%.

KAMP, the onetime home of Howard Stern, switched from a talk format in February 2009 after poor ratings had the station languishing in 26th place.

“We’ve carved out our own unique position against many great stations,” while increasing the pop-music audience in Los Angeles, Kevin Weatherly, KAMP program director, said in a news release. “It’s very exciting to experience this type of growth in less than three years, in a market with such heritage brands.”

calendar@latimes.com