KJLH Los Angeles - Another Urban PPM Horror Story

"Radio Free" 102.3 KJLH Los Angeles blames the Arbitron PPM for part of its recent 37% fall-off in revenue and dip in ratings the station has suffered since the implementation of the PPM ratings system. KJLH general manager Karen Slade tells the L.A. Business Journal that there’s something wrong with falling from a diary-average 1.2-1.3 to a 0.4 in PPM. She says “We didn’t lose 100,000 listeners overnight. And when you tell me I’ve lost 70% of my market share, you’re putting me out of business.” Slade also says that PPM is forcing her to do more music and less of the talk and service programming KJLH is known for and layoffs are likely.

A 0.4 in Los Angeles (the most compeititive radio market in the country) is like a 0.6 in Atlanta, that's what V-103 (WVEE) in Atlanta scorced in the latest PPM for online listeners. So essentially more people listen to V-103 on the internet than there are people that are listening to KJLH over the airwaves according to Arbitron.

That can't be good news for station owner Stevie Wonder. No matter what, as long as Stevie owns the station, he will keep it local and community service oriented.