KIIS-FM Tops the Charts in Radio Revenue Production
Media
by Claudia Peschiutta
KIIS-FM (102.7) has once again been recognized as the top revenue producing radio station in the nation.
The L.A. pop station posted $61.3 million in revenues in 2001, surpassing the No. 2 spot by $5 million, according to estimates by BIA Financial Network Inc. That’s the second year in a row KIIS has earned the No. 1 spot on the “Top 10 Billing Radio Stations” list.
“They’re No. 1 because they do more of what’s called ‘non-traditional revenue’ than anybody else does,” said one industry source. Beyond selling airtime, stations can bring in ad revenues through such things as concert sponsorships.
Four of the remaining spots on the list went to other L.A. stations, including KROQ-FM (106.7), which came in No. 5 with $48.7 million, and KYSR-FM (98.7), ranked No. 7 with $43.9 million. KOST-FM (103.5) captured the No. 10 spot on the list with $40.5 million.
KPWR-FM (105.9) came in at No. 8 with $42.4 million and became the first urban-format radio station to make it into the Top 10. Owned by Emmis Communications Corp., KPWR was also the only station on the list not owned by media giants Clear Channel Communications Inc. and Viacom’s Infinity Broadcasting Corp.
Val Maki, Emmis’ senior vice president and L.A. market manager, credited KPWR’s sales and marketing staff for getting the station into the Top 10. “Further, it is a testament to the power of a station owning its position in the marketplace,” she said in a statement.
It’s surprising that five L.A. stations made the list, said Mary Beth Garber, president of the Southern California Broadcasters Association. “While L.A. is the No. 1 radio revenue (market) in the world, it is also the most competitive market in the world,” she said.
Fine Living
Scripps Networks will officially launch a fourth cable-television station this week for “active viewers who are passionate about making the most out of life.”
Fine Living, a 24-hour network based in L.A., targets upscale viewers with all original programming that includes “Breathing Room,” which offers instruction on how to make a home into a personal sanctuary, and “The Great Adventure,” a travel show. It’s the fourth network operated by E.W. Scripps Co.’s Scripps Networks, parent of The Food Network, Home & Garden Television and the DIY (Do It Yourself) Network.
Despite the recent slump in advertising spending, this is a good time to launch, said Fine Living President Ken Solomon. “A tough economy forces you to come up with a real idea,” he said. “The economy is down. Well, Scripps is taking a longer term view than one or two years.”
While he said the network will take a few years to become profitable, it will have more than two dozen “major blue-chip” advertisers at launch.
Dodgers Head Northward
The Dodgers have found a helping hand in enemy territory.
When the team takes on the San Francisco Giants on April 2, the game-day programs on sale at Dodger Stadium will have been produced by San Francisco-based httprint.
The team this month signed a three-year contract with the print production management firm to outsource the design, production and distribution of Dodgers Magazine.
“We’ve actually been looking for outside companies to help us from a creative standpoint for quite some time,” said Derrick Hall, the Dodgers spokesman. “It allows us to concentrate on the content itself.”
Dodgers Magazine puts out four or five issues a year.
More Trouble For NATPE
The National Association of Television Program Executives’ 2002 conference ended nearly two months ago but the problems continue.
The Santa Monica-based group is being sued by Park Place Entertainment Corp., parent company of the Las Vegas Hilton, which claims NATPE did not pay for all the facilities it had reserved at the hotel for its conference in January.
The company “has filed for relief in connection with NATPE’s contractual obligations to make hotel room payments to the Las Vegas Hilton,” said Park Place spokeswoman Debbie Munch. NATPE officials declined to comment.
The annual syndication event saw a major drop in attendance this year.
Weir Wants Out
Sportscaster Bill Weir said last week he isn’t planning to renew his contract at KABC-TV (Channel 7) when it expires in September.
Weir, a former morning news anchor in Chicago, joined the L.A. station in 1998 expecting to get a shot at doing a late-night talk show. After more than three years as a sports anchor, Weir has decided to leave KABC to work on a half-hour non-sports talk show pilot for USA Networks with a working title of “The Late Game.”
“(KABC) has provided a great opportunity for me in the last couple of years and I’m just up for a new challenge,” Weir said. He declined to comment further.
Ready To Rock
Rock the Vote is getting a little help from friends in its fight to get young people to the polls.
The L.A. office of public relations firm Porter Novelli International, ad agency TBWAChiatDay in Marina del Rey and others are helping the local nonprofit group get the word out about the November election. The effort will include a public service campaign and a 25-city tour.
“We all believe in their message and their goal,” said Sarah Evans, a Porter Novelli account manager working with Rock the Vote. “We all work with the demographic of young people. We all know how to reach them.”
Other partners in the Rock the Vote “Action Group” are DNA Studios and Squeak.
In Other News…
Entertainment reporter Lynda Lopez, sister of performer Jennifer Lopez, will join Sam Rubin and Mindy Burbano for the Academy Awards pre-show on KTLA-TV (Channel 5)… Radio talk show host Larry Elder of KABC-AM (790) was set to be roasted by Drew Carey, Buddy Hackett and others at the Friars Club of California on March 15… Ana Garcia, once part of the news teams at KABC-TV (Channel 7) and KNBC-TV (Channel 4), was appointed director of communications for L.A. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo… KCRW-FM (89.9) and KPCC-FM (89.3) will begin broadcasting National Public Radio’s “The Yiddish Radio Project” on Tuesday. The series, airing on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” looks back at the “Golden Age” of Yiddish radio (1930-55).
Staff reporter Claudia Peschiutta can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 229 or at
[email protected].
