Research Director, Inc.: Exclusive March PPM Analysis For New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas-Ft. Worth

Exclusive Analysis From Research Director, Inc.

ALL ACCESS Recaps MARCH 2020 Day One 

Welcome to the real-life version of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. This is likely one of the year’s biggest understatements, but the MARCH survey will be one of the most scrutinized in years. Everything in the U.S. changed right around the beginning of week 3. Some markets were obviously more affected than others. How much? The numbers will tell us.

The MARCH book ran from 2/27 through 3/25. The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – along with our socially distant compatriots at XTRENDS – are about to reveal our monthly dive into the numbers. As we are advising our respective clients, there are some numbers (that we cannot publish) that will provide a deeper understanding on what is happening to radio listening thanks to COVID-19. For the purposes of this missive, we focus on shares. We expect to see changes, but at the end of the day, there are always 100 available shares. We recommend that you dig a little deeper and look into PUMMs and Cume.

NEW YORK: Information, Please

The big story out of the biggest market that is the hardest hit was the performance of a couple of information-focused radio stations. ENTERCOM News WINS-A had its best 6+ book in over a year (3.6-4.7) to move up to #5. It also saw its cume jump from 1,363,300 to 1,676,600. NEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO N/T WNYC also had its highest share in over a year (3.1-4.0) to rise to a tie at #7. The rest of the top tier 6+ was the same though the race grew tighter. iHEARTMEDIA AC WLTW (106.7 LITE FM) remained #1 but with its lowest share in over a year (7.3-6.7). SBS Tropical WSKQ (MEGA 97.9) became a much closer #2 (5.9-6.5) while third-place ENTERCOM Classic Hits WCBS-FM made it a three-station race with its best performance in over a year (5.7-6.2). All three stations saw significant cume decreases. MEDIACO Urban AC WBLS repeated at #4 (5.4-5.4). iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WHTZ (Z100) had its lowest number in over a year (4.7-4.2) as it slipped to #6.

The top two 25-54 stations remained the same but became much closer. WLTW was #1 with a slight decrease while #2 WSKQ closed to less than a half share. WCBS-F was up three slots to #3 with its best outing since JULY. WBLS was off slightly but moved up to #4 and was tied with WHTZ, which slipped from #3. iHEARTMEDIA Urban WWPR (POWER 105.1) slid to #6 and was paired with WNYC, which advanced from a tie at #10. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WKTU dropped from #4 to #9 as it ended a three-book surge. WINS-A was up six slots to a tie at #13.

For the fourth book in a row 18-34, WSKQ was in double digits. And, it was the #1 station for three books in a row. The station also posted its largest share in over a year. #2 WLTW had its lowest mark since JULY and was more than four shares off the lead. MEDIACO Top 40/R WQHT (HOT 97) was up to #3 despite a small loss. WHTZ remained at #4 with its lowest total in over a year and was paired with WWPR, which moved up despite a modest loss. WKTU dropped from #3 to #8 with its first down book since SEPTEMBER.

WSKQ captured the 18-49 flag for the third straight survey and landed its largest share in over a year. WLTW repeated at #2 but was almost two shares off the pace. WWPR gave an encore performance at

#3 but with its smallest share since DECEMBER. WHTZ stood alone at #4 while WCBS-F advanced three squares to #5. WKTU fell five slots to #9 and was tied with WNYC, which moved up from a tie at #13.

LOS ANGELES: The Earth Moved

As we examine the top 6+ players, one number stood out. All the leading music stations lost a noticeable amount of cume. For example, ENTERCOM Classic Hits KRTH (K-EARTH 101) was flat (5.2-5.2) as it moved up to #1 but saw its cume decrease from 2,889,100 to 2,470,00 – its lowest in over a year. This was not atypical for the music stations. iHEARTMEDIA AC KOST posted its lowest share in over a year (5.7-5.1) as it slipped to #2, and it experienced an almost 700,000 cume decline. ENTERCOM Rhythmic AC KTWV (94.7 THE WAVE) remained at #3 (4.7-4.9) while iHEARTMEDIA Hot AC KBIG (104.3 MY FM) repeated at #4 (4.5-4.4). iHEARTMEDIA Talk KFI-A was up to #5 with its best share since JULY (3.8-4.2) though it, too, lost cume. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M KIIS slid to #7 (4.4-3.9). ENTERCOM News KNX-A was up to #8 with its best book in over a year (3.0-3.8).

Last survey KIIS and SBS Regional Mexican KLAX (97.9 LA RAZA) were tied at #1 25-54. That relationship ended rather abruptly. KISS dropped to #5 with its first down book since SEPTEMBER while KLAX landed at a tie at #7 with its lowest share in over a year. Your new market leader was UNIVISION Spanish Contemporary KLVE (K-LOVE 107.5), which rose from #6 with a small increase. KBIG advanced three places to #2 with a slight decrease. KRTH and KOST were both off a bit and remained an item at #3.

