Research Director, Inc. Presents Exclusive March PPM Analysis For New York, L.A, Chicago, S.F., Dallas

Top-5 Markets

The Madness that is MARCH was on full display as weather wreaked havoc with large sections of the country. How did this affect radio listening? That is why The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. are here (a question you have likely been asking for quite some time). In conjunction with the numbers nerds from XTRENDS, we have worked diligently to bring you the news you need about the latest NIELSEN survey. A four-week time warp that truly lived up to its title as it spanned 3/1 through 3/28. Let’s get started, shall we?

NEW YORK: The Lite Burns Briter

It was a much-ado-about-nothing month as the top seven 6+ stations remained unchanged from the previous survey. For the eighth book in a row, iHEARTMEDIA AC WLTW (LITE) dominated the field from its #1 position (8.0-8.4). ENTERCOM Classic Hits WCBS-F wrested control of second place from a cluster mate by posting its largest share since JULY (6.0-6.3). Said cluster mate was ENTERCOM News WINS-A and it slid back to #3 despite reporting its largest number since NOVEMBER (6.0-6.2). EMMIS Urban AC WBLS remained a fixture at #4 even though the station scored its largest share in over a year (5.7-5.9). iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WHTZ (Z100) held firm at #5 (5.1-4.8) while iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock WAXQ (Q104.3) was motionless at #6 (4.8-4.4). SBS Tropical WSKQ (MEGA) had its lowest total in over a year (4.7-4.3) but remained at #7.

WLTW had quite the 25-54 book. The station was #1 for the twelfth time in a row and came dangerously close to hitting double digits. WCBS-F moved up to #2 with its best showing in over a year yet trailed the leader by more than three shares. WHTZ slipped back to #3 as it suffered a small loss while WBLS moved up to #4 with its best score since DECEMBER. EMMIS Top 40/R WQHT (HOT) inched up to #5 with a small increase. This pushed WSKQ back to #6 where it was tied with a flat iHEARTMEDIA Urban WWPR (POWER).

Though WHTZ was down 18-34, it retained enough mojo to move back to the #1 position. This was partly due to the fact that last month’s leader – WSKQ – gave back all of last survey’s huge increase to fall to #2. It was tied with WQHT, which regained most of last month’s big loss. WWPR was a steady presence at #4 with a small increase while WLTW moved up to #5 as it got back most of last month’s loss. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WKTU dropped back to #6 as it took a bit of a hit while WCBS-F moved up to #7 with a solid gain. 

For the sixth straight survey, WLTW was #1 18-49. The station had its best Frosty-free share in over a year and held a two-point lead over #2 WHTZ, which was down a bit. WQHT had its best book since AUGUST to move up to #3 while WCBS-F rose to #4 with its best book in over a year. WSKQ, in contrast, had its lowest share in over a year as it dropped to #5 where it was tied with WWPR, which rose a spot despite a slight decrease.

LOS ANGELES: The KOST Is Clear

There was a change of the 6+ guard this survey as iHEARTMEDIA AC KOST posted its largest BURL IVES “less” share in over a year (5.3-5.9) to move back to the #1 slot. This pushed its cluster sister – iHEARTMEDIA Hot AC KBIG (MY FM) back to #2 (6.1-5.7). ENTERCOM Classic Hits KRTH (K-EARTH) was unmoved at #3 (5.2-5.0) while iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M KIIS (KISS) remained at #4 (4.9-4.7). Also arriving at #4 was ENTERCOM Rhythmic AC KTWV (THE WAVE), which moved up a spot with its highest mark since SEPTEMBER (4.4-4.7). iHEARTMEDIA Talk KFI-A got back most of last month’s loss (3.9-4.2) to move up to #6.

They were sharing a moment at the iHEARTMEDIA cluster as KBIG and KOST were tied at #1 25-54. The former was there last month and posted its lowest share in over a year. The latter moved up from #3 with its best share in over a year that was not fueled by Yule logs. KRTH slipped to #3 while KIIS remained in place at #4. Both stations had small decreases. SBS Regional Mexican KLAX (LA RAZA) was also off slightly as it held steady at #5. UNIVISION Spanish Contemporary KLVE (K-LOVE) held its #6 position with a small loss and was joined by ENTERCOM Adult Hits KCBS-F (JACK), which moved up despite being down.

The 18-34 demo is usually not the dominant domain for an AC station, but KOST shattered that conception with its best regular format share in over a year. The station cruised into the #1 spot. KIIS remained at #2 with a slight decrease while last month’s leader – KBIG – dropped to #3 as it ended a strong two-book surge. MERUELO Top 40/R KPWR (POWER) was up to #4 with its highest score since SEPTEMBER. ENTERCOM Top 40/M KAMP (AMP) moved up two places to #5 despite a slight decrease. KLVE slipped to #6 with a modest loss while KLAX dropped to #7 as it gave back all (and then some) of last month’s big gain. It is worth noting what happened to KTWV. The station was up seven slots to a tie at #8 with its best showing since AUGUST.

