KIIS-FM leads but KBIG-FM gains ground in Arbitron ratings

Though pop music station KIIS-FM (102.7) remained at the pinnacle of Los Angeles-Orange County radio last month, adult-contemporary station KBIG-FM (104.3) continued its assault on the top spot, according to June figures released Tuesday by the Arbitron ratings service.

Even though KIIS — whose top 40 playlist includes artists such as Katy Perry, Maroon 5 and Chris Brown — increased its share of the listening audience age 6 and older, its lead over second-place KBIG shrank in the June ratings period, which monitored participants’ listening habits from May 24 through June 20. While KIIS rose from 5.4% of all listeners in May to 5.5% in June, KBIG jumped from 4.6% to 5.1%.

Talk station KFI-AM (640) held onto third place, with the same 4.5% it had in May.

KBIG had been as far back as 11th place in November but soared to second last month, propelled by its “hot adult-contemporary” offerings that include numbers by many of the same pop performers as heard on KIIS. But its longer playlist also features the work of classic rockers AC/DC, crooner Michael Bublé and singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat, among others.

KIIS has been the top-rated station in the market for most of the past three-plus years. KFI has had some moments in the sun too, finishing first in October and November last year, and again from January through March this year. And adult-contemporary station KOST-FM (103.5), which annually switches to holiday music in time for Christmas, always dominates ratings as the year ends.

KIIS has rarely had another music station challenge its supremacy, other than when holiday programming throws the usual order of things into disarray. One exception was top 40 rival KAMP-FM (97.1), which switched from a talk format in February 2009 and immediately shot up in the ratings. KAMP, owned by the CBS Radio chain, even surpassed KIIS briefly at the end of last year.

KAMP finished sixth in June, with a 3.9% market share, up from seventh at 3.7% in May.

Again, except for the holidays, KIIS easily beats all other stations every month in cumulative audience — the number of listeners who tune in for at least five minutes per week. In June it led again, with 3.87 million, but KBIG tallied 3.35 million — the highest figure for any stations other than KIIS or KOST since KAMP had 3.45 million in July 2011.

KIIS and KBIG are both owned by the Clear Channel radio chain — so if the sibling rivalry continues, it could be a boon to their parent’s bottom line.

As usual, KFI kept a firm grip on morning drive in June, the weekday 6-10 a.m. period when stations hope to snag listeners and hold them for the rest of the day. The talk station features local host Bill Handel and then the first hour of Rush Limbaugh’s nationally syndicated show during that time, and they increased their already commanding lead, jumping from 6.5% in May to 6.8% in June, while second-place Ryan Seacrest at KIIS slipped from 5.1% to 4.9%.

The rest of the top five in the morning held their slots from the previous month, with Omar Velasco and Argelia Atilano, on Spanish-language pop-music station KLVE-FM (107.5), placing third, followed by Sean Valentine on KBIG and the team of Kevin Ryder and Gene “Bean” Baxter on alternative rocker KROQ-FM (106.7).

On June 13, near the end of the June ratings period, Mark Thompson announced his retirement from classic-rock station KLOS-FM (95.5), effective in August. He and partner Brian Phelps have anchored mornings there for nearly 25 years. The pair finished sixth at 3.4% in May, but slipped to ninth at 3.2% in June.

Also, this was the final full ratings month for Rick Dees at KHHT-FM (92.3), where the longtime L.A. fixture took over mornings in April 2011. Dees, who led the lineup at KIIS for more than two decades, until he left and was replaced by Seacrest, parted ways with KHHT on Friday. There he claimed 2.5% of the morning audience in June, good for a 15th-place tie and up from his May showing, 18th place with 2.3%.

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