Public radio's ratings game

Some good news (and job security) out of the recent ratings results for KCRW. First, the overall numbers, as reported by Jim Rainey at the LA Times:

General Manager Ruth Seymour of KCRW-FM (89.9) told me last year she didn't think much of Arbitron's new Portable People Meter. The meters counted just 289,000 weekly listeners for KCRW in August, well behind another public-radio fixture, KPCC-FM (89.3), which had 549,000. Though Seymour has retired, she owes me a "toldya." The most recent Arbitron report puts KCRW at 514,000 weekly listeners, right on the tail of KPCC's 544,000.

In addition, Public Radio International, which distributes KCRW's "To The Point," reported a 28-percent increase in ratings for the national syndicated talk show. The increase was largely due to WNYC in New York putting TTP back on the air, although there was growth in Washington and Dallas as well.