KOST-FM Still on Top of the Radio Heap : Ratings: Station maintains yearlong lead over more than 80 other outlets. KIIS-FM takes second place; KLOS-FM jumps to third place.

Southern California radio listeners have a taste for off-the-wall humor--a la Mark and Brian--in the mornings but still prefer more soothing sounds the rest of the day.

At least, that’s what the latest Arbitron ratings survey, released earlier this week, indicates. Soft-hits KOST-FM (103.5) continued to maintain its yearlong lead over more than 80 other stations. It showed a slight dip over the last three months though, from a 5.5% audience share compared to 6.6% for the summer quarter.

“I think we accurately reflect the lifestyle of the Los Angeles listener,” said KOST program director Jhani Kaye, who said the previous jump was unusual. “People have come to depend on us. They know what they’re going to get before they even turn the radio on. Once they turn the radio on, we don’t disappoint them.”

Analysts agree.

“Jhani Kaye has a better feel for the mood of the public as they go through their day and that’s what makes the station so successful,” said radio analyst Allen Klein. “It has a low-key comfortable sound. You can listen to it at work; it’s not going to intrude on your daily activities, but it’s not background music either and at night they play love songs. . . . It’s just packaged better than the others.”

The latest rankings, which covered the period from Sept. 20 to Dec. 12, showed listenership among people 12 and older remained relatively constant since the previous survey.

Contemporary hits station KIIS-FM (102.7) took second place, as it did in the last two surveys.

Jumping from fifth to third place was album-rock station KLOS-FM (95.5) whose Mark Thompson-Brian Phelps morning-drive program topped its competitors. The zany duo appear to have helped propel the station higher in the overall ratings, according to KLOS general manager Bill Summers. He also noted that though Mark and Brian have had the top-rated morning show for three consecutive ratings periods, the pair’s success has not come overnight; they have been on KLOS for 3 1/2 years.

A much quicker success has come to KKBT-FM (92.3), with a 3.5% share of the audience, up from 3%. “The Beat” attracted a lot of attention when it replaced longtime classical station KFAC in September, 1989. The station foundered in the ratings in its first incarnation as a rock station but seems to have found its niche with an urban contemporary format. It has steadily risen from 25th to 11th to its current eighth place.

“We refined the product,” said Liz Kiley, KKBT operations manager. “We went to mainstream urban contemporary and that was what listeners told us they wanted. . . . I knew that this station would win, we just had to find our area.”

Also noteworthy is the success of two Spanish-language stations that ranked in the Top 10: KLVE (107.5) at seventh, making a jump from 13th place, and KWKW-AM (1330) which ranked ninth, a drop from sixth.

“With there being so many stations in the market, I believe it’s a privilege,” said KWKW program director Alfredo Rodriguez. He attributes his station’s success to the large and growing Latino population and to the station’s style of highlighting personalities, similar to that of Top 40 radio in the 1960s.

Following Mark and Brian in the competitive morning-drive contest was KABC’s Ken Minyard and Roger Barkley. The longtime duo of Minyard and Bob Arthur split up in September when Arthur left to work with Alzheimer’s patients. Veteran radio personality Barkley replaced Arthur in October and the morning program, which has long placed in the Top 10, has retained its popularity.

KIIS’s Rick Dees, formerly the No. 1 morning personality, dropped to No. 3 in the latest survey.

Following is a list of the area’s Top 15 stations, followed by their ratings for the most recent spring quarter and the preceding winter quarter, as measured by Arbitron.

Each ratings point represents about 16,000 listeners.

AUDIENCE SURVEY

The Top 15 Stations Here are the area’s top stations, followed by their ratings for the most recent spring quarter and the preceding winter quarter, as measured by Arbitron.

FALL SUMMER 1. KOST-FM 5.5 6.6 2. KIIS-FM 5.1 4.9 3. KLOS-FM 4.6 4.1 4. KPWR-FM 4.5 4.3 5. KABC-AM 4.3 4.9 6. KBIG-FM 3.8 3.5 7. KLVE-FM 3.7 2.8 8. KKBT-FM 3.5 3.0 9. KWKW-AM 3.3 3.6 10. KNX-AM 3.2 2.6 10. KROQ-FM 3.2 2.6 11. KTWV-FM 3.0 3.0 11. KXEZ-FM 3.0 2.9 12. KFWB-AM 2.9 3.1 13. KMPC-AM 2.8 2.5 14. KQLZ-FM 2.7 3.5 15. KZLA-FM 2.5 1.6

SOURCE: Arbitron