Top Ten Radio Ratings Tour

2

Clark-SmidtClark Smidt starts in the Big Apple and winds up in Boston with eight stops in between as he reports and dissects radio ratings results in America’s largest media markets. First station listed in iHeart’s WLTW-FM, which took top honors in New York.


New York to Boston: Top 10 Radio Markets – Results and Commentary
By Clark Smidt, Broadcast Connector
Last week brought a fresh blizzard of numbers: The February Nielsen PPM Markets posted for January 29 – February 25, 2015. While the majority of market stations subscribe, we’re still putting the puzzle together with missing pieces that don’t pay to play. After healthy review, here’s your printable RBR Scorecard & Color for 6+ total shares and Holiday/January/February trends. Top Ten Markets #1 New York, NY – #10 Boston, with California, Chicago, Texas and East Coast Majors, in between.

1. NEW YORK, NY. 6+ population 15,697,400. 49 stations, 69% Nielsen subscribers. Ethnic Composition: Spanish 23%, Black 17%.
1 WLTW Adult Contemporary iHeart Media. – 6.5; 13.5-7.4-7.0. #1 cume 5,265,400 leads the rest by 1.3 million; the only NYC A/C.
2 WCBS-F Classic Hits CBS Radio. Steady, 6.2-6.4-6.2. Classic Hits did well in this trend; CBS/FM leads Classic Rock WAXQ by 1.2.
3 WBLS Urban A/C Emmis Communications. Steady, 5.8-6.1-5.8. Good format to consider; leads iHeart Urban WWPR by 2.2.
4 WSKQ-F Tropical Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS). – 0.4; 5.6-5.5-5.2, tops 4 other Spanish formats including 2.5 over WXNY.
4 WHTZ CHR iHeart Media. + 0.2; 5.0-5.1-5.2, #2 cume and ahead of CHRs CBS WBMP 2.4 & Emmis Rhythmic WQHT 1.9.
6 WINS News CBS Radio. +1.4 on the PHNB, Post-Holiday News Bounce, to lead WCBS News 1.1 & non-com N/T WNYC-F 3.2.
7 WAXQ Classic Rock iHeart Media. + 0.9; 4.1-4.3-5.0. No other NYC Classic, except NYC owned Classical WQXR stuck at 1.0.
8 WKTU Rhythmic A/C iHeart Media. + 0.5; 3.5-3.9-4.0, leads both Hot A/C formats: CBS WWFS by 1.1 & Cumulus WPLJ 1.9.
8 WCBS News CBS Radio. + 1.0 on the PHNB; 3.0-3.6-4.0. All 7 NYC News/Talkers combine for a 17.2 total share.
10 WFAN AM/FM Sports CBS Radio. – 0.2; 3.9-4.5-3.7, beats up on New York’s only other game in town, ESPN WEPN-F by 2.5.
11 WWPR Urban iHeart Media. + 0.2; 3.4-3.9-3.6. All Urban oriented formats combine for 9.6.
12 WQHT Rhythmic-CHR Emmis Communications. + 0.3; 3.0-2.8-3.3. Big Apple Anglo CHR formats take an 11.3 share.
13 WWFS Hot A/C CBS Radio. Flat. 2.9-2.8-2.9, leading Cumulus Hot A/C WPLJ by 0.8.
13 WNYC-F News/Talk NYC Broadcasting Foundation. + 0.6; 2.3-2.7-2.9. The three NYC public stations score 4.4.
15 WBMP CHR CBS Radio. – 0.1; 2.9-3.1-2.8.
16 WXNY Spanish CHR Univision Radio. Flat, 2.8-2.7-2.8-2.7. SBS Spanish Hits WPAT-F just 0.3 back. Spanish WADO is at 0.7.
17 WPAT/FM Spanish Hits SBS. + 0.5; 1.9-2.3-2.4. First FM station I ever heard, as Beautiful Music. Total Spanish shares: 5.9.
18 WPLJ Hot A/C Cumulus Media. + 0.2; 1.9-1.9-2.1.
19 WABC Talk Cumulus. + 0.3; 1.5-1.6-1.8, leads #20 Townsquare NJ Talk WKXW 1.2-1.2-1.5, WOR at 1.4 & N/T WNYC 0.5.
21 WOR Talk iHeart Media. + 0.3; 1.1-1.2-1.4. Rambling without Gambling.
22 WNSH Country Cumulus Media. Sits, 1.3-1.5-1.3. Can’t seem to grab those Urban Cowboys and no other NYC Country format.
23 WEPN-F Sports ESPN. – 0.1; 1.3-1.4-1.2. 5 major league teams take away interest in non-New York sports.
24 WQXR-F Classical WNYC Foundation. + 0.1; 0.9-0.9-1.0.
Non Commercial: Adult Alternative Fordham University WFUV 0.7; Newark Public Jazz WBGO 0.6.
Largest Trend Swings: + 1.4 News WINS, + 1.0 News WCBS; – 6.5 Adult Contemporary WLTW, – 0.4 Tropical WSKQ-F.
Holiday/Jan/Feb Shares: iHeart 26.8-25.8-26.2; CBS 24.4-26.2-24.7; Emmis 8.5-9.1-9.1; SBS 7.6-7.-7.6; Cumulus 5.1-5.0-5.2.

