Hour by hour in the ratings war

In the fight for radio ratings, the fiercest competition is among the morning shows -- but that's not to say the stations aren't scrapping and scratching for every audience member in every other part of the day. The latest Arbitron ratings figures, released Monday and covering the first three months of the year, show that different stations command different parts of the day, for a variety of reasons.

Mornings are important because, with a captive audience of car commuters, more listeners are tuned to the radio than at any other time of day, said Kevin Weatherly, program director at the alternative-rock station KROQ-FM (106.7) and classic rock KCBS-FM (93.1).

"Morning in L.A. is the most competitive market in the country," said Weatherly, who is also senior vice president of programming for Infinity Radio, parent of KROQ, KCBS and five other Southland stations. "We've got a lot of great personalities here."

And now first among them are Kevin & Bean, the morning hosts on KROQ.

Morning drive

The duo, Kevin Ryder and Gene Baxter, placed first among all listeners 12 and older during the morning time slot, 6 to 10 a.m.

They beat their usual rivals: Bill Handel on talk station KFI-AM (640), Big Boy on hip-hop station KPWR-FM (105.9) and comedian Steve Harvey on urban outlet KBBT-FM (100.3).

That group had always lagged far behind Renan Almendarez Coello on Spanish-language station KSCA-FM (101.9). But "El Cucuy," as Coello is known, opted to move to afternoons in February, enabling Kevin & Bean to become the first English-language morning show to take No. 1 since 1995, Weatherly said.

"He's obviously built an unbelievable following. They're trying to do everything they can to steal away his audience," Weatherly said. On Wednesday they were telling jokes in Spanish and offering advice to the lovelorn -- a staple of Coello's show.

"That," Weatherly joked, "is part of the public service that is 'Kevin & Bean.' "

Midday

Listeners from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. seem split between provocative rhetoric and easygoing music.

Tying for first place in the time slot was talk station KFI-AM (640) -- which features during that span the last two hours of Rush Limbaugh's program and the entire noon-to-3 p.m. run of relationship advisor "Dr. Laura," Laura Schlessinger.