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

Markets #6-#10

The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – marching cheek by jowl with our numbers crunchers from XTRENDS – are back from our brief respite. We are ready to attack another round of the JULY ratings results. We are not sure if this book – which covered 6/20 through 7/17 – qualifies as the dog days of summer but it was pretty hot as it began right before the longest day of the year. It also featured an awkwardly placed federal holiday and the usual hoopla of vacations and such. The end result, which is what passes for truth, follows now …

HOUSTON-GALVESTON: Sunny Side Down

Make no mistake, iHEARTMEDIA AC KODA (SUNNY 99.1) was once again the runaway leader 6+. However, for the first time in over a year, the station failed to crack a seven share (7.1-6.6). No matter. It still had a comfortable lead over #2 URBAN ONE Urban AC KMJQ (MAJIC 102.1) (5.9-5.8). COX RADIO Classic Rock KGLK (THE EAGLE) stood alone in third place (5.4-5.3) while CUMULUS Top 40/M KRBE moved up to #4 (5.1-5.1). Three stations were in a logjam at #5. UNIVISION Regional Mexican KLTN (QUE BUENA) took a step forward (4.9-5.0) while ENTERCOM Adult Hits KKHH (95.7 THE SPOT) slipped from a tie at #3 (5.4-5.0). URBAN ONE Top 40/R KBXX (THE BOX) advanced four spaces to join the fray (4.6-5.0). We would be remiss if we did not spotlight the leap ENTERCOM Hot AC KHMX (MIX 96.5) accomplished. The station rose from #15 to #8 with easily its highest share in over a year (3.4-4.7). It was tied with COX RADIO Country KKBQ (93Q) (4.8-4.7).

Last month KODA and KLTN were united in harmony atop the 25-54 leaderboard. That continued as both stations were off slightly. However, KKBQ made it a trio at #1 as it advanced from a tie at #4 with its best book in over a year. KBXX remained tied at #4 thanks to a small gain but had a new partner. ENTERCOM Spanish Contemporary KLOL (MEGA) moved up from a tie at #7 with its best showing in over a year. iHEARTMEDIA Alternative KTBZ (THE BUZZ) vacated that position and landed at #6 despite a slight increase. KKHH fell four slots to #7 as it ended a two-book surge.

There was also a #1 tie last month in the 18-34 arena. That was between KLOL and KODA. That did not continue. MEGA remained in command thanks to its fourth up book in a row. SUNNY set at #2 with a slight decrease. KBXX moved up a spot to #3 as it regained all of last month’s rather large share loss. iHEARTMEDIA Urban KQBT (93.7 THE BEAT) stepped back to #4 despite ending a two-book slide with a healthy increase. KRBE remained at #5 with a small loss. KTBZ had its best book since JANUARY to climb up to #6. ENTERCOM Country KILT-F (THE BULL) also did well as it moved from #12 to #8 as it ended a four-book slide.

The one-two 18-49 punch from last survey remained the same. KODA barely held the lead after posting its lowest number since OCTOBER. #2 KLOL was a click behind after landing its best book in over a year. KLTN repeated at #3 with a slight increase but was joined by KBXX, which moved up a couple of slots with its first up book since MARCH. KRBE slipped to #5 with a slight loss and just edged out a flat KTBZ. Nipping at their heels were KKBQ and KQBT, both tied at #7.

WASHINGTON, DC: The Big WAMU

That the top 6+ stations are consistently those that don’t play songs for a living is not a surprise. What did change this time was their order of finish. For the first time since DECEMBER, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY N/T WAMU stood alone atop the leaderboard (8.0-8.4). HUBBARD News WTOP slipped to #2 after reporting its lowest total in over a year (8.2-7.9). For the eighth straight survey, URBAN ONE Urban AC WMMJ (MAJIC) was the #3 station (7.5-7.7). HOWARD UNIVERSITY Urban AC WHUR was flat (6.1-6.1) to remain #4 for the fourth book in a row. iHEARTMEDIA AC WASH returned at the #5 spot with its best Frosty-free share since OCTOBER (5.3-5.4). During the survey CUMULUS Talk WMAL-F split off the AM portion of its broadcast to air a sports format. On the surface it seemed like a positive move for the FM stick as it moved up to #6 (4.4-5.3). However, after further review, it appeared the station bounced back to previous levels.