2. LOS ANGELES, CA. 10,860,300. 65 stations, 65% subscribe. Spanish 43%, Black 7%.
1 KOST Adult Contemporary iHeart. -7.0; 12.2-5.6-6.2. Just 4 A/C’s in LA; Hot KBIG, Smooth KTWV, Urban KJLH.
1 KIIS/KVVS CHR iHeart. + 0.6; 4.6-5.0-5.2, tops CBS CHR KAMP 0.9 & Emmis Rhythmic-CHR 2.6. Top 4 within 0.2.
3 KRTH Classic Hits CBS Radio. +0.8; 4.3-4.6-5.1, exclusive Classic Hits takes Bonneville’s Classic Rock KSWD by 1.4.
4 KBIG Hot A/C iHeart Media. + 0.3; 4.7-4.6-5.0. The 4 LA A/C oriented formats total 14.0.
5 KAMP-F CHR CBS Radio. + 0.3; 4.0-4.9-4.3, the 3 Anglo stations with CHR in their name combine for a 13.8 share.
6 KLVE Romantica Univision Radio. + 0.4; 3.5-3.5-3.9, leads 9 Spanish formats, including SBS Reg. Mexican KLAX/FM 1.4.
7 KCBS/FM Adult Hits CBS Radio. + 0.8; 3.0-3.2-3.8, many ways to execute; excellent when done right. LA Exclusive.
8 KSWD Classic Rock Bonneville / KSL. + 0.8; 2.9-3.4-3.7, gains momentum beating Cumulus Classic Rock KLOS by 1.7.
9 KPWR Rhythmic CHR Emmis Communications. – 0.2; 3.8-4.0-3.6.
10 KFI Talk iHeart Media. – 0.1; 3.3-3.4, now #1 in the LA 7 station News/Talk derby.
11 KNX/KNX-HD2 News CBS Radio. -0.1; 3.2-3.4-3.1, bucks the bounce, slips to 2nd News/Talker, as exclusive All-News.
11 KROQ Modern Rock CBS Radio. + 0.5; 2.6-2.9-3.1, now ahead of iHeart Modern Rock KYSR/KSRY by 0.7.
13 KTWV Smooth A/C CBS Radio. + 0.2; 2.4-2.3-2.6.
14 KRRL Urban iHeart Media. Flat, 2.5-2.6-2.5, and jumps Meruelo R&B Oldies KDAY/KDEY by 1.4.
14 KLAX-F Regional Mexican SBS. – 0.1; 2.6-2.5-2.5, leads Reg.Mex. amigos Univision KSCA 0.4 & Liberman KBUE 0.5.
14 KPPC News/Talk Southern Cal. Public Radio. + 0.4; 2.1-2.5-2.5, leads Santa Monica College non-comm N/T KCRW 1.1.
17 KYSR/KSRY Modern Rock iHeart. Flat, 2.4-2.5-2.4. Combined with CBS KROQ, LA scores 5.5 with Modern Rock.
17 KLYY/KDLD/KDKE Spanish Adult Hits Entravision. Also flat, 2.4-2.4-2.4.
19 KRCD/KRCV Spanish Adult Hits Univision. + 0.1; 2.2-2.4-2.3, just that hair behind the same format on KLYY.
19 KKGO Country Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasters. +0.5; 1.8-2.3-2.3, still the Country Lone Ranger. Mt. Wilson Jazz KKJZ 0.9.
20 KSCA Regional Mexican Univision Radio. Flat. 2.1-2.4-2.1. Univision Spanish N/T KTNQ posts 0.3.
21 KUBE/KEBN/KBUA Regional Mexican Liberman. Flat at 2.0. Lieberman partner Ranchero KWIZ, flat 1.3.
21 KLOS Classic Rock Cumulus Media. + 0.2; 1.8-2.0-2.0
23 KXOL-F Spanish CHR SBS. – 0.4; 1.9-2.3-1.9 vs. Entravision Spanish CHR 1.4.
24 KUSC Classical University of Southern California 1.8, exclusive.
Sports: ESPN KSPN 1.1; iHeart KLAC 0.5; CBS KFWB 0.1; LAA 1 KLAA 0.1.
Inspirational: Salem Media Christian KSFH-F 1.0; Salem Media Religious Teaching 0.7.
Talk: iHeart KEIB 0.7; Cumulus KABC 0.6; Salem Media KRLA 0.6; Pacifica Foundation KPFK 0.1.
Big Swings: + 0.8 Classic Hits KRTH, Adult Hits KCBS-F & Classic Rock KSWD; – 7.0 A/C KOST, – 0.2 Rhy-CHR KPWR.
Holiday/Jan/Feb Cluster Shares: CBS 19.2-20.3-22.8, iHeart 27.7-25.0-20.6, Univision 8.1-8.6-8.6, SBS 4.5-4.8-4.4.

