Pittsburgh has two No. 1 radio stations.

In an upset during the latest winter Arbitron ratings book, longtime market leader news/talk KDKA-AM is now sharing top dog role with rock station WDVE-FM in a photo-finish tie at 8.7 share points.

While WDVE has dominated as No. 1 among different demographic groups, this marks only the second time that a station other than KDKA has been in first place among total listeners: WDVE edged it out in January 1992 for one ratings period.

WDVE took first place in the cumulative ratings, which are an estimate of the total number of listeners a station has for at least five minutes during a 15-minute period.

Several factors were at play. The survey period include the tail end of a highly suspenseful football season, which drew listeners to Steelers station WDVE for games and commentaries. Listenership spiked in December and January.

But at Clear Channel headquarters, the thinking is that the growth of talk station WPGB-FM is making a dent in KDKA's audience, says Clear Channel senior vice president of programming Gene Romano. WPGB has been growing since it launched, and the station moved to No. 5 among total listeners, up from a 10th-place tie a year ago. The top-rated Rush Limbaugh program moved from KDKA to WPGB in November.

"What we're seeing across the country is news-talk stations have been softening coming off the election, but WPGB had its best book ever, despite the hangover from the election," Romano says.

He notes that the total listener numbers aren't that significant to radio stations, because advertisers look at the ratings for segments of the audience, such as 18- to 34-year-olds and 25- to 54-year olds, when making buying decisions. More significant, he says, is that WPGB has surpassed KDKA among 25- to 54-year-old listeners. "But it's symbolic," he said of the KDKA-WDVE tie for first.

Keith Clark, vice president of programming for Infinity Pittsburgh, said that KDKA's replacing Limbaugh with syndicated Bill O'Reilly is having a short-term impact on the station. "Anytime a personality of that magnitude changes, there's going to be some shifting short term as the audience discovers what we have to offer." And, he adds, "KDKA is still a giant radio station -- and still No. 1, even if tied.''

KDKA held on to the top spot in morning drive. Howard Stern brought rock station WRKZ into the No. 3 spot, edging out WPGB's Jim Quinn, who was in third place in the previous ratings period.

Among 25- to 54-year-olds, the top 10 stations were: WDVE, WDSY, WZPT, WWSW, WPGB, WRKZ, WSHH, WXDX, KDKA and WKST tied for ninth, and WAMO. The top five morning shows for this age group were WDVE, WRKZ, WPGB, WDSY and WZPT.