Banner Year for L.A. Radio Stations As Revenues Soar for Many in 2002

By DARRELL SATZMAN

Staff Reporter

In what shaped up as a very strong rebound year for L.A. radio stations, total market revenues in 2002 were $956 million, up from $868 million the year earlier.

Increases in ad spending accounted for the bulk of the bump, which landed six local stations among the Top 10 stations nationally, according to figures released by BIA Financial Networks.

BIA, which tracks revenues at North American radio and television stations, surveys commercial stations and uses computer modeling to derive its revenue figures, which are widely quoted within the industry.

It was a welcome turnaround. After several years of steady gains, many local stations experienced steep drops in revenues during the 2001 advertising slump.

“To put it in perspective, revenue last year was double what it was in 1996,” said Mary Beth Garber, president of the Southern California Broadcasters Association.

It wasn’t just an increase in advertising spending that made 2002 a strong year, Garber said. An increase in off-air promotions and concerts has emerged as a relatively small but still welcome source of revenue for local stations.

“On a percentage basis it’s small, but a few percent of $900 million is still a lot of money and it’s good marketing for these stations,” Garber said.

The Los Angeles radio market, which includes 10 million listeners in Los Angeles and Orange counties, is second in size to New York, but it is consistently number one nationwide in revenues.

“The whole market was exceptionally healthy. After a slow start because of the effects of Sept. 11, we ended up doing gangbusters,” said Jeff Federman, director of sales for Emmis Communications Corp.’s FM stations KPWR (105.9) and KZLA (93.9).

“Auto manufacturers continued to spend, auto dealers kept advertising, the wireless companies were very active and the entertainment division was very healthy,” Federman said.

Clear Channel Communication Inc.’s KIIS-FM (102.7), held on to its top spot despite a modest decline in revenues in 2002. The $60.5 million generated by the Top-40 station last year, down from $61.3 million, caused it to slip from the No. 1 spot nationally, falling behind New York’s WLTW-FM ($65.1 million).

The second-ranked station in Los Angeles was Infinity Broadcasting Corp.’s KROQ-FM (106.7) with revenues of $53.9 million, up 11.5 percent over the year earlier. Emmis’ KPWR was the third ranked station in the market, posting revenues of $49 million in 2002, an increase of 13.1 percent over 2001.

In addition to KIIS, KROQ and KPWR, three other Los Angeles stations ranked among the Top 10 in revenues nationally in 2002.

KOST-FM (103.5) had an estimated $46.9 million in revenues, KYSR-FM (98.7) had $45 million and KKBT-FM (100.3) made the list for the first time with 2002 revenues of $44 million.

Revenue gains were seen across the dial, with many smaller revenue stations also doing well. Among the biggest winners were KWIZ-FM (96.7), a Spanish-language station owned by Liberman Broadcasting Co., which saw revenues increase to $5.2 million, a gain of 44 percent.

Christian broadcaster Salem Communications Corp.’s KRLA-AM (870) had $6.9 million in revenues last year, a 27 percent increase, and Lotus Communication Corp.’s KWKW-AM, was up 19 percent, to $10.1 million.