3. CHICAGO, IL. 7,819,200. 78 stations, 53% subscribe. Spanish 20%, Black 18%.
1 WBBM/WCFS News CBS Radio. +1.7; 5.7-7.2-7.4. Moves up to 4th cume, leads 4 other News/Talkers.
2 WAVZ Urban A/C iHeart. -0.4; 6.7-6.2-6.3, beats Urbans iHeart WGCI 3.0, Crawford’s WPWX 4.4 & A/C WSRB 5.6.
3 WTMX Hot A/C Hubbard Broadcasting. + 1.1; 4.1-5.2-5.2, leading iHeart Hot A/C WLIT/FM by 1.1.
4 WKSC-F CHR iHeart Media. + 0.4; 3.8-4.0-4.2, #1 cume at 2.34 million, just 0.3 up on CBS Rhyth-CHR WBBM- F.
5 WLIT/FM Hot A/C iHeart. – 10.1; 14.2-4.5-4.1, so much for holiday fun; next Hot A/C is Digity WXLC at 0.8.
6 WBBM-F Rhythmic CHR CBS Radio. + 0.2; 3.7-3.9-3.9, evolves into exclusive format; retains 2.18 million #2 cume.
7 WLS-F Classic Hits Cumulus Media. + 1.1; 2.6-3.3-3.7. Format Fight: Hubbard “Drive” off just 0.2, CBS WJMK by 0.8.
8 WDRV/WWDV Classic Hits Hubbard Broadcast. + 0.5; 3.0-3.3-3.5. Nicely rare for 3 Classic Hits with total share 10.1.
9 WGCI-F Urban iHeart. – 0.6; 3.9-3.4-3.3, ahead of Urban WPWX by 1.4, Urban A/C WSRB by 2.6 and two Gospels.
9 WOJO Regional Mexican Univision. + 0.2; 3.1-3.3-3.3, tops SBS Reg. Mexican WLEY-F 0.8 & 2 Univision formats.
11 WGN Talk Tribune Media. +0.3; 2.8-3.5-3.1, 2nd of 4 News/Talkers, 0.5 over Chi. Public WBEZ, 1.9 on Cumulus WLS.
11 WKQX Modern Rock Cumulus Media. Flat, 3.1-3.3-3.1, as Chicagoland’s only Modern Rocker.
13 WXRT Adult Alternative CBS Radio. + 0.5; 2.5-3.4-3.0, as Chicagoland’s only AAA.
14 WJMK Classic Hits CBS Radio. + 0.6; 2.3-2.8-2.9, all 3 Classic Hits stations increased and now separated by just 0.8.
15 WSCR Sports CBS Radio. + 0.1; 2.7-3.4-2.8, holds a 1.5 advantage on lone Sports competitor WMVP.
15 WUSN Country CBS Radio. + 0.2; 2.6-3.3-2.8. iHeart Country WEBG 1.6-1.0-1.7; Digity Country WCCQ at 0.5.
17 WBEZ/WBEQ News/Talk Chicago Public Media. + 1.1; 1.5-2.3-2.6, another post-holiday news bounce beneficiary.
18 WLEY-F Regional Mexican Spanish Broadcasting System. + 0.7; 1.8-2.3-2.5. Chicago’s Spanish share total: just 5.6.
19 WSHE A/C Hubbard, changing from WILV. +-0.3; 2.5-2.2-2.2. Rebrands for her as the only A/C.
20 WPPN Spanish Hits Univision. +0.4; 1.7-2.1-2.1; Univision Spanish Urban WVIV-F/WVIX holds at 1.0.
21 WPWX Urban Crawford Bcst. – 0.3; 2.2-2.2-1.9, Urban A/C WSRB 0.7, Gospel WYCA 0.1; iHeart Gospel WGRB 1.0.
21 WLUP-F Classic Rock Cumulus. – 0.2; 2.1-2.1-1.9. Rock: Digity WIIL 0.9; Matrix Classic Rock 0.2.
A/C: Digity Hot WXLC 0.8; Matrix WZSR 0.7; Digity WSSR 0.6.
Etc: Moody Bible Religious Teaching WMBI-F 0.6; College of DuPage Jazz WDCB 0.3. Weigel Bcst. Talk WRME-F 0.1.
Swings: + 1.7 News WBBM/WCFS, 1.1 each Hot A/C WTMX, Classic Hits WLS-F, News/Talk WBEZ; – 10.1 Hot A/C WLIT-F, – 0.6 Urban WGCI.
Shares: CBS 21.2-24.0-22.8, iHeart 25.5-20.3-20.6, Hubbard 10.2-10.7-8.7, Cumulus 8.2-9.8-9.9, Univision 6.2-6.6-6.4.

