Ratings archive??

[LKellerIII]

Llew:
It was KLOS that made FM rock mass-appeal, playing a lot of hits (and a few key cuts) in stereo when KHJ was mired in Donny Osmond, Gallery, John Denver and Helen Reddy. It claimed the 18-34 year olds first (they were old enough to remember back in '67 or '68 when KHJ played what mattered)...and then the teens.
Of course, by the end of the decade KLOS got blown away by KMET, which still wasn't a tight-playlist operation...they succeeded on attitude.
And then came KROQ, which made its own hits.

---Michael Hagerty

I was long gone from LA by the time of KMET's resurgence, but in the Bay Area it was somewhat the opposite - The Mighty Met's sister station - KSAN was gradually overtaken in the AOR competition by the tightly formatted KMEL ("Camel 106"). Finally, Metromedia threw in the towel about 1980 and turned KSAN into a country station.

Interesting analysis regarding 70's and 80's rock radio. Rolling forward, one could say that it was KPWR that made hip-hop mass appeal. It did for hip-hop what KLOS did for rock.

KDAY deserves at least an honorable mention in making AOR more mass appeal. In 71-72, 1580 AM had transitioned from Top 40 to a AOR/Top 40 hybrid. Since most young people didn't have FM tuners yet - especially not in their cars - KDAY pulled some decent ratings - a little higher than KLOS in 71, but lower in 72 - according to what Michael has posted.