Research Director, Inc.: Exclusive July PPM Analysis For Houston, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Boston

Markets #6-#10

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to spend the next few minutes perusing the fallout (see what we did there?) from the JULY survey. The IMF force composed of The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC., along with the technical wizards from XTRENDS, has made it our mission to bring you the improbable or the indecipherable or maybe the inconsequential. You’ll be the judge of that as we probe what happened between 6/21 and 7/18. This article will not self-destruct because, as we all know, the Internet is forever.

HOUSTON-GALVESTON: The Sunny Also Rises

For the fourth straight survey -– and eighth time in the last nine -– iHEARTMEDIA AC KODA (SUNNY) was #1 6+. The station bounced back from a down book (7.0-7.3) and widened its lead over the rest of the field. URBAN ONE Urban AC KMJQ (MAJIC) remained at #2 but with its lowest share in over a year (6.5-5.7). As a result, it was forced into a tie with COX RADIO Classic Rock KGLK (THE EAGLE), which took a step forward with its best outing since OCTOBER (5.2-5.7). ENTERCOM Adult Hits KKHH (THE SPOT) had its highest share in over a year (4.9-5.3) to advance three spaces to #4. The next two stations dropped in the standings just by being flat. COX RADIO Country KKBQ (93Q) slipped to #5 (5.2-5.2) while iHEARTMEDIA Alternative KTBZ (THE BUZZ) stepped back to #6 (5.0-5.0). CUMULUS Top 40/M KRBE dropped to a tie at #7 (5.0-4.7).

For the fifth time in the last six books, KTBZ was #1 25-54. The station was up slightly this time and maintained a half share lead over #2 KODA, which was also up slightly. UNIVISION Regional Mexican KLTN (QUE BUENA) moved up to #3 with a slight gain while KGLK stepped up to #4 with its third up book in a row. KKHH had its best showing since JANUARY to advance four squares to #5. This pushed a flat KKBQ back to #6. KMJQ fell four places to #7 with its lowest mark in over a year while KRBE dropped three slots to a tie at #8 as it ended a strong five-book surge.

Last month KTBZ and URBAN ONE Top 40/R KBXX (THE BOX) were in a heated race 18-34 with THE BUZZ just edging out THE BOX. This time, KTBZ was up slightly to remain in first while KBXX dropped farther off the pace with its lowest share in over a year. It was also tied at #2 with iHEARTMEDIA Urban KQBT (THE BEAT), which moved up a spot with a solid increase. KKBQ was up slightly but still forced to step back to #4. KODA moved up to #5 with a small increase while a flat ENTERCOM Spanish Contemporary KLOL (MEGA) remained stalled at #6. KLTN fell four spots to a tie at #9 as it gave back about half of last month’s rather large increase.

The top three 18-49 stations remained the same as they were. KTBZ was #1 with its best book in over a year. KODA repeated at #2 with a small increase but was a little over a share off the lead. KLTN returned at #3 but with its lowest total since FEBRUARY. KBXX held steady at #4 but was down for the second straight survey. It was tied with KQBT, which moved up from #6 with a slight increase. Both KGLK and KKHH moved up and into a tie at #6. THE EAGLE advanced from #11 with its best book in exactly a year while THE SPOT moved up from a tie at #9 with its highest score since NOVEMBER. KRBE dropped to a tie at #8 with its first down book since JANUARY.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: A Majic Moment

This just in … HUBBARD News WTOP was #1 6+ again. This was the station’s seventh win in a row (9.5-9.3). However, the big story was that URBAN ONE Urban AC WMMJ (MAJIC) moved up to #2 with its highest share in over a year (7.1-7.9) and its fourth straight up book. Perennial #2 station AMERICAN UNIVERSITY N/T WAMU slipped to #3 with its lowest mark since Jack was invading your personal space (8.3-7.6). HOWARD UNIVERSITY Urban AC WHUR remained stalled at #4 despite landing its largest share since JANUARY (6.3-6.8). iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock WBIG moved up to #5, despite posting its lowest score since DECEMBER (4.7-4.4). Meanwhile, iHEARTMEDIA AC WASH experienced a sudden loss of ratings pressure and dropped four places to a tie at #9 (4.8-3.8).