4. SAN FRANCISCO, CA. 6,131,500. 49 stations, 69% subscribe. Spanish 22%, Black 7%.
1 KCBS/KFRC-F News/Talk CBS. + 0.5; 6.1-7.4-6.6, leads public News/Talk KQED 2.6; Cumulus News KGO 4.6.
2 KOIT A/C Entercom. – 5.9; 10.6-4.8-4.7, but keeps #1 cume 1,543 million and leads Digity A/C KBAY by 2.9.
3 KLLC Hot A/C CBS. + 1.1; 3.3-4.1-4.4, takes iHeart Hot A/C KIOI by 0.7 and Digity Hot A/C KEZR by 1.6.
4 WMVQ-F CHR CBS. + 0.8; 3.5-4.2 scores a lead of 0.8 over Rhythmic CHR KYLD.
5 KMEL Urban iHeart. – 0.3; 4.4-3.9-4.1, taking Urban A/C KBLX by 1.2.
6 KQED, Inc. News/Talk KQED – 0.3; 4.1-4.6-4.0. The 6 SF News/Talkers total 15.3.
7 KBRG Spanish Adult Univision. + 0.2; 3.7-3.9-3.9, leads Regional Mexicans KSOL/KSQL 1.3, KRZZ by 2.4.
8 KIOI Hot A/C iHeart. – 0.1; 3.8-4.4-3.7, giving the 3 Hot A/C formats a 9.9 total share.
8 KNBR Sports Cumulus. + 0.1; 3.6-4.3-3.7, tops sports leading Entercom KGMZ/KGMZ-HD2 by 2.4.
8 KISQ Rhythmic Oldies iHeart. +0.4; 3.1-3.4-3.5, and ranks just ahead of iHeart Rhythmic-CHR KLYD by 0.2.
11 KYLD Rhythmic CHR iHeart. + 0.4, 3.1-3.4, 3.5.
12 KDFC/KXSC/KOSC Classical University Southern California. – 0.1; 3.1-2.8-3.0, the only symphony provider.
13 KBLX Urban A/C Entercom. – 0.3; 3.2-2.7-2.9, leads Entercom Rhythmic A/C KRBQ by 1.4.
14 KSOL/KSQL Regional Mexican Univision. + 0.3; 2.3-2.4-2, tops format over SBS KRZZ 1.0 & Lazer KXZM by 1.9.
15 KOSF Classic Hits iHeart. + 0.8; 1.7, 2.4-2.5, leading Classic Rockers Cumulus KSAN by just 0.2, Entercom KUFX 1.0.
16 KITS Modern Rock CBS. +0.4; 2.0-2.2-2.4, the only one in the format
17 KFOG/KFFG Adult Alternative Cumulus. + 0.4; 1.9-2.3-2.3, the only AAA in San Francisco.
18 KSAN Classic Rock Cumulus. + 0.4; 1.8-2.1-2.2, stays ahead of Entercom Classic Rock KUFX, 0.7.
19 KBAY Adult Contemporary Digity. – 1.0; 2.8-2.2-1.8, beats 3 Alpha A/C’s KUIC, KKIQ & KKDV that total 1.5.
19 KGO News Cumulus.1.8-1.9-1.8; Cumulus Talk KSFO 1.7; iHeart Talk KKSF 0.9; SF Unified N/T KALW 0.3.
22 KSJO Cumulus Country 0.8.
Swings: + 1.1 Hot A/C WLLC, + 0.8 each CHR WMVQ, Rhy Oldies KISQ, Class Hits KOSF; – 5.9 A/Cs KOIT, – 1.0 KBAY.
Clusters: iHeart 19.3-17.8-18.4, CBS 15.3-17.9-17.7, Cumulus 13.3-13.7-12.9, Entercom 12.8-11.2-11.9.

