James Rainey's media column in today's L..A. Times explores the question of KCRW's recent big drop in the Arbitron ratings. After the service switched from listener diaries to meters that pick up the stations that listeners actually hear, KCRW's numbers fell from 539,000 weekly listeners in spring 2008 to 289,000 in the latest book. The station says the new "people meters" undercount the audience, but at least one industry expert suggests the old way overcounted the KCRW audience. Sources in the story say there is concern within KCRW, and speculate that the station may suffer some from eclectic programming that mixes music with news and talk. But all agree that the ratings don't measure KCRW's big online audience.

Longtime KCRW consultant Will Lewis has filed a complaint with the FCC about the new measurements. One of the station's theories is that its listeners are too young and mobile to agree to toting around the bothersome People Meter.

"You think our audience, going to the gym with their iPods and Nanos, want to take along this extra, cumbersome device they have to attach?" [general manager Ruth] Seymour asked incredulously....

Making all the number-crunching somewhat academic, at least for now, is the station's other bottom line. It has lost little, if any, appeal with subscribers, counting more than 50,000 of them. With corporate underwriting thrown in, the station raised a total of $12.5 million in the most recent fiscal year.

The key challenge will be similar to the one facing many media, including newspapers, [KCRW board member Steve] Lavine said. That is: finding ways to make money off the Internet audience.

Mixed media: Talk about mixing music and news, NPR reporter Ari Shapiro made his on-air singing debut with the band Pink Martini today on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic.

LA Observed on KCRW: Meanwhile, my own weekly segment on KCRW today talked about lessons for Los Angeles in Stuttgart, the livable city that I visited earlier this week. Listen or read it here