The 18-34 arena was a ball of confusion. KRTH had its best book since DECEMBER as it rocketed from #8 to #1. KIIS slipped to #2 as it concluded a two-book surge. KBIG was up four slots to #3 with its best outing since SEPTEMBER. MERUELO Top 40/R KPWR (POWER 106 FM) stepped up to #4 with a small gain while its chief rival – iHEARTMEDIA Urban KRRL (REAL 92.3) – slid to #5. SBS Spanish AC KXOL (MEGA 96.3) dropped to #6 while iHEARTMEDIA Alternative KYSR (ALT 98.7) stepped down to #7. KLAX fell five places to #8 as it lost all of last month’s solid increase – plus a little extra.

KIIS remained #1 18-49 despite returning all of last month’s solid increase. KRTH moved up to #2 with a small gain and was only a couple of beats off the lead. A flat KBIG remained at #3 and was joined by KLVE, which moved in from #6 with its highest share in over a year. KOST slipped to #5 while KLAX fell four places to #6.

CHICAGO: Big News

Three stations steeped in spoken-word content saw their respective 6+ fortunes rise this time as each landed its largest share in over a year. And, as has become a trend, all saw cume growth while the music purveyors saw their cume decline. ENTERCOM News WBBM-A remained at #1 (5.8-7.7). The station also gained about 70,000 in new cume. NEXSTAR N/T WGN-A was up to #5 with about 18,000 in new cume (3.9-4.5). WBEZ ALLIANCE N/T WBEZ rose to #6 (3.6-4.3) as it gained about 31,000 in fresh listeners. iHEARTMEDIA Urban AC WVAZ (V103) moved up to #2 as it bounced back from a down book (4.9-5.3). HUBBARD Hot AC WTMX (101.9 THE MIX) slipped to #3 (5.4-5.2) while HUBBARD Classic Rock WDRV (THE DRIVE 97.1) stepped down to #4 (5.3-5.1). Two stations joined WBEZ at #6. iHEARTMEDIA AC WLIT (93.9 LITE FM) (4.8-4.3) and CUMULUS Classic Hits WLS-F (4.2-4.3).

A flat WTMX remained in first place 25-54. WBEZ moved up six places to #2. As recently as the HOLIDAY survey, it was #13. WDRV was off slightly but remained at #3. UNIVISION Regional Mexican WOJO (QUE BUENA 105.1) slipped to #4 and was joined by WVAZ, which moved up from a tie at #8. WLS-F slipped to

#6 with a slight decrease. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WKSC (103.5 KISS FM) dropped to #7 as it ended a two-book surge. WBBM-A made the leap o’ the month as it rose from #19 to #9 with its highest total in over a year.

WKSC was off slightly 18-34 but was able to move up to #1. ENTERCOM Top 40/M WBBM-F (B96) was up five places to #2 with its highest share since APRIL. WDRV went from first to third (man, we miss baseball) with its lowest score since JUNE. WTMX and HUBBARD AC WSHE (100.3 SHE) were tied at #3 last month. Both were off the exact same amount and remained together – at #4. CUMULUS Alternative WKQX had its best outing since DECEMBER as it moved up to #6. It was tied with WOJO.

WTMX was up for the fourth book in a row to remain #1 18-49. WBEZ moved from a tie at #6 to #2 with its third up book in a row. WKSC remained at #3 with a small loss. WOJO dropped to #4 with its smallest share since OCTOBER. WDRV and WSHE had been tied at #4. They remained together but at #5 as both had small losses. Meanwhile, iHEARTMEDIA Urban WGCI and WBBM-F had been seen together at #11. Both stations had solid increases as they improved their standing to #7.

SAN FRANCISCO: Bigger News

In normal times (remember those?), the leading 6+ stations were always from the spoken-word genre. Generally, the only time ENTERCOM News KCBS-A and KQED INC. N/T KQED are not leading the market iswhen Santa is in town. This time both stations had their largest shares in over a year. KCBS-A was #1 for the third book in a row (8.7-9.9) while KQED came in second again (6.6-8.1). Surprisingly, both stations actually lost cume. The leading music station was iHEARTMEDIA AC KISQ (98.1 THE BREEZE), which inched up to #3 with its third up book in a row (4.4-4.5). BONNEVILLE AC KOIT slipped to #4 (4.8-4.4) while ENTERCOM Hot AC KLLC (ALICE @ 97.3) stepped up to #5 (4.1-4.2). iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/R KMEL moved up to #6 (3.7-4.0) while BONNEVILLE Top 40/M KMVQ (99.7 NOW) slid to #7 (4.4-3.7).