5. DALLAS, TX. 5,301,200. 68 stations, 56% subscribe. Spanish 26%, Black 16%.
1 KHKS CHR iHeart. + 1.2; 6.7-7.8-7.9, #1 share, #1 cume 1.962 million & 319,000 lead; only market CHR.
2 KLTY Christian Salem Communications. – 0.4; 5.5-5.6-5.1, higher calling over First Dallas Christian KCBI 3.4.
3 KDMX Hot A/C iHeart. + 1.0; 3.9-4.8-4.9, #2 cume and a 2.2 share lead over CBS Hot A/C KVIL.
4 KPLX Country Cumulus. – 0.2; 5.0-4.8-4.8, now 1.2 up on Cumulus Country KSCS; just two in Big D Country.
5 KLUV Classic Hits CBS. – 4.3; 8.8-4.2-4.5, in holiday recovery mode & 0.7 over iHeart Classic Rock KZPS.
6 KRNB Urban A/C Service Broadcast. + 0.7; 3.3-3.1-4.0, Urban partner KKDA-F 0.2 back. Cumulus KLIF-F 1.9.
7 KZPS Classic Rock iHeart. – 0.2; 4.0-3.9-3.8, just two stations in the Classic category and no Classical.
7 KKDA-F Urban Service Broadcasting. + 0.1; 3.7-3.7-3.8, The 3 Dallas Urban formats total 9.7.
9 KSCS Country Cumulus. – 0.7; 4.3-3.8-3.6, as the 2 Dallas Country FMs total just 8.4.
10 KEGL Rock iHeart. + 0.1; 3.3-3.3-3.4, leads partner iHeart Rock WDGE by 1.0, the 2 Rockers combine at 5.8.
11 KBFB Rhythmic-CHR Radio One. – 0.2; 3.3-3.2-3.1. Exclusive Rhym. CHR genre is 3.8 behind CHR KHKS.
12 KLNO Regional Mexican Univision Radio. Flat, 2.9-3.1-2.9, #1 of 6 Regional Mexican formats; all total 12.1.
13 KSOC/KSOC-HD2 Rhythmic Oldies Radio One. – 0.4; 3.2-2.6-2.8, down 1.7 from CBS Classic Hits KLUV.
14 KVIL Hot A/C CBS. + 0.5; 2.2-3.1-2.7.
14 KRLD News/Talk CBS. +0.6; 2.1-2.8-2.7, leads 5 News/Talk formats; North Texas Public KERA is 0.3 back.
16 KMVX Regional Mexican CBS. + 0.3; 2.3-2.4-2.6, and ranks 2nd of 6 Regional Mexican competitors.
17 KJKK Adult Hits CBS. + 0.7; 1.8-2.0-2.5, nice rebound sound in exclusive format territory.
18 KDGE Rock iHeart. – 0.1; 2.5-2.6-2.4.
18 KERA News/Talk North Texas Public. + 0.4; 2.0-2.3-2.4; North Texas Public Adult Alternative KXXT at 0.9.
20 WBAP News/Talk Cumulus. + 0.3; 1.7-1.7-2.0.
21 KLIF-F Urban Cumulus. – 0.3; 2.2-2.0-1.9.
22 KCBI Christian First Dallas Media. + 0.4; 1.3-1.8-1.7; SW Adventist University Christian 0.1. Format total 6.9.
22 KNOW Regional Mexican Liberman Broadcast. 1.7, co-owned KZZA 1.6, KBOC 1.2. Univision Reg.Mex. KFZO 1.1.
Univision Spanish Hits KDXX/KESS 1.3, Univision Spanish News/Talk, no show.
Sports: Cumulus WTCK 1.6, CBS KRLD-F dives 2.4-2.5-1.4, Cumulus KESN 1.3. Sports Total: 4.3.
News/Talk: Salem Talk KSKY 0.5, Cumulus N/T KLIF/KLIF-HD2 at 0.3, iHeart KFXR Talk is 0.1.
Swings: + 1.2 CHR KHKS, + 1.0 Hot A/C KDMX; – 4.3 Classic Hits KLUV, – 0.7 Country KSCS.
Clusters: iHeart 21.6-22.4-22.5, CBS 17.1-17.0-16.4, Cumulus 17.2-16.0-15.5, Service Broadcasting 6.9-6.8-7.8.
6. HOUSTON, TX. 5,025,800. 61 stations, 54% subscribe. Spanish 34%, Black 18%.
1 KODA Soft A/C iHeart. – 5.6; 12.5-7.1-6.9, tied for #1 and leads #1 cume by 791,000 at 2.206 million.
1 KMJQ Urban A/C Radio One. + 0.3; 6.6-6.6-6.9, gets part of the prize and leads iHeart Urban KQBT by 3.6.
3 KLTN Regional Mexican Univision. + 0.9; 5.4-5.8-6.3, tops 5 Regional Mexican formats & KTJM/KJOJ by 3.0.
4 KSBJ/KUBU Christian KSBJ Ed Foundation. +1.3; 4.5-5.6-5.8, and corners the inspirational market.
5 KGLK/KHPT Classic Hits Cox Media. + 0.6; 4.8-5.3-5.4, is the only game in town.
6 KKBQ Country Cox Media. + 0.7; 4.6-5.7-5.3, leads CBS Country KILT 1.4 & Cox Classic Ctry KTHT 3.3.
7 KTBZ-F Modern Rock iHeart. + 0.7; 4.4-5.1-5.1, has the format exclusive.
8 KBXX Rhythmic-CHR Radio One. – 0.1; 4.7-4.6-4.6, now up on Radio One Rhythmic Oldies KROI by 2.9.
9 KILF-F Country CBS. + 0.6; 3.3-3.5-3.9, making the 3 station total Houston Country share 11.2.
10 KTRH News/Talk iHeart. – 0.3; 4.0-3.9-3.7, retains top news status, 1.7 over U Houston News/Talk KUHF.
10 KQBT Urban iHeart. – 0.1; 3.8-3.3-3.7, include Urban KMJQ & Rhythmic Oldies KROI, Urban Totals 12.3.
12 KKHH CHR CBS. + 0.7; 2.9-2.6-3.6, now 0.2 ahead of Cumulus CHR KRBE.
13 KRBE CHR Cumulus. + 0.5; 2.9-3.5-3.4, including Rhythmic-CHR KBXX the CHR format combines at 11.6.
13 KLOL Spanish Hits CBS. + 0.5; 2.9-3.4-3.4, ties Univision Adult Hits KOVE-F & tops Spanish KAMA 1.0.
15 KOVE-F Spanish Adult Hits Univision. – 0.1; 3.3-3.5-3.2, Univision Spanish News/Talk KLAT is 0.1.
16 KHMX Hot A/C CBS. + 0.4; 2.7-3.0-3.1, to score the #2 cume from a #16 share.
17 KAMA Spanish Hits Univision. + 0.3; 2.1-2.4-2.4, Univision Regional Mexican KQBU-F scores 0.6.
18 KTJM/KJOJ Regional Mexican Liberman. -0.4; 2.7-2.7-2.3. Same owner/format KQQK 1.6; KEYH/KNTE 0.4.
19 KUHF News/Talk University of Houston. 2.0-2.1-2.0, UH Classical KUHA 0.6; iHeart Talk KPRC 0.5.
19 KTHT/KTHT-HD2 Classic Country Cox. 1.9-2.1-2.0.
Sports: CBS KILT 1.8; iHeart KBME 1.0; Gow Communications KFNC 0.6 and WGOW 0.2. Sports Total: 3.6.
Swings: + 1.3 Christian KSBJ/KUBJ, + 0.9 ReglMex KLTN; – 5.6 SoftA/C KODA, – 0.4 RegionalMex KTJM.
Clusters: iHeart 24.1-21.1-20.9, CBS 13.6-14.8-15.8, Radio One 14.6-13.2-13.2, Cox 12.3-13.1-12.7, Univision 11.9-12.6-12.6.

