LA Radio: Santa Makes KOST #1, KLAX Ratings Plummet

Figures released Monday by NielsenAudio showed that the AC KOST's annual switch to a holiday-themed playlist paid huge dividends, according to The LA Times.

Whereas KOST 103.5 FM had been in sixth place the month before with a 3.6 share of the Los Angeles-Orange County audience, it ranked No. 1 in the survey period that ran from Nov. 7 to Dec. 4, garnering a 6.3 share. More than 3.4 million people tuned in for at least five minutes each week.

Moving in the opposite direction were the morning ratings of Mexican music station KLAX-97.9 FM, which had been No. 1 for six months in a row but plummeted to 12th after host Ricardo "El Mandril" Sanchez was taken off the air in early November for reasons that station owner Spanish Broadcasting System has declined to make clear. KLAX's morning audience share dropped by 50% from the previous month, and the station's overall audience share was down 16%.

Kevin, Bean

Instead, Kevin Ryder and Gene "Bean" Baxter of alternative rock station KROQ 106.7 FM found themselves at the top of the heap in the key competitive period of 6-10 a.m. weekdays. They pulled in 5.2% of the audience. In the runner-up spot was talk station KFI-AM (640), which splits the time between local host Bill Handel and syndicated host Rush Limbaugh.

KIIS-FM (102.7), which had been No. 1 in the market for the last three months, dropped to No. 3 this time out.

The top 10 stations in terms of audience share were, in order, KOST, KBIG-FM (104.3), KIIS, KPWR-FM (105.9), KRTH-FM (101.1), KAMP-FM (97.1), KROQ, KFI, KLVE-FM (107.5) and KTWV-FM (94.7).

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25-54: KBIG...KOST...KIIS...KROQ...KPWR

18-34: KIIS tied KPWR...KBIG...KAMP..KROQ

18-49: KIIS...KBIG...KPWR...KOST...KAMP tied KROQ

Cume:   KIIS-FM 3,762,000...KOST-FM 3,462,500...KBIG-FM 3,370,900...KAMP-FM 3,113,900...KPWR-FM 2,685,500