Last survey both WAMU and WMMJ could claim to be the #1 25-54 station. Only one can factually back up that claim this time. WAMU was flat and remained in place while MAJIC was off slightly to slip to second place. WHUR returned as the #3 station with its highest share in over a year. WTOP stepped up to #4 as it ended a five-book slide. WASH also took one step upward – to #5 – with its best Frosty-free share in over a year. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WIHT (HOT 99.5) dropped back to #6 as it ended a three-book surge. It was tied with WASHINGTON ADVENTIST UNIVERSITY Christian Contemporary WGTS, which advanced from #10 as it bounced back from a down book.

The top five players 18-34 remained the same as last month but they did rearrange the furniture. iHEARTMEDIA Alternative WWDC (DC101) had its best book in over a year, which propelled the station from a tie at #4 to #1. WASH remained in second place with a slight decrease. After four straight books at #1, WIHT slipped to #3 with its lowest share in over a year. ENTERCOM Top 40/R WPGC repeated at #4 with its best outing since DECEMBER while WHUR slid to #5 as it ended a three-book surge.

Say hello to your new 18-49 market leader. WMMJ moved up from #3 as it ended a three-book slide and held a half-share lead over stable #2 WAMU, which was flat. WASH moved up a spot to #3 with its fourth straight up book. WIHT returned almost all of last month’s big gain and, as a result, dropped from the top spot to its more customary position at #4. WGTS regained some of last month’s big decline to rebound from #8 to #5. URBAN ONE Urban WKYS (KISS) slipped to #6 with its lowest share since JANUARY and was tied with WWDC, which moved up from #9 with its third up book in a row.

ATLANTA: A Fine Kettle Of Fish

The 6+ water continued to be very inviting for SALEM Christian Contemporary WFSH (THE FISH). The station was #1 – by a wide margin – for the fourth book in a row (8.8-8.5). The next three spots were held by the same cluster. COX RADIO Talk WSB-A repeated at #2 (6.3-6.6). The two stations previously tied at #4 renewed their partnership and moved up to #3. COX RADIO Classic Hits WSRV (97.1 THE RIVER) had its highest share since JANUARY (5.9-6.1) while COX RADIO Urban AC WALR (KISS 104.1) had its best book in over a year (5.9-6.1). ENTERCOM Urban WVEE (V-103) slipped to #5 with its lowest score since FEBRUARY (6.2-6.0). It was just ahead of URBAN ONE Urban AC WAMJ (MAJIC), which stood alone at #6 as it bounced back from a down book (5.2-5.8).

We have breaking news from the 25-54 space. An Urban AC station was #1 but, for the first time in over a year, it was not WVEE. V-103 slipped to #2 despite a slight increase but was passed by WAMJ, which just barely captured the top spot with its best outing since MARCH. COX RADIO AC WSB-F (B98.5) moved up to #3 with its best book in exactly a year. This forced WSRV to step back to #4 and WFSH to move down to #5. Both those stations had down books. WALR remained a solid #6 with a slight loss of share.

WVEE continued its domination of the 18-34 demo. Though the station had its lowest share since MARCH, it maintained a better than one-share advantage over the two new #2 stations. URBAN ONE Urban WHTA (HOT 107.9) moved up from a tie at #4 as it ended a four-book slide. WSRV advanced from #6 with its best outing in over a year. WAMJ also made a strong move as it jumped from #8 to #4 thanks to a huge increase. WSB-F slipped to #5 and was joined by WALR, which fell from #3. Both stations had down books. CUMULUS Top 40/M WWWQ (Q99.7) dropped three places to #7 as it returned a good portion of last month’s big increase. 

WVEE was flat but continued to lead the way 18-49. However, WSB-F moved up to #2 with its best book in over a year and cut the lead to a half share. WSRV stepped up to #3 with a slight increase while WAMJ took two steps upward to #4 as it ended a three-book slide. WFSH dropped three spots to #5 as it ended a three-book surge. It was joined by WHTA, which advanced from #7 as it rebounded from a down book. They were just ahead of iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WWPW (POWER 96.1) and WALR, which were tied at #6. WWWQ fell to #9 as it returned most of last month’s huge increase.

PHILADELPHIA: A Classic One-Two

Those library cuts can be pretty powerful. BEASLEY Classic Rock WMGK was #1 6+ after landing its best book since JANUARY (6.6-7.0). A station with a slightly different vintage – ENTERCOM Classic Hits WOGL – was up to #2 with its highest share since MARCH (5.9-6.7). BEASLEY Active Rock WMMR remained at #3 (6.1-6.1) while ENTERCOM Sports WIP-F stood alone at #4 (5.9-5.9). iHEARTMEDIA Urban AC WDAS was up to #5 as it got back most of last month’s share loss (5.3-5.8). BEASLEY Country WXTU remained close behind at #6 (5.4-5.6). At this point you may be wondering what happened to ENTERCOM AC WBEB (B101.1). Well, the station fell from #1 to #7 after posting its lowest score in over a year (7.0-5.5).

