• The Wall Street Journal, Thursday, September 17, 2009 9:22 PM

Radio programmers are now able to collect so much data about listener habits that some have begun fine-tuning their shows down to the second -- to the dismay of on-air personalities.

With two years' worth of data from Arbitron's Portable People Meter, program directors in some markets are figuring out the optimum ratio of talk to music, or how many commercials a listener can bear before switching the dial. Now, "we can specifically see when the tune-ins and tune-outs are," says Jimmy Steal, program director for Emmis's KPWR in Los Angeles. "I can sit down with talent and say, 'OK, I've got a log. Here's what you were talking about. Out of 30 meters, you lost 12.' "

In one instance, Steal decided not to invite back a guest after realizing the station lost listeners during each of his last three airings on the morning show. "He wasn't exactly a lightning rod for the meters," says Steal, declining to name the guest.

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