It is not often that a station can post its lowest 18-49 share in over a year and still remain #1. That’s exactly what happened to KBIG. It barely edged out KOST, which moved up to #2 with a strong increase. KIIS stepped back to #3 with a small loss while KRTH continued its #4 orbit with its own small loss. KLAX was also stationary – at #5 – but was joined by KTWV, which advanced from #11 with a rather large increase. KLVE, which was previously paired with KLAX, fell back to a tie at #7 with a modest loss.

CHICAGO: V For Three!

There was a lot of stuff to look at this month in market #3. Let’s begin at the top where iHEARTMEDIA Urban AC WVAZ (V103) was down for the second book in a row (6.6-6.1) but captured the demo for the third straight survey. ENTERCOM News WBBM-A remained #2 (5.3-5.1) but was joined in that space by HUBBARD Hot AC WTMX (MIX), which got back a little of last month’s loss (4.9-5.1). ENTERCOM Rhythmic AC WBMX (JAMS) also got back some of what it lost last month (4.0-4.5) to hold steady at #4. UNIVISION Regional Mexican WOJO (QUE BUENA) had its highest share in over a year (3.7-4.2) and was rewarded with another #5 ranking. However, it was forced to share as HUBBARD Classic Hits WDRV (THE DRIVE) moved up three places with its best book since JULY (3.3-4.2). Chances are the void left by the sudden demise of THE LOOP was a contributing factor here. ENTERCOM Country WUSN (US-99) jumped eight places to #7 (3.0-3.9). Another likely beneficiary of the loss of THE LOOP was ENTERCOM AAA WXRT. The station had its largest share in over a year (3.1-3.5) to advance five places to a tie at #8.

WVAZ’s stay atop the 25-54 leaderboard was a brief one as the station fell to #4. Filling the leadership vacuum was WBMX, which ended a two-book slide to assume a comfortable command of the demo. WTMX held steady at #2 with a slight increase and was paired with WOJO, which moved up a couple of places with its highest share in over a year. WDRV was up to #5 with its best book since OCTOBER while the two previous occupants of that position were not quite as fortunate. iHEARTMEDIA Urban WGCI slipped to a tie at #8 despite only a slight decrease while HUBBARD AC WSHE dropped to #10 as it ended a two-book surge. WXRT had its best book since JUNE as it moved up to #11.

For the third straight survey, WBMX was #1 18-34 by a wide margin. The station was up slightly this month and led the two at #2 by almost two shares. WGCI was one of those two and it was up slightly while the other member of that duo – WOJO – moved up a slot thanks to its third straight up book. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WKSC (KISS) was up to #4 with a slight increase and was closely trailed at #5 by arch rival ENTERCOM Top 40/M WBBM-F (B96), which was up by nearly a share. CUMULUS Alternative WKQX slipped to a tie at #7 with a small decrease.

There was very little change at the top of the 18-49 rankings. WBMX was #1 for the third book in a row and extended its lead over #2 WOJO to a full share. WTMX repeated at #3 with a flat performance. WGCI became the sole occupant of the #4 position by being flat and having WVAZ drop to a tie at #6. WKSC moved up to #5 with a slight increase.

SAN FRANCISCO: Have Another Hit Of Fresh Aire

A somewhat oblique reference to a song lyric from a group that hailed from this market … but we digress. There was nothing subtle about KQED INC. N/T KQED and its continued dominance of the 6+ market. The station was up for the third book in a row (8.8-8.9) with its highest share in over a year. It also had more than a three-share lead over #2 ENTERCOM News KCBS-A (5.7-5.6). The rest of the field – or should we say the music stations – were a jumbled, compressed amalgam. iHEARTMEDIA AC KISQ (THE BREEZE) was the music leader at #3 (4.4-4.4) and had what amounted to a commanding lead as the next five stations were separated by a half share. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/R KMEL remained at #4 (3.8-3.9) while BONNEVILLE Top 40/M KMVQ (NOW) inched up to #5 (3.7-3.8). BONNEVILLE AC KOIT held steady at #6 (3.7-3.7) while ENTERCOM Hot AC KLLC (ALICE) dropped to #7 (3.7-3.6). iHEARTMEDIA Hot AC KIOI (STAR) fell to #8 with its lowest share in over a year (3.8-3.3).