7. WASHINGTON, D.C. 4,522,700. 51 stations, 51% subscribe. Black 27%, Spanish 14%.
1 WTOP/WTLP Hubbard News. + 3.2; 6.1-9.2-9.3, big news town, 3 N/T in the Top 7. Total N/T Share 22.9.
2 WAMU American University News/Talk. +1.1; 6.4-7.9-7.5, ahead of Cumulus News/Talk WMAL by 3.0.
3 WHUR-F Howard University Urban A/C. + 1.4; 5.5-6.0-6.9, leads 3 Radio One Urban stations by at least 3.1.
4 WIHT iHeart CHR. + 0.7; 5.1-5.2-5.8, #1 cume 1.248 million and outpaces Cumulus CHR WRQX by 4.0.
5 WASH iHeart A/C. – 8.2; 113.6-5.5-5.4, leading all A/C genres and misses top cume by only 28,000.
6 WBIG-F iHeart Classic Rock (not to be confused with Classic Hits). + 0.5; 4.1-4.8-4.6, as a format exclusive.
7 WMAL/FM-AM Cumulus News/Talk. + 0.9; 3.6-4.2-4.5, ahead of Baltimore CBS News WNEW-F 2.9.
8 WETA/WGMS Greater Washington Educational Telecom Classical. Steady, 4.1-4.5-4.1.
9 WWDC iHeart Modern Rock. + 0.4; 3.6-4.1-4.0, stand-alone format; the 2 station DC Rock total share: 8.6.
10 WGTS Columbia Union College Christian. + 0.8; 3.1-3.4-3.9, only other Inspirational format Gospel WPRS.
11 WMMJ Urban AC Radio One. – 0.1; 3.9-3.8-3.8. Total Urban shares: 17.6.
12 WPRS/FM iHeart Gospel. + 0.5; 3.1-3.5-3.6.
13 WIAD CBS Hot A/C. + 0.2; 3.2-3.3-3.4. CBS Balto A/C WLIF & Hot A/C WWMX both at 0.1 in DC.
13 WZMQ iHeart Country. + 0.1; 3.3-3.2-3.4. The only Cowboy in the Capital.
15 WKYS Radio One Urban. + 0.3; 3.0-2.9-3.3, tight 0.3 race with CBS Rhythmic-CHR WPGC.
16 WPGC-F CBS Rhythmic CHR. -0.3; 3.3-2.8-3.0.
17 WLZL CBS Tropical. + 0.2; 3.3-2.8-3.0, maybe serve more rum with the exclusive format.
18 WJFK-F CBS Sports. Flat, 1.9-2.2-1.9 to lead the Red Zebra Sports cluster by 0.3. Total Sports share 3.5.
19 WRQX Cumulus CHR. + 0.1; 1.9-1.8-1.8.
20 WNEW-F CBS News. + 0.3; 1.3-1.7-1.6.
21 WTEM/WWXT/WWXX Red Zebra Sports. – 0.7; 2.1-1.9-1.4. Red Zebra extra Sports WSPZ hits 0.2.
23 WAMU-HD2 Bluegrass American University and WFED Hubbard Talk both stay at 0.1.
Swings: + 3.2 News WTOP, + 1.4 Urban A/C WHUR; – 8.2 A/C WASH, – 0.7 Sports WTEM & Co.
Shares: iHeart 22.7-25.7-19.6, CBS 13.4-13.0-12.7, Radio One 11.1-10.2-10.2, Hubbard 8.0-7.6-9.3, Cumulus 6.5-6.7-6.0.

8. PHILADELPHIA, PA. 4,493,700. 49 stations, 57% subscribers, Black 21%, Spanish 8%.
1 WBEB Jerry Lee A/C. – 8.2; 15.1-7.3-6.9, holiday lickin’ & keeps on tickin’ #1 cume 1.54 million, 390k lead.
2 KYW CBS News. + 1.7; 4.9-6.5-6.8, PHNB (post-holiday news bounce), jumping public N/T WHYY by 3.6.
3 WMGX Greater Media Classic Rock. + 1.6; 4.6-5.8-6.2, comfortably 3rd, leads iHeart Mod Rock WRFF 2.2.
4 WDAS-F iHeart Urban A/C. – 0.3; 5.9-5.5-5.6, tops a 6 station Urban/Rhythmic category. Total share 25.2.
5 WOGL CBS Classic Hits. – 0.6; 6.1-5.7-5.5, slides another notch and trails Classic Rock WMGK by 0.7.
6 WMMR Greater Media Rock. + 0.4; 4.3-5.2-4.7. Philly’s 3 Rockers total 15.3.
7 WUSL iHeart Urban. Steady, 4.6-4.5-4.5.
8 WRFF iHeart Modern Rock. + 0.6; 3.7-4.5-4.3-4.0, 3rd form Gtr. Media Rockers, WMGX 1.3 & WMMR 1.9.
9 WXTU CBS Country. + 0.6, 3.6-4.3-4.2, as the only Country station.
10 WIOQ iHeart CHR. + 0.7; 3.4-3.7-4.1, leads CBS Rhythmic CHR by 1.7 with the #2 cume, 1.168 million.
11 WIP-F CBS Sports. – 0.6; 4.6-4.3-4.0, off season blues but now tops Greater Media Sports WPEN by 2.1.
12 WBEN-F Greater Media Adult Hits. + 0.7; 3.2-3.1-3.9, gains traction, attractive format gets the right fit.
13 WPHI-F Radio One Rhythmic Oldies. – 0.4; 3.9-3.7-3.5, nice format potential must watch out for burn out.
14 WRNB Radio One R&B Oldies. + 0.3; 3.1-3.6-3.4, ditto the above, seems pretty close.
15 WISX iHeart Rhythmic A/C. + 1.1; 2.2-2.8-3.3, Brotherly Love horse race; 1.1 over CBS Rhy-CHR WRDW-F.
16 WHYY, Inc. News/Talk. + 0.2; 3.0-3.3-3.2, public 6 station group: WHYY/WNJN/WNJS/WNJB/WNJM/WNJZ.
17 WPPZ Radio One Gospel. + 0.2; 2.2-2.7-2.4.
17 WRDW-F CBS Rhythmic CHR. + 0.2; 2.2-2.4-2.4.
19 WPEN Greater Media Sports. + 0.1; 1.8-2.3-1.9.
20 WPHT CBS Talk. + 0.1; 1.7-1.8-1.8.
Non-Coms: Temple U. Classical WRTI 1.5; U. Penn. Adult Alternative WXPN 1.1; 4 Rivers Christian WBYO 0.1.
Connoisseur Media: Hot A/C WPST 1.4. Townsquare Media: Talk WKXW 0.9, Hot A/C WSJO 0.2, Ctry WPUR 0.1.
Swings: + 1.7 News KYW, + 1.6 Classic Rock WMGK; – 8.2 A/C WBEB, – 0.6 Classic Hits WOGL & Sports WIP-F.
Shares: CBS 24.9-25.0-24.7, iHeart 22.0-21.0-21.9, Greater Media 15.0-16.4-16.7, Radio One 9.6-10.0-9.3, Jerry Lee 8.5-7.3-6.9.

