Listeners kiss KIIS

The Winter 2006 Arbitron ratings are in and the verdict: It was a pretty bad ratings period for just about everyone, other than KIIS-FM, KCBS "Jack FM" and a handful of Spanish language stations.

By focusing more on hip-hop, KIIS jumped to first place (among listeners age 12 and over) -- while one-time powerhouse KPWR "Power 106" had its worst ratings in recent memories, settling for 12th place. Yikes!

Also down in the dumps was rival urban outfit KKBT "100.3 The Beat," which sunk to 19th place. Double ouch.

Meanwhile, KROQ also had its worst book in recent memory, slumping to 8th place. Must be the effect of "Indie 103.1" right? Wrong. We may love Indie, but listeners still aren't tuning in: The station is in 40th place. Out of 44 stations. Some of which aren't even meant to target Los Angeles.

The Reggaeton trend also seems to have waned: KXOL "Latino 96.3" was strong out of the box, but has now slumped to 12th place -- tied with Power 106, the station it that was first impacted the greatest by it.

Meanwhile, to no one's surprise, KLSX "97.1 Free FM" was hit by the loss of Howard Stern, posting the biggest drop from Fall of any station.

Big winners, besides KIIS, were the aforementioned Jack-FM, which rebounded to ninth place, right behind KROQ (which has clearly been hurt by its sister station).

Also, Spanish stations KLVE, KLAX, KSCA, KBUE and KRCD all posted solid gains. Could the current immigration debate be fueling radio listening (given the impact these stations have had on the local rallies, I'd say it's a possibility).

The top ten stations:
1. KIIS-FM (Top 40)
2. KLVE-FM (Spanish Contemporary)
3. KLAX-FM (Regional Mexican)
4. KSCA-FM (Regional Mexican)
5. KFI-AM (Talk)
6. KOST-FM (Adult Contemporary)
7. KBUE-FM (Regional Mexican)
8. KROQ-FM (Alternative)
9. KCBS-FM (Adult Hits)
tie KRCD-FM (Spanish Oldies)

A disclaimer: Radio stations sell demographics, not these "12+" ratings, which means they're fun to look at and for overall bragging rights -- but stations get much more excited if they win a particular demo, like adults 25-54.