Juan Carlos Hidalgo

"Buenos dias, Los Angeles!" Taking his cue from Robin Williams' charismatic character in "Good Morning, Vietnam," KLAX-FM (97.9) morning drive-time deejay Juan Carlos Hidalgo awakens the city's Latino community at 5 a.m. with an amusing take on this greeting, which sets the humorous tone he takes with listeners for the next five hours. "People don't want to hear about problems and bad news first thing in the morning," Hidalgo, 27, says in explaining his lighthearted approach.

It's 6 o'clock on a spring morning at the cramped, slightly shabby Hollywood headquarters of KLAX-FM. "La X" (pronounced eh-keece), as it's known to listeners, is already humming with energy and the oom-pah-pah strains of the upbeat Mexican music that's called banda. The hub of activity is a small control room, adorned only with a utilitarian clock, two wallet-sized religious cards and a large map with U.S.

Hot-talker Howard Stern reclaimed the kingdom in the key morning drive-time slot for KLSX-FM (97.1), but Spanish-language KLAX-FM (97.9), the relative new kid on the radio block, retained its lead in the overall rankings for the third quarter in a row, according to Arbitron ratings released Wednesday. Although it maintained the No. 1 position, KLAX slipped substantially, from a 7.2 share of the audience during the winter quarter to 5.7% for the spring quarter that ended June 23.

Hot-talker Howard Stern reclaimed the kingdom in the key morning drive-time slot for KLSX-FM (97.1), but Spanish-language KLAX-FM (97.9), the relative new kid on the radio block, retained its lead in the overall rankings for the third quarter in a row, according to Arbitron ratings released Wednesday. Although it maintained the No. 1 position, KLAX slipped substantially, from a 7.2 share of the audience during the winter quarter to 5.7% for the spring quarter that ended June 23.

It's 6 o'clock on a spring morning at the cramped, slightly shabby Hollywood headquarters of KLAX-FM. "La X" (pronounced eh-keece), as it's known to listeners, is already humming with energy and the oom-pah-pah strains of the upbeat Mexican music that's called banda. The hub of activity is a small control room, adorned only with a utilitarian clock, two wallet-sized religious cards and a large map with U.S.

While the banda sounds of Spanish-language KLAX-FM (97.9) continued to draw the most listeners among local radio stations, alternative rock proved to be a huge draw for KROQ-FM (106.7), which registered its largest audiences ever, according to the quarterly Arbitron ratings survey released Wednesday. "I think that obviously this kind of music is hotter than it's ever been and it's becoming even more broad-based," said Trip Reeb, KROQ-FM general manager.

Proving its initial rise to the top of the charts earlier this year was no fluke, Spanish-language station KLAX-FM (97.9) again dominated the Arbitron radio ratings and also became the top-rated station in the hotly contested morning-drive time slot, according to quarterly figures released Monday. KLAX, which changed last August to its current format of contemporary ranchera music (the Spanish equivalent of country music), drew 7.

Humberto Luna, whose wild and irreverent style has made him one of the best-known Spanish-language radio personalities in Southern California, is jumping from KTNQ-AM (1020) to KLAX-FM (97.9), where he's expected to make his debut this morning. Luna, whose contract with KTNQ expires in August, presented KTNQ President and General Manager Richard Heftel with a letter of resignation Dec. 18, his last day on the air.

Spanish-language KLAX-FM's morning show continued as the most popular radio program in the latest Arbitron ratings survey released Wednesday, while the English-language competition changed positions in the runner-up categories. For the third consecutive quarter, KLAX's team of Juan Carlos Hidalgo and El Peladillo (Jesus Garcia) was top-rated in radio's most competitive time slot, and the station itself also ranked first overall.

Just eight months ago, President Obama was calling Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva "my man" and suggesting that the South American country could become a leading U.S. partner in the region. Since then, Brazil has criticized the U.S. approach to the coup in Honduras and warned the United States over plans to expand its military presence in Colombia. U.S. officials, for their part, have complained about Lula's increasing efforts to form economic and political ties with a leading American adversary, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"Buenos dias, Los Angeles!" Taking his cue from Robin Williams' charismatic character in "Good Morning, Vietnam," KLAX-FM (97.9) morning drive-time deejay Juan Carlos Hidalgo awakens the city's Latino community at 5 a.m. with an amusing take on this greeting, which sets the humorous tone he takes with listeners for the next five hours. "People don't want to hear about problems and bad news first thing in the morning," Hidalgo, 27, says in explaining his lighthearted approach.

Defying those who said its success was a fluke, Spanish-language ranchera station KLAX-FM (97.9) remains at the top of the ratings heap, making for a year of being in first place, according to the latest Arbitron figures released Tuesday. In contrast, the hotly contested morning-drive ratings race saw an upset with KLOS-FM (95.5) duo Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps jumping ahead of KLSX-FM (97.1) New York-based personality Howard Stern.

It is said that in spring, a young man's fancy turns to love. But, on the radio, a taste for love songs seems to have dominated the winter months, according to a local Arbitron ratings survey released Thursday. KLVE-FM (107.5), a Spanish-language station that recently retooled its format to focus heavily on romantic ballads, leapfrogged to the No. 1 spot during the period between Jan. 5 and March 29.