The 25-54 demo was not quite as compressed though KQED continued to dominate. The station was down a bit as it repeated at #1 but led #2 KLLC by two shares as ALICE was off slightly. KMVQ was again the #3 station and had its best outing in exactly a year. KMEL and iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M KYLD (WILD) both moved up and into a tie at #4. KMEL was up slightly while WILD had its best book since OCTOBER. KISQ slipped to #6 with a flat performance while KIOI dropped to a tie at #7 with its lowest total in over a year.

The 18-34 arena continued to be KMEL’s playground. Though the station gave back all of last month’s big increase, it was #1 for the sixth book in a row and was over three shares clear of the field. The next five stations were within a half share of each other. KYLD was off slightly to remain at #2 where it was partnered with ENTERCOM Rhythmic AC KRBQ (Q102), which moved up three places as it ended a two-book slide. KMVQ was up slightly to hold steady at #4. KIOI dropped to #5 as it ended a three-book surge while KLLC moved up to #6 with its best book in over a year.

KQED’s two-book run as the #1 station 18-49 came to an end as it slipped back to #2. It had a modest decrease while KMEL was up slightly to capture the demo. KLLC got back a chunk of last month’s loss to remain #3 but was a full share behind the leaders. KMVQ moved up to #4 just by being flat while KISQ inched up to #5 as it regained all of last month’s loss. KRBQ was close behind at #6 after landing its largest share in over a year.

DALLAS-FT.WORTH: A Kiss Is Just A Kiss

Except when it performs the demo sweep. Oops, guess we should have issued a spoiler alert. It all begins with 6+ where last month’s tie between iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M KHKS (KISS) and iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock KZPS (LONE STAR) was erased. KISS took control with its highest share in exactly a year (5.4-6.0) while LONE STAR dropped back to #2 (5.4-5.2). ENTERCOM Classic Hits KLUV (K-LOVE) remained at #3 (5.2-5.0) while the next five stations were in a rounding-error tie. CUMULUS Country KPLX (THE WOLF) moved up two places to #4 (4.0-4.4) while its format and cluster companion – CUMULUS Country KSCS – slipped to #5 (4.3-4.3). Three stations were a tick behind at #6. iHEARTMEDIA Hot AC KDMX (NOW) was flat and dropped a spot (4.2-4.2) while the other two stations moved up from #7. ENTERCOM Adult Hits KJKK (JACK) had its best book in over a year (3.9-4.2) while UNIVISION Regional Mexican KLNO (QUE BUENA) posted its largest number since NOVEMBER (3.9-4.2).

KHKS got back all of what it lost last month – plus a little more – to extend its 25-54 lead over #2 KJKK, which had a slight increase. The stations were about a share apart. KLNO moved up to #3 with a small increase while two stations moved up and met at #4. KZPS took a one-step leap with a slight increase while KSCS advanced three squares with its highest share since SEPTEMBER. iHEARTMEDIA Active Rock KEGL (THE EAGLE) was up to #6 with a small increase. KLUV dropped four slots to a tie at #7 as it returned all of last month’s increase. KDMX fell to #9 with its lowest mark since OCTOBER.

After taking the previous survey off, KHKS bounced back to #1 18-34. URBAN ONE Top 40/R KBFB (THE BEAT) ended a two-book slide as it moved up to #2 and was within a half share of the lead. Last month’s leader – SERVICE URBAN KKDA (K104) – dropped to #3 with its lowest share since NOVEMBER and was sharing the moment with KLNO, which was up a spot with a slight increase. KSCS took four steps forward to #5 as it recovered from last month’s down book. KDMX advanced five spaces to #6 with a strong increase. It was inches ahead of two stations at #7. KLUV had its highest score since the HOLIDAY book to remain in place while KEGL was up slightly even as it moved down from #6. UNIVISION Spanish AC KDXX (LATINO MIX) fell to #9 as it ended a two-book surge.

KHKS was #1 18-49 for the third book in a row and led the rest of the market by a full share. The next six stations were all within a half share of each other. KEGL moved up top #2 with its best book since DECEMBER while KJKK was flat and stable at #3. Two stations made impressive gains in advancing to #4. KSCS jumped from #9 with its best performance since AUGUST while KBFB moved up from #8 with a solid increase. They were just ahead of the two stations at #6. KLNO slipped from #5 just by being flat while KDMX moved up from #7 with a slight increase. KKDA fell six places to #8 with its smallest share since NOVEMBER.

Well, that was relatively painless. One down, two to go. Thank you for reading and plan on returning for our next action-splattered edition, which will feature the ratings trials and tribulations of HOUSTON-GALVESTON, WASHINGTON, DC, PHILADELPHIA, ATLANTA, and BOSTON. Until then, The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. stand ready to serve.

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