KLVE rides silky Spanish sounds to a No. 1 ranking.

KLVE-FM 107.5 has an on-air promotion that says it all: In smooth Spanish tones, a chorus sings "Number one in Arbitron and number one in your hearts."

KLVE isn't shy about touting its No. 1 status in the ratings, perhaps because it is virtually unknown among L.A.'s English-speaking population - the group that controls most of Southern California's advertising dollars.

KLVE's studios can be found on the second floor of an Art Deco building at Hollywood and Vine - the same building that houses parent Heftel Broadcasting Corp.

Three Heftel radio stations broadcast from the building and a quick tour makes the company's ambitions clear: two additional on-air studios sit empty in Heftel's 20,000-square-foot suite.

"I don't want to discuss that right now," replies Richard Heftel, president and general manager of Heftel Broadcasting's L.A. stations, when asked whether the company plans to acquire additional stations to fill the two studios.

OK, but if the company does add local stations, will they broadcast in Spanish?

"Of course," Heftel replies.

Heftel Broadcasting, which purchased KLVE in 1986, currently owns 39 stations nationwide, all of which broadcast in Spanish.

Locally, it also owns KTNQ-AM 1020, L.A.'s first Spanish news and talk station, and it has an agreement to purchase KSCA-FM 101.9, which broadcasts from Heftel's Hollywood suite.

KLVE's ascent to the top of L.A.'s market began in 1994, when founder Cecil Hertel, Richard's father, took the Dallas-based company public. After that, Clear Channel Communications bought Cecil Heftel's majority stake. Richard Heftel remained with the company and was transferred to L.A. to run its two stations.

At the time, KLVE was barely pulling a 3 percent share of the L.A. market.

David Gleason, Heftel Broadcasting's AM programming specialist, did some research after Richard Heftel's arrival and concluded that the station's format - a broad mix of international Spanish hits was off base.

What listeners wanted was romance.

The station tightened its focus to concentrate more on soft Spanish love ballads. Artists like Julio and Enrique Iglesias and Luis Miguel, well-known balladeers, became the focus of the station. KLVE also began a marketing push complete with billboards and concert sponsorships.

As a result of the change, KLVE jumped from No. 11 on the Arbitron chart in 1994 to No. 1 in spring 1995. It's been there ever since.

George Nadel Rivin, a partner at North Hollywood accounting firm Miller, Kaplan Arase & Co., points to a number of other reasons why KLVE is leading the radio market.

"They provide programming that is on par with its general market competitors," said Rivin. "The only thing different is, it's in Spanish. Second, you have 6 million Hispanics in L.A. How many other stations that offer incredible sound and soft adult contemporary do they have to compete with?"

KLVE's biggest Spanish competitor is KLAX-FM 97.9, which plays a mixture of Mexican music, including Mariachi and Banda.

Although KLVE is the new darling of Spanish radio listeners, the station has been around for nearly 40 years.

Originally established in 1959 by the now-defunct PSA Airlines, it was purchased in 1975 by the Liberman brothers, who made KLVE one of the first Spanish radio stations to broadcast in stereo.

According to Gleason, it was the first all-Spanish FM station in the country to cover such a vast region, stretching as far north as Santa Barbara and as far south as San Diego.

"Bottom line, the programming works," said Gleason, when asked if any future changes are in the works. "The proof is in the Arbitron ratings."