For the seventh straight survey, WMMR was the runaway leader 25-54. The station was off a bit but still led cluster brother WMGK – which moved up to #2 with its best book since JANUARY – by more than two shares. WOGL had its best outing since NOVEMBER to advance four spaces to #3. Three stations were in a meeting at #4. WBEB dropped from #2 with its lowest share since AUGUST. iHEARTMEDIA Urban WUSL (POWER 99) stepped back from #3 as it ended a three-book surge. WDAS moved up from #8 as it regained most of last month’s loss. WXTU slipped to #7 and was tied with WIP-F.

Last month WUSL and WXTU were tied at #2 18-34. This time POWER assumed command thanks to a small increase. WXTU was off slightly to remain in second. WOGL had its best showing in over a year to move up three places to a not-too-distant #3. WMMR also advanced three squares – to #4 – as it got back some of last month’s huge loss. WBEB fell from first to fifth with its lowest share in over a year. WMGK was down for the third book in a row to drop to #6. It was tied with iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WIOQ (Q102), which slipped from #4 with its lowest share since the caribou were cavorting.

WMMR continued to own 18-49. The station was off a bit at #1 but still led new #2 WUSL by over a share. After logging six straight surveys at #2, WBEB dropped back to #3 with its lowest share in over a year. WXTU repeated at #4 with a slight increase while WOGL surged to #5 with its highest score since NOVEMBER. WMGK was close behind at #6 as it ended a two-book slide. iHEARTMEDIA Alternative WRFF (RADIO 104.5) fell to #9 with its lowest mark since JANUARY and was tied with WIOQ.

BOSTON: Hear Them ROR

The top three 6+ stations remained the same but the leader greatly expanded its lead over the rest of the field. BEASLEY Classic Hits WROR was #1 for the fifth straight survey and posted its largest share in over a year (8.2-8.8). iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WXKS (KISS 108) repeated at #2 but with its lowest share since people were anointing snow sculptures as clergy (7.3-6.9). ENTERCOM AC WMJX (MAGIC 106.7) returned at #3 (6.9-6.4) while iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock WZLX moved up to #4 (5.5-5.7). iHEARTMEDIA News WBZ-A also moved up a slot – to #5 – by being flat for the fourth book in a row (5.0-5.0). Yup, the station has had a five share in every survey since MARCH. Weird. BEASLEY Sports WBZ-F (THE SPORTS HUB) had its lowest score since FEBRUARY (5.6-3.8) as it dropped to #7. iHEARTMEDIA Talk WRKO-A had its best book in over a year (2.7-3.6) to move up four places to #8.

WROR had a huge gain 25-54 that pushed the station from #3 to #1. WXKS ended a three-book run on top as it stepped back to #2 and was a bit over a half share behind the leader. WMJX also stepped back – to #3 – as it returned most of last month’s big gain. WZLX took a step forward to #4 as it got back most of last survey’s big loss. BEASLEY Rhythmic AC WBQT (HOT 96.9) was up to #5 despite a slight decrease. WBZ-F dropped to #6 with its lowest score in over a year. It was tied with ENTERCOM Hot AC WWBX (MIX 104.1) and WBZ-A. MIX moved up despite a down book while WBZ-A had its fourth up book in a row.

In five of the previous six surveys – including the last two in a row – WXKS exceeded the double-digit threshold 18-34. That did not happen this time but the station was still a dominant #1. WROR remained at #2 with a solid increase and saw KISS’ lead shrink from more than four shares to a little more than two. WBQT repeated at #3 with a flat performance while WZLX was up three slots to #4 as it bounced back from a down book. WWBX slipped to #5 with its lowest mark since JANUARY. WBZ-F dropped to #6 and was tied with ENTERCOM Top 40/M WODS (103.3 AMP) and WMJX.

WXKS won the 18-49 contest for the sixth book in a row though with its lowest share since APRIL. WROR was up three places to #2 with its best book in over a year but was still about a share and a half off the lead. WBQT remained tied at #3 with a slight decrease but it had a new partner – WMJX – which slid back from #2 thanks to its lowest total since NOVEMBER. WZLX was up to #5 as it got back about half of last month’s big loss. WBZ-F dropped three places to #6 with – again – its lowest score in over a year.

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