Proving it was not a one-demo wonder, WMMJ moved up to the top of the 25-54 chart with its largest share in over a year. It was not alone as WAMU retained a share of the lead despite a down book. WTOP slipped to #3 as it was down for the fourth straight survey. URBAN ONE Urban WKYS (KISS) moved up to #4 with a slight increase. WHUR jumped four spots to #5 with -– again -– its best outing since JANUARY. WASH’s decline was less severe in this demo as it dropped two places to #6. It was just ahead of iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WIHT (HOT) and ENTERCOM Top 40/R WPGC, which were tied at #7. 

There was a changing of the guard in the 18-34 competition as WKYS moved up to #1 with its highest score since APRIL. WIHT was forced to step back to #2 as it ended a six-book run at #1. WPGC remained in third place for the fifth book in a row with a small decrease. iHEARTMEDIA Alternative WWDC (DC101) held on at #4 despite giving back all of last month’s big increase. WASH had its two-book surge end though the station remained at #5. WHUR moved up to #6 with its fourth up book in a row. iHEARTMEDIA Country WMZQ ended a three-book slide as it advanced four spaces to #7. It was tied with CUMULUS Hot AC WRQX (MIX), which was up slightly.

Since the beginning of the year, WKYS has been cruising along with a pretty consistent share. The station was up slightly this time and that was good enough to move it to #1 18-49. WAMU ended its six-book stay at the top and fell to a very, very close #2. WIHT moved up to #3 with a slight increase. Two stations moving in opposite directions met up at #4. WPGC slipped back a spot with its lowest total since DECEMBER while WMMJ advanced three squares with its highest score in over a year. WHUR had its best outing since NOVEMBER to move up to #6 and was within shouting distance of its format rival. The two previous stations referred to as #5 split up and moved down. WTOP dropped to #7 with its lowest mark in over a year while WASH dropped to #8 as it ended a two-book run.

PHILADELPHIA: A Classic Move

The hottest 6+ station in town is ENTERCOM Classic Hits WOGL. The station was up for the sixth straight survey, posted its best share in over a year and, oh yea, moved up to #1 (7.7-8.2). Its soon-to-be cluster sister – JERRY LEE RADIO AC WBEB (MORE) – dropped back to #2 with its lowest mark since NOVEMBER (8.5-7.8). BEASLEY Classic Rock WMGK remained at #3 (7.2-7.2) while iHEARTMEDIA Urban AC WDAS took a step forward to #4 as it rebounded from a down book (5.8-6.4). The LMAed ENTERCOM Country WXTU moved up to #5 with its highest share in over a year (5.7-5.8). BEASLEY Active Rock WMMR slipped to #6 with its lowest score since we pretended ice sculptures were actually members of the clergy (6.1-5.4).

For the seventh straight survey, WMMR was #1 25-54. However, the station posted its lowest share of that run and WOGL had its highest mark in over a year. As a result, the two stations were tied for the top spot. WMGK dropped back to #3 with its lowest score since OCTOBER.  WBEB remained at #4 as it got back most of last month’s share loss. WDAS was up to #5 with its best showing since JANUARY. iHEARTMEDIA Urban WUSL (POWER) slipped to #6 with a slight decrease. 

WBEB continued to crush the 18-34 competition but the cracks may be beginning to show. The station was at its lowest share in over a year, though it did have a share and a half lead over the two stations stranded at #2. iHEARTMEDIA Alternative WRFF (RADIO 104.5) moved up four places with its best performance since FEBRUARY while WUSL took a step forward despite a modest loss. WXTU dropped to #4 as it lost a rather large chunk of share. WOGL was up three places to #5 with – again – its best book in over a year. WMMR fell two spots to #6 with its sixth down book in a row. WMGK slipped to #7, despite being up for the fourth straight survey.

There was quite a bit of reconfiguring in the 18-49 competition. WBEB moved up to #1 with a slight increase and had a small lead over WOGL, which moved up two spots to #2. Last month’s leader – WMMR – was close behind at #3 but did suffer a big share loss. WUSL slid back to #4 with a slight decrease. The next three stations were virtually tied. WXTU dropped back to #5 as it returned most of last month’s big gain. WDAS moved up to #6 as it ended a two-book slide. WMGK dropped back to #7 with a small decrease.

