Morning radio pair Perry and Price perch pre-eminently atop the pinnacle of pre- to post-sunrise programs proffered to the public, according to the latest Arbitron Inc. ratings for Honolulu.

Michael W. Perry and Larry Price are perennially No. 1 in Honolulu morning radio with their show simulcast on KSSK-FM 92.3 and KSSK-AM 590, which usually means the movement in the ratings has occurred among stations ranked No. 2 and below.

This time KDNN-FM 98.5, monikered “;Island 98-5”; for pronunciation's sake, tied for No. 2 with KINE-FM 105.1, which has been ranked among the top four stations for the past year and beyond. Both play island-inspired music. KINE leans toward more traditional Hawaiian music while its sister station, KCCN-FM 100.3, plays more contemporary tunes. KINE and KCCN once owned the very market share Island 98-5 was designed to go after.

A year ago, KDNN was No. 13 among listeners 12-plus from 6 a.m. to midnight Monday through Sunday. Its “;Lanai's Morning Madness”; show was rated No. 15.

“;We moved the morning crew from 'Hot' (KIKI-FM 93.9) to 'Island' and it performed as expected,”; said Chuck Cotton, vice president and general manager of the seven Honolulu stations owned by Clear Channel Communications Inc., based in Texas.

KIKI's former morning crew, Rory Wild and Gregg Hammer, had “;obviously outgrown that format, but it's such a great morning show,”; Cotton said. The decision was made to move the team to join Crystal Akana at KDNN, with a format aimed at an older demographic, “;and the entire station has performed better because of the move we made,”; Cotton said.

“;That change was made April 29. ... The change obviously resonated and it certainly helped us right out of the chute.”;

Morning ratings growth at KIKI, which plays primarily hip-hop music, is expected to “;take a little longer,”; Cotton said.

“;We took a very seasoned morning show off that station and replaced it with something altogether different.”;

It is hosted by Maleko, formerly of sister station KUCD-FM 101.9 (”;Star 101-9”;), Flash (Hansen, the nightclub event promoter) and the also-mono-monikered Natasha.

Cotton was the only radio executive who returned calls to discuss the ratings. However, the host of the new No. 5 morning show overall, sports-talker Bobby Curran, was surprised and happy to hear the news.

“;In a sports niche, that's almost beyond belief,”; he said, though his show traditionally garners higher ratings during UH Warriors football season.

“;It's really a tribute to how many sports fans there are in Hawaii,”; he said.

“;We have a tremendous sports culture,”; involving not just football, basketball and baseball, but water sports, junior golf and much more, he said. “;We have so many participation sports for the young people ... boys and girls, so I think the sports audience has expanded.”;

Curran has again been named Hawaii state sportscaster of the year by the North Carolina-based National Sportscasters & Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame. He also won in 2007 and 2008, according to the organization's Web site.

Arbitron conducts ratings surveys year-round in Honolulu and reports results quarterly.