Arbitron’s October ratings period for Sept. 17 through Oct. 14 includes a month’s worth of Texans talk and two weeks with John Lopez in his new morning slot alongside Marc Vandermeer. KILT’s morning drive share among men 25-54, the key advertising demo for sports radio, improved by six-tenths of a point over September while KGOW (1560 AM) dropped by a half-point.

That shift in audience share gave KILT a lead of three-tenths of a point over KGOW, one point over KFNC (97.5 FM) and 2.2 points over KBME (790 AM). KBME was down by just one-tenth of a point from September, indicating it was not mortally wounded by Lopez’s departure.

KILT also leads in middays, although by only two-tenths of a point over KGOW, which added Tim Brando’s Sporting News Radio show last month, and was up by six-tenths of a share point in afternoon drive to lead KGOW by 1.3 points.

For persons 12-plus, the only demographic for which Arbitron allows publication of specific figures, KILT improved by five-tenths of a point in morning drive to a 1.6 share to 0.9 for KFNC, 0.8 for KGOW and 0.2 for KBME. For the weeklong Monday through Sunday ratings, KILT led with 1.6 to 0.7 for KBME, 0.6 for KBME and 0.4 for KGOW.

“I’m so proud to say that in all three dayparts we beat every (sports) station, and I’m really pleased that our morning show beat (1560 hosts and 610 alumni John Granato and Lance Zierlein),” said Brian Purdy, general manager of CBS Radio Houston.

“Sports Radio 610 is back and stronger than we’ve been in a long time, and Gavin (program director Gavin Spittle) and his team are doing a good job.”

At KGOW, meanwhile, GM Richard Topper said, “We’re not going to get too high or too low regarding (ratings expectations) for any month. We’re pleased with our continued growth.”