Content provided in partnership with
Business Services Industry
Top radio stations: ranked by audience share, summer 2004
Los Angeles Business Journal, Nov 22, 2004 by David Nusbaum
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
THE Spanish-language market continues to show signs of expanding, with two stations catering to that audience jumping eight places in the ratings calculated by Arbitron Inc.
KPWR-FM (105.9) was the top-rated station in the market for the summer ratings, the 10th consecutive quarter it held that distinction. But both KLAX-FM (97.9) and KBUE-FM (105.5) jumped to the No. 2 and No. 13 spots this year, respectively. KLAX posted its eight-point move with a 1.4 .jump in audience share. KBUE's 0.5 percent gain in market share was enough to move it up eight points as well.
Those gains came at the expense of Spanish Broadcasting System's KXOL-FM (96.3), No. 14 last year. In declining to a 1.4 share of the market, the station fell off the list.
Only two stations managed to crack the Top 25. KRDC-FM (98.3, 103.9) moved into the No. 23 position this year and classical music station KMZT-FM (105.1) ranked No. 25.
THE PACESETTER
KPWR-FM (105.9)
KNOWN as Power 106, the station was the ratings leader for the 10th consecutive quarter, registering a 4.9 share for the period, down slightly from a 5 share in winter and spring.
KPWR is the first station to top the Arbitron ratings for 10 straight quarters since the mid-1980s.
"We launched the radio station in January 1986 with a skeletal staff of about 15 people," said Rick Cummings, founder of Power 106 and president of the radio division at current owner Emmis Communications. The station originally targeted black and Hispanic listeners. "We knew we had a hit when we heard it blaring from cars on Sunset Boulevard," he said.
Today the target audience is better defined. The typical listener is a third generation, assimilated Hispanic who speaks English and is college educated, a target demographic Cummings said has tremendous spending power and consumes heavily.
He credits the station's success to a staff that includes morning personality Big Boy, who Cummings said "was a star from the day he went on the air."
Power 106's advertising revenues exceeded $50 million in 2003.
Find Research Guides for:
Find Featured Titles for: Arts
Most Popular Articles in Business
- Research and Markets : Tesco Plc - SWOT Framework Analysis
- Do Us a Flavor - Ben & Jerry's Issues a Call for Euphoric New Flavors
- eBay made easy: ready to start an eBay business? These 5 simple steps will ...
- Katrina's lawsuit surge: a legal battle to force insurers to pay for flood ...
- Wal-Mart's newest distribution center opened last month near the southwest ...
- More »