KLVE-FM, Dees in Morning Driver’s Seat

Whether fueled by nostalgia or simply returning to the tried-and-true, radio listeners have embraced a pair of former No. 1 morning-drive shows more heartily than they have in years.

According to quarterly radio ratings released Tuesday by Arbitron, veteran KIIS-FM (102.7) deejay Rick Dees was back commanding the airwaves as the top English-speaking morning host from March 30 to June 21, a position he hasn’t been in for four years.

And KLOS-FM (95.5) morning-drive team Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps, who had replaced Dees atop the ratings charts at one time but more recently have been also-rans, took a leap from 15th place to fifth.

Even Dees was outdone, however, by Pepe Barretto and Lupita Pena at Spanish-language station KLVE-FM (107.5), who attracted, on average, 5.2% of the audience each weekday morning.

Another former No. 1 morning man, Howard Stern of KLSX-FM (97.1), was tied for third with Ken Minyard and Roger Barkley of KABC-AM (790).

Dees and Stern have often taken potshots at each other on the air, but Dees was generous about his rival Tuesday. “I think Howard’s a very talented guy. . . . [But] it’s nice to look down and see his ratings, rather than look up and see his ratings.”

Helped by its strong morning showing, KLVE finished second in the station rankings from 6 a.m. to midnight, behind hip-hop KPWR-FM (105.9), which averaged 5.2% of the audience compared to KLVE’s 4.7%. KIIS was in third, followed by KROQ-FM (106.7) and KOST-FM (103.5).

KLOS jumped from 19th to 10th place, with a 44% growth in audience, after retooling its format to include alternative rock.

Spanish-language KLAX-FM (97.9), in first place for more than two years until the beginning of this year, dropped to ninth place with 3.4% share of audience, down from 6% a year ago.

The owners of KBUE-FM (105.5) got positive results from their format change last March, when hard-rocking KNAC went Spanish language. It climbed from 30th place to 23rd.