ATLANTA: The Chattering Class

COX RADIO Talk WSB-A continued to be the talk of the town as it again ran away with the 6+ demo (7.8-7.6). That said, what had been multiple-share victories have shrunk considerably. ENTERCOM Urban WVEE (V-103) remained at #2 (7.0-6.6) but was joined in that space by COX RADIO Classic Hits WSRV (THE RIVER), which took one small step forward (6.6-6.6). COX RADIO AC WSB-F (B98.5) held steady at #4 (5.6-5.6) while its former partner URBAN ONE Urban AC WAMJ (MAJIC) slipped to #5 as it ended a two-book surge (5.6-5.1). SALEM Christian Contemporary WFSH (THE FISH) was treading water at #6 (4.8-5.0).

Though WVEE had its lowest 25-54 share since MARCH, the station continued to dominate the demo. WSRV was up slightly at #2 but was still a share and a half off the pace. WSB-F moved up to #3 as it regained all the share it lost last month. URBAN ONE Urban WHTA (HOT) remained at #4 with a slight decrease. WAMJ dropped two places to #5 as it returned all of last month’s small gain. CUMULUS Top 40/M WWWQ (Q100) was close behind at #6 as it ended a two-book slide.

The 18-34 race got much tighter. WVEE was #1 for the third straight survey but was off slightly. WHTA drew closer from its #2 position after scoring its best book in over a year. These two stations were well ahead of the rest of the field. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WWPW (POWER) advanced two spaces to #3 with its best outing since FEBRUARY. This pushed WWWQ back to #4 even though Q100 was up a bit. iHEARTMEDIA Country WUBL (THE BULL) slipped to #5 with a small decrease and was just ahead of WSB-F, which moved up to #6 as it got back all of last month’s big loss.

While WVEE may have lost a chunk of its 18-49 share, the station was again a dominant #1 as it cruised to its seventh straight win. #2 WHTA was off slightly and remained about two shares behind the leader. WSB-F stayed at #3 but got back almost all of last month’s huge loss. It was inches out of second place. WWWQ moved up to #4 with a small gain while WSRV dropped to #5 despite a slight increase. WWPW was close behind as it moved up to #6 with its highest mark since FEBRUARY.

BOSTON: The Kiss Of Success

It was another good month to be iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WXKS (KISS). The station was #1 6+ for the seventh book in a row with its highest share since SEPTEMBER (7.3-7.8).  BEASLEY Classic Hits WROR was up for the third straight survey to remain #2 (6.5-6.6). ENTERCOM AC WMJX (MAGIC) repeated at #3 (6.1-5.9). Two stations that talk for a living swapped spaces. iHEARTMEDIA News WBZ-A was up to #4 with its best outing since MARCH (5.4-5.8). This pushed BOSTON UNIVERSITY N/T WBUR back to #5 as it was off for the second book in a row (5.9-5.6). iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock WZLX slipped to #6 as it ended a two-book surge (5.4-4.8).

This was only the sixth straight 25-54 win for WXKS as the station had its best book since MARCH. WMJX was off slightly but repeated at #2. The gap between the two stations stood at a share and a half. WROR broke out of its #4 tie with WZLX to move up to #3 despite a slight decrease. WZLX remained at #4 with a slightly larger decrease. BEASLEY Sports WBZ-F (THE SPORTS HUB) had its lowest run total in exactly a year as it dropped two places to #5. It was just ahead of WBUR, which moved up to #6 just by being flat and minding its own business.

WXKS regained most of last month’s big loss to win the 18-34 demo for the seventh straight survey. It also led the two #2 stations by three shares. BEASLEY Rhythmic AC WBQT (HOT) ended a two-book run to remain in place. It was partnered with WROR, which took a step upward with its best performance since NOVEMBER. WMJX moved up to #4 as it ended a two-book slide. This pushed iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/R WJMN (JAM’N) back to #5 as it returned all of last month’s solid increase. Worth noting, BEASLEY Alternative WBOS (ALT 92.9) jumped from a tie at #12 to #8 with a strong increase.

WXKS completed the demo grand slam for the sixth book in a row by completely dominating the 18-49 arena. The station was dangerously close to double digits and beat #2 WMJX – which had a small loss – by over three shares. WBQT returned as the #3 station as it gave back most of last month’s increase. WROR was up to #4 with its best book since SEPTEMBER. WBUR took three steps forward to #5 as it was up for the third straight survey. WBZ-F slipped to #6 with its lowest share in over a year.

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