A flat KOIT was #1 25-54 for the second book in a row. KLLC moved up to a very close #2 with its highest share in over a year. KMEL remained at #3 with a small gain. It was joined by KCBS-A, which advanced from #7 with its best showing in over a year. KQED repeated at #5 as it regained most of last month’s big loss. KMVQ dropped from #2 to #6 with a big share loss.

KMEL cruised to its third straight dominant 18-34 victory. KOIT was up to #2 with its best Frosty-free number in over a year but still trailed the leader by over two shares. KMVQ slipped to #3 with a small loss while KLLC was up four slots to #4 with its best outing in over a year. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M KYLD (WILD 94.9) slipped to #5 as it returned all of last month’s increase. A flat KQED remained at #6. iHEARTMEDIA Hot AC KIOI (STAR 101.3) slipped to #7 and was tied with KISQ and KCBS-A.

KOIT was up slightly 18-49 to lead the field for the second straight survey. KMEL was not far behind as it moved up to #2 with its best book since DECEMBER. KQED rose to #3 as it got back most of last month’s decrease. KLLC stepped up to #4 with its highest score in over a year. KMVQ dropped to #5 with its lowest mark since OCTOBER. UNIVISION Regional Mexican KSOL (QUE BUENA) and SBS Regional Mexican KRZZ (93.3 LA RAZA) had been tied at #11. Both had solid gains and ended up at #6 and #7, respectively. KYLD fell four places to #8 as it ended a strong two-book surge.

DALLAS-FT.WORTH: A Higher Authority

This market was a bit behind the curve when it came to shelter-in-place orders. As a result, we did not see the big surge in information listening. NORTH TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO N/T KERA did see some cume growth as it moved up to #11 6+ (2.8-3.4). The top share holders were pretty much the same though each station saw a noticeable drop in their respective cumes. SALEM Christian Contemporary KLTY was #1 for the third book in a row (6.9-7.0). iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M KHKS (106.1 KISS FM) repeated at #2 (6.3-6.0) while ENTERCOM Classic Hits KLUV (98.7 K-LUV) was up to #3 with its highest total in over a year (4.6-5.1). CUMULUS Country KSCS slipped to #4 (5.2-4.9) while iHEARTMEDIA AC KDGE (STAR 102.1) stepped down to #5 (4.7-4.7). CUMULUS Country KPLX (99.5 THE WOLF) slipped to #6 (4.6-4.5).

There was precious little drama 25-54 as the top two stations remained the same for the third book in a row. KHKS was #1 and KLTY repeated at #2. Both stations had slight decreases. There was a three-way scrum at #3. KSCS remained in place with a slight increase while KLUV moved up from #5 with – again – its highest share in over a year. SERVICE Urban KKDA (K104) advanced from a tie at #6 with its best book in exactly one year. iHEARTMEDIA Active Rock KEGL (97.1 THE EAGLE) was up for the third straight survey and landed at #6. UNIVISION Regional Mexican KLNO (QUE BUENA 94.1) dropped to #9 with its smallest share since AUGUST.

KHKS continued to dominate 18-34 as the station posted its largest share since NOVEMBER. KPLX had its best book in over a year to move up to #2 yet trailed the leader by over two shares. KKDA repeated at #3 with its fifth straight up book. KSCS slid to #4 as it returned all of last month’s solid gain. KEGL moved up to #5 as it got back all of last month’s big loss. iHEARTMEDIA Hot AC KDMX (102.9 NOW) stepped down to #6 with a modest loss. KLNO fell five places to #9 with its lowest output since JULY.

KHKS was off a bit 18-49 but still won the demo easily. Three stations were tied at #2 – two shares off the lead. KKDA was up a spot with a slight increase. KPLX moved up from #6 and KLUV advanced from a tie at #7. Both KPLX and KLUV had their best books in over a year. KLNO dropped from a tie at #3 to #9.

The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. must now go sterilize a new batch of data as we prepare for round two of the MARCH numbers. These will include HOUSTON, WASHINGTON, DC, ATLANTA, PHILADELPHIA, and BOSTON.

In the meantime, you could subscribe to our blog. We have been diligently posting helpful links that will help radio weather this crisis. It’s some very useful stuff. Check it out here: www.ResearchDirectorInc.com/Hot-Topics/

About RESEARCH DIRECTOR, Inc.: RESEARCH DIRECTOR, Inc. is based in ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND. We help radio stations’ programming and sales departments maximize the value of their research.

For more information, visit www.ResearchDirectorInc.com, call (410) 295-6619, or e-mail info@ResearchDirectorInc.com or sallan@ResearchDirectorInc.com. 

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