Perry and Price tops again in radio ratings
POSTED: Saturday, August 01, 2009
Morning radio hosts Perry and Price, the perennial programming powerhouses, again topped the latest radio ratings survey by Arbitron Inc., as did their radio home, KSSK, the rest of the day.
Ratings battles are still fought between stations on the format front, but since the loosening of ownership rules in 1996, battles are also fought between owners of station clusters.
Among the top 10 stations overall, Atlanta-based Cox Radio Inc., which does business locally as Cox Radio Hawaii, has four stations.
San Antonio-based Clear Channel Communications Inc., or Clear Channel Hawaii, has three stations, including top-ranked KSSK-FM and the dominant morning show hosted by Michael W. Perry and Larry Price.
Maui-based Visionary Related Entertainment LLC has three Oahu stations in the top 10, and California-based Salem Communi-cations Corp. has one.
Clear Channel's KDNN-FM 98.5, or “;Island 98.5,”; leapt to No. 2 in the morning from No. 9 a year ago. In April, Rory Wild and Gregg Hammer were moved from KIKI-FM 93.9, or “;Hot 93.9,”; where they were seventh a year ago, to join Crystal Akana. Lanai Tabura, one of her former co-hosts, left the station, while Junior Kekuewa Jr. still works for the company in a different capacity.
The No. 3 morning show, on KRTR-FM 96.3, got a new co-host in November. Steve Kelly and Sistah Sherry Clifton garnered identical audience share among the overall audience yet moved up a notch from No. 4 a year ago.
Talk-show host Rick Hamada jumped into the top 10 station rankings, gaining seven-tenths of a share point, but gaining share doesn't guarantee a jump in rankings.
Frank B. Shaner and Mandy gained three-tenths of a point yet are still tied for No. 6.
Ardent rockers were upset at the format adjustment to classic hits from classic rock at KPOI-FM 105.9, when harder-edged bands like Metallica were axed from the playlist. At the time of the format change, station officials said they wanted to bring more people under the tent. Now ratings are up.
Among formats, adult contemporary plays out as Honolulu's favorite, with four stations airing their own version of the grown-up and advertising agency pleaser.
The youth-oriented format known as CHR, for contemporary hit radio, and rhythmic CHR, which includes hip-hop, air on five of the top 10.
The lone standout in the overall top 10 is KHUI-FM 99.5 “;The Jewel,”; airing adult standards from Frank Sinatra to the Sinatra-sounding Michael Buble.
Honolulu radio ratings, Spring 2009
| RANK / STATION | SPRING 2009 RATING | SPRING 2008 (RANK) |
| 1. KSSK-FM 92.3 | 10.3 | 9.3 (1) |
| 2. KRTR-FM 96.3 | 5.9 | 6.0 (3) |
| 2. KINE-FM 105.1 | 5.9 | 7.1 (2) |
| 2. KDNN-FM 98.5 | 5.9 | 4.7 (6) |
| 5. KDDB-FM 102.7 | 4.7 | 3.7 (12) |
Mornings
| RANK / STATION | SPRING 2009 RATING | SPRING 2008 (RANK) |
| 1. KSSK AM/FM | 21.6 | 19.9 (1) |
| 2. KDNN-FM 98.5 | 5.9 | 3.8 (9) |
| 3. KRTR-FM 96.3 | 4.8 | * 4.8 (4) |
| 4. KINE-FM 105.1 | 4.7 | 5.8 (T2) |
| 5. KDDB-FM 102.7 | 4.6 | 3.5 (T10) |
* Co-host Steve Kelly succeeded Chris Reiser on the KRTR morning show in November.
Share is the percentage of audience listening (ages 12 and older).
Survey dates: April 2-June 24. Source: Arbitron Inc.