9. ATLANTA, GA. 4,322,100. 69 stations, 45% subscribe. Black 34%, Spanish 10%.
1 WVEE CBS Urban. + 0.4; 7.6-7.3-8.0, back at #1, #4 cume, way up on iHeart Urban WHAT 4.1. All Urban Total 28.2.
2 WSB/WSBB-FM Cox News/Talk. + 1.3; 5.8-7.4-7.1 but misses top spot. 6 News/Talkers trail by 4.0 to 7.8.
3 WSB-F Cox Adult Contemporary. – 0.3; 6.5-5.4-6.2, growing #1 cume to 1.202 million, 139,000 over CHR WWPW.
4 WWPW iHeart CHR. + 0.6; 4.9-5.0-5.5, just 0.4 ahead of Cumulus CHR WWWQ. 2 station CHR total share: 10.6.
5 WALR/FM Cox Urban A/C. – 1.3; 6.7-6.1-5.4, now 1.0 over Radio One Urban A/C WAMJ.
6 WWWQ Cumulus CHR. + 1.3; 3.8-4.5-5.1, two big gun CHRs duke it out.
7 WUBL iHeart Country. Flat, 4.8-5.2-4.8, but leads Cumulus Country WKHX 1.7. Format total shares: 7.9.
8 WFSH-F Salem Christian. – 3.0; 7.6-5.5-4.6, still leads 3.5 over pew mate Radio Training Christian WVFJ.
9 WSRV Cox Classic Hits. -0.2; 4.8-4.9-4.6, leading Cumulus Classic Rock by double the WNNX 2.3 share.
10 WPZE Radio One Gospel. + 1.2; 3.3-4.2-4.5, is dispensed with their exclusive format.
11 WAMJ/WUMJ Radio One Urban A/C. – 0.4; 4.8-4.8-4.4. 2nd Atlanta Urban A/C with WALR totals 9.8.
12 WHTA Radio One Urban. – 0.4; 3.5-3.9-3.9.
13 WSTR Lincoln Financial Hot A/C. 0.3; 3.5-3.2-3.2 is the only Hot A/C. When’s the Entercom ETA?
14 WKHX Cumulus Country. – 0.7; 3.8-3.6-3.1.
14 WABE City of Atlanta Board of Education News/Talk WABE stays 3.1-3.1-3.2.
16 WZGC CBS Sports. + 0.3; 2.3-3.0-2.6, two man race 0.2 ahead of Lincoln Financial Sports WQXI.
17 WRDA/WRDG iHeart Modern Rock. – 0.1; 2.6-2.5-2.5, Cox Modern Rock WTSH-F is 0.6, 1.9 back.
18 WNNX Cumulus Classic Rock.+ 0.3; 2.0-2.1-2.3. Big Peach Rock Share Totals 5.6.
19 WBZY iHeart Regional Mexican. + 0.3; 1.5-1.7-1.8, one Spanish format in the market, and this is it.
19 WYAY Cumulus News/Talk. + 0.4; 1.4-1.7-1.8.
21 WWWQ-HD3 Cumulus Rhythmic Oldies. 1.2-1.0-1.3.
22 WCLK Clark Atlanta University Jazz. 1.3-1.3-1.1.
22 WVFJ-F Radio Training Network Christian. 1.4-1.1-1.1.
Music: WAMJ-HD2 Radio One Rhythmic Oldies 0.7; WWWQ-HD2 Cumulus Country 0.2.
News/Talk: WRAS Georgia State U. N/T 0.5; WGST iHeart 0.3; CBS N/T WAOK 0.2; WGKA Salem Talk 0.2.
Swings: + 1.3 both News/Talk WSB/WSBB-F & CHR WWWQ; – 3.0 Christian WFSH-F, – 1.3 Urban A/C WALR-F.
Shares: Cox 24.9-24.5-23.9, iHeart 14.0-14.9-14.9, Radio One 13.2-13.7-13.5, Cumulus 12.3-13.1-13.8, CBS 10.4-10.3-10.8.

