Country music giant WUBE-FM (105.1), a top-three station for the past decade, was singing the blues when Arbitron's winter quarter ratings came in Thursday.

        B105 fell from second last fall to No. 10, just two places above upstart competitor WYGY-FM (96.5).

        In the 25-54 demographic sought by most advertisers, B105 dropped from second to ninth, losing nearly half of its audience, while WYGY-FM went to 10th from 12th.

        The former sister stations were split up when Clear Channel, owners of top-rated WLW-AM and WEBN-FM, acquired AMFM last year.

        B105 was sold to CBS' Infinity, which owns oldies WGRR-FM (103.5) and alternative rock WAQZ-FM (93.3).

        Salem Communications, primarily a religious broadcaster, purchased WYGY-FM in September, giving B105 its first direct competition in a decade.

        “Six months ago, people were taking bets that we wouldn't be around now,” says Terry Dean, a former B105 salesman who manages WYGY-FM and sports talk WBOB-AM (1160).

        WYGY-FM launched an aggressive TV campaign in October with a 10,000 song, commercial-free marathon. The station heavily promoted the fact that it plays more music and fewer commercials than B105. (Y96.5 airs eight spots an hour; B105's commercial load was nearly three times that amount.)

        “We're not just playing more music, but a better mix of music, artists from the '80s and '90s like Ronnie Milsap, Crystal Gayle, Kenny Rogers and Eddie Rabbitt.

        Mr. Dean promises that bigger ratings will not result in more commercials.

        “That will not go up. It doesn't need to,” he says.

        With B105 mortally wounded, Clear Channel was able to claim the top three spots in winter with WLW-AM, WEBN-FM and newcomer WKFS-FM (“Kiss” 107.1). It jumped from sixth to third, while Infinity's WKRQ-FM (101.9) fell from No. 11 to 13.

        Other ratings news:

        • WEBN-FM remained No. 1 in the 25-54 and 18-34 demographic, despite the Howard Stern show debut Jan. 4 on WAQZ-FM, which ranked fifth.

        WAQZ-FM's alternative rock format has doubled Channel Z's audience since last spring.

        • Susquehanna's tandem of WRRM-FM (98.5) and WMOJ-FM (94.9) made a very strong showing being tied for third in the 25-54 demographic, behind WEBN-FM and WLW-AM. “Mojo jammin' oldies” was sixth in the demographic in fall, while WARM98 was fourth.

        • Oldies WGRR-FM (103.5), which added 1970s tunes and dropped some '50s songs since January, bounced back to seventh place (from 10th last fall).

        • Urban talk WDBZ-AM (1230), which started its “Buzz” format in August, moved up to No. 18 from No. 22. Competitor WCIN-AM (1480) lost half of its audience, tumbling into last place (No. 28).

        Rankings: Here is Arbitron's ranking and audience share (percentage of listeners) for listeners age 12 and older for winter (January-March):

        1. WLW-AM, 8.7; 2. WEBN-FM, 7.3; 3. WKFS-FM, 5.8; 4. WRRM-FM, 5.7; 5. WIZF-FM, 5.6; 6. WMOJ-FM, 5.2; 7. WGRR-FM, 5.2; 8. (tie) WKRC-AM, WOFX-FM, 4.7; 10. WUBE-FM, 4.6;

        11. WVMX-FM, 4.3; 12. WYGY-FM, 4.0; 13. WKRQ-FM, 3.8; 14. WSAI-AM, 3.2; 15. WAQZ-FM, 2.9; 16. WHKO-FM, 1.0; 17. WCKY-AM, 0.9; 18. (tie) WDBZ-AM, WGTZ-FM, WPFB-FM, WNLT-FM, 0.7;

        22. (tie) WLQT-FM, WTUE-FM, WMMX-FM, 0.6; 25. (tie) WSCH-FM, WIOK-FM, WFCJ-FM, 0.5; 28. WCVG-AM, WPFB-AM, WBOB-AM, WCIN-AM 0.4

        Rankings for public stations will be released later this month.

        Liddy returns: G. Gordon Liddy's syndicated talk show, dropped in January 2000 by WKRC-AM, has returned to the Tristate airwaves on Hamilton's WMOH-AM (1450).

        Mr. Liddy's call-in show has been added “on a trial basis” live 10 a.m.-noon weekdays, says Bill Douglas, program director.

        WKRC-AM tape-delayed it in afternoons.

        To accommodate Mr. Liddy, WMOH-AM has moved Dr. Joy Browne to noon-3 p.m., with Mike Gallagher airing 9-10 a.m. and 6-10 p.m. Ken Hamblin remains at 3-6 p.m.

        Combs profile: Entertainment Tonight will replay highlights of Ray Combs' career on its one-hour show Saturday (7 p.m., Channel 12). The Hamilton comedian and former Family Feud commited suicide five years ago. He was 40.

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