I’ve been listening to KOLA/99.9 FM since I was in junior high school, about the time I figured out how to tune it in on my family’s Sonic Servant FM home intercom system.
At the time, it was an automated top-40 station; one of my memories of the time is when the automation system got stuck and the station played Paper Lace’s “The Night Chicago Died” something like 16 times in a row. Honestly, I don’t know how I was able to listen that long, but I did.
Today the station is a live, personality-driven oldies station. Or in modern vernacular, classic hits, as the term oldies is apparently a turn-off. Perhaps more accurately, as rock and roll spans so many years, the term oldies connotes the era of the 1950s and ‘60s, something KOLA (and LA competitor KRTH) shuns.
With the current format focussing on ‘80s and ‘90s hits, KOLA certainly found its niche: it has consistently been among the most popular stations in the Riverside/San Bernardino area for years. The latest Nielsen Ratings have it number 2 in the area; prior to that and at least as far back as January, it was the top-rated station in the Inland Empire.
Knowing of and following KOLA for four decades, then, I have no excuse to miss the fact that they, too, carry classic editions of American Top-40 mentioned last week. In this case, they carry recordings from the 1980s, every Saturday morning from 5 to 9 a.m. and Sunday nights from 7 to 11 p.m.
And if you can’t get enough of the ‘80s, KOLA features “Absolute ‘80s Weekends” that start Saturday mornings at 9:00 … immediately following AT40.
Through August 3rd, KOLA is giving away tickets to listeners daily to a weekly featured local theme park as part of their Summer Ticket Window. The window opens every weekday at about fifty minutes past the hours of 7:00, 10:00 and 11:00 a.m., and 12:00 and 3:00 p.m. Listen for the window to open; the 19th caller to the station wins the tickets.
Ratings
Not much change in the Los Angeles ratings since the last time I reported on them: KBIG (104.3 FM) won the most recent survey released July 10th with a 5.8 share of the audience, followed by KOST’s (103.5 FM) 5.6, KRTH’s (101.1 FM) 5.1, KTWV’s (94.7 FM) 4.5 and KIIS-FM’s (102.7) 4.3. These are roughly the same positions – and ratings – the stations held three months ago.
There were a few interesting results. For example, competitors KPWR (105.9 FM) and KRRL (92.3 FM) – both playing a similar format – tied in the ratings (along with KNX 1070 AM KLOS 95.5 FM and KXOL 96.3 FM) at 2.6. Alt 98.7 FM beat KROQ (106.7 FM) to take take the alternative crown, but just barely: 2.8 versus 2.5. And KPCC (89.3 FM) found itself in the top-10 – tied with KAMP (97.1 FM) for 10th place – with a 2.7 share.
KABC (790 AM) needs to give serious thought to making some major changes. The one-time talk format leader – the station originated the format in the 1960s – hasn’t broken a 1 share in quite some time; the June ratings found KABC at the bottom of the English-language talk format ratings at 0.4 … tied with oldies KSUR (1260 AM), a station that doesn’t even reach much of the city. I think it is time to consider a full-service format similar to the original KMPC (now KSPN, 710 AM). As it is, KABC was beaten by every other English-language general talk and sports-talk station in town.
The full story: Each rating is an estimate of the percentage of listeners aged 6 and over tuned to s station between the hours of 6 a.m. and 12 midnight.1. KBIG (5.8) 2. KOST (5.6) 3. KRTH (5.1) 4. KTWV (4.5) 5. KIIS-FM (4.3) 6. KCBS-FM, KFI (4.1) 8. KLVE (3.5) 9. KYSR – Alt 98.7 (2.8) 10. KAMP, KPCC (2.7)12. KLOS, KNX, KPWR, KRRL, KXOL (2.6) 17. KROQ (2.5) 18. KLAX, KRCD (2.4) 20. KKGO (2.3) 21. KBUE (2.2) 22. KSCA (2.1) 23. KXOS (2.0) 24. KUSC (1.7) 25. KDAY (1.5) 26. KJLH (1.4) 27. KCRW, KSSE (1.3) 29. KRLA, KSPN (1.1) 31. KLAC, KLYY (1.0) 33. KEIB, KKJZ (0.9) 35. KFSH (0.8) 36. KFWB, KKLQ (0.7) 38. KDLD, KWIZ (0.6) 40. KYLA (0.5) 41. KABC, KSUR (0.4) 43. KKLA, KWKW (0.3) 45. KTNQ (0.2)
Ratings are © 2018 Nielsen. May not be quoted or reproduced without prior written permission from Nielsen.