10. BOSTON, MA. 4,022,600. 61 stations, 43% subscribe. Spanish 9%, Black 7%.
1 WROR-F Greater Media Classic Hits. + 2.4; 5.4-6.9-7.8, first ever #1. CBS Classic Rock WZLX behind by 3.2.
2 WBZ CBS News/Talk. + 2.4; 5.2-6.4-7.6, Champion Patriots, weather & being “the go-to” tops N/T WBUR by 3.4
3 WMJX Greater Media A/C. – 9.9; 16.5-7.1-6.6, brand withstands Grinch, tops CHR WXKS 0.6; 2400 below #1 cume.
4 WXKS iHeart CHR. + 0.4; 5.6-6.1-6.0, not Top3 but tops 6 CHR/Hot/Rhym. formats. #1 cume 1.25 mil. over WMJX.
5 WKLB Greater Media Country. + 06; 5.2-5.6-5.8, stays ahead of little Bull, iHeart Country WBWL by 4.5.
6 WBZ-F CBS Sports + 0.4; 5.1-6.9-5.5, looks to Hockey, leads Entercom Sports by 0.5; WEEI-F ready for Red Sox.
7 WEEI-F Entercom Sports. + 1.3; 3.7-5.1-5.0, shuffles to catch CBS Sports Hub WBZ-F. Sports WEEI stays low at 0.3.
8. WZLX CBS Classic Rock. – 0.4; 5.2-4.7-4.6, tries to reverse slide as gap widens between WZLX & Classic Hits WROR.
9 WBMX CBS Hot A/C. + 1.0; 3.3-4.4-4.3 and holding. Cumulus suburban Hot A/C WXLO trails by 1.7.
10 WBUR Boston University News/Talk. + 0.5; 3.7-4.5-4.2, the BUR & News/Talk WGBH class acts are just 0.8 apart.
11 WJMN iHeart Rhythmic CHR. + 0.5; 3.2-3.1-3.7, steps ahead of rival Greater Media Rhythmic A/C WBQT by 0.4.
12 WGBH Educational Foundation News/Talk WGBH-F. + 0.8; 2.6-2.9-3.4 brakes into the 3’s and closer to WBUR.
13 WBQT Greater Media Rhythmic A/C. + 0.2; 3.1-3.1-3.3 but still up on CBS CHR WODS by 0.8.
13 WBOS Greater Media Modern Rock. Very flat. 2.9-2.9-2.9-2.9, if you’re counting. The Hub’s only Modern Rocker.
15 WAAF Entercom Rock. + 0.3; 2.6-2.7-2.9, trails CBS Classic Rock WZLX by 1.7.
16 WODS CBS CHR. – 0.2; 2.8-2.6-2.6. Maybe the Boston audience and advertisers miss Oldies.
17 WXRV Northeast Broadcasting Adult Alternative. + 0.3; 1.7-1.8-2.0. Big signal into New Hampshire.
18 WXLO Cumulus Hot A/C. + 0.1; 1.5-1.5-1.6. Big signal to Boston Metrowest.
19 WCRB owned by WGBH Educational Foundation Classical. – 0.1; 1.6-1.9-1.5. Classical in Boston probably bigger.
20 WRKO Entercom Talk. – 0.4; 1.8-2.0-1.6. The once mighty 680 plot thickens; PM drive Howie Carr just came back.
21 WBWL iHeart Country. + 0.2; 1.1-1.1-1.3 More kick “Bull” out of the box. Signal just re-directed to Boston.
22 WCTK Hall Communications Country. 1.1-1.0-0.9 from Providence with a big signal for Boston South.
23 WERS Emerson College Variety. 0.9.
24-26 Spanish iHeart WKOX 0.3. Entercom Sports WEEI 0.3. U. Massachusetts Folk WUMB, 5 FM signals total 0.1.
Swings: + 2.4 for both Classic Hits WROR & News/Talk WBZ; – 9.9 A/C WMJX, – 0.6 Classic Rock WZLX.
Shares: Greater Media 27.3-25.6-26.4, CBS 22.2-22.4-24.9, iHeart 11.9-10.6-11.3, Entercom 9.3-9.8-9.6.

Takeaways:
* Good for radio, markets, advertisers and Nielsen if one number for every licensed station in every market is published.
* The coincidence of same station & cluster numbers fairly often could mean a small sample from the same folks.
* Boomer demos have far more value than Gen X media buyers understand.
* “WHO listens to radio? More than 250 million people, that’s all!” – Sarah Vaugh.

Broadcast Connector Clark Smidt engages your existing resources to deliver new business and brand value. Start a dialog to win 2nd quarter and beyond. 978 470-2120. Boston management since ’70, advisor since ’82. www.broadcast.com, [email protected]. Please search Clark Smidt, www.RBR.com for all Nielsen ratings.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Super job Clark! Good analysis of it all. Interesting comment about WODS. I think he’s right. Look where CBS-FM is.

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