Exclusive January PPM Analysis: N.Y., L.A. And Chicago

NY, LA And Chicago Examined

RADIOCRUNCH/MUSICRUNCH principals KEVIN MCCABE and ANTHONY ACAMPORA take us through the demo results for NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES,and CHICAGO TODAY. A new year also brings a fresh new format to the reports -- which now analyze stations by cluster.

New York: Clear Channel Dominates; CBS Sees Growth

CLEAR CHANNEL: CLEAR CHANNEL lands a unprecedented five of the top six stations 18-49 and four of the top seven stations 25-54.

Top 40 WHTZ (Z100) continued its dominance in the JANUARY PPM results as the venerable station ranked #1 in the 18-34, 18-49, and tied for the top spot 25-54 with SBS Tropical WSKQ. Z100 has been #1 18-34 in every month since PPM became currency. They've been #1 every month 18-49 and 25-54 except in the Holiday book, when sister AC WLTW took over the top spot while playing CHRISTMAS music. The impressive rankings have led some pundits to question whether or not NEW YORK is going to see a head-to-head Top 40 battle, like the one that is underway in LOS ANGELES with the flip of CBS Talk outlet KLSX to 97.1 AMP RADIO, which is going after CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40 KIIS.

After being #1 in the holiday book, AC WLTW (LITE-FM) ranks #3 25-54, sliding from its DECEMBER 2008 perch at the top of the demo. Ironically, from a share standpoint, LITE-FM tied for their lowest 25-54 share since currency -- and this followed their biggest month prior.

Classic Rock WAXQ (Q104.3) ranked #4 Persons 25-54 and continued its strong performances in PPM measurement. Q104.3 is clearly benefitting from a hit-driven Classic Rock focus. Q104.3 has been steady in share the last four months.

An off month for Rhythmic AC WKTU, which dropped from 4th in the Holiday book all the way down to 7th. It was WKTU's lowest 25-54 share in PPM.

Urban WWPR (POWER 105) moved from 4th to 3rd 18-34, 6th to 4th 18-49.

CBS: All News WINS-A continues to perform strong. The station began gaining 25-54 momentum prior to the election and has stayed very strong well into the new year. There were plenty of newsworthy events in JANUARY. The continued economic crisis, the Presidential Inauguration, and WINTER storm coverage of the JANUARY snowfall in the NEW YORK TRI-STATE area helped make WINS-A #5 25-54.

Classic Hits WCBS-F ranked #7 (tied with WKTU) among 25-54s and scored its second best ranking yet in PPM.

AC WWFS (FRESH) has been the subject of format change rumors. However, with a continuing improvement in share, one would have to think that its safe. WWFS ranked in the top 10 in all three demos: #10 25-54 and 18-49, and #9 18-34. From a share standpoint, it was FRESH's best share since SEPTEMBER.

Sports WFAN slid back to 11th 25-54.

All News WCBS-A reached a new share high in PPM and climbed to 14th place.

Rock WXRK (K-ROCK) has also been the subject of format change rumors. K-ROCK ranked 17th 25-54 for a 5th straight month and was also 17th 18-49.

EMMIS: Rhythmic WQHT (HOT 97) ranked #2 18-34 behind Z100. The 2nd place ranking placed HOT 97 between CLEAR CHANNEL outlets Z100 at #1 and WWPR at #3. Z100 and HOT 97 were a very tight 1-2 in the diary, but Z100 continued to win by a fairly healthy margin in the meter. HOT 97's JANUARY was its second-lowest currency share month. HOT 97 also fell from 5th to 8th in the important 18-49 cell, where it had its lowest PPM results yet by a half share.

Urban AC WRKS rebounded slightly in JANUARY to rank 9th 25-54, although it tied for its second lowest PPM share. WRKS also trailed INNER CITY format rival WBLS by a full share 25-54.

AAA/Rock hybrid WRXP had its best month yet in the Holiday book, but dipped back to 20th place for JANUARY.

CITADEL: For the first time, Hot AC WPLJ was outside of the Top 10. The station slipped back to 11th 25-54. However, still strong was the SCOTT & TODD morning show, which ranked 6th in AM drive. The challenges for WPLJ are in the music heavy dayparts, as they dropped to 12th in middays and afternoons.

Talk WABC rose from 22nd to 18th 25-54.

SBS: For the first time in PPM, Tropical WSKQ was #1 25-54 - albiet tied with Z100. WSKQ iwa also 2nd 18-49 and 4th 18-34.

Spanish Contemporary WPAT ranked 16th 25-54.

Los Angeles: KIIS Gets Clean Sweep; 'El Gato' Explodes; 98-7 Closes Gap On KROQ

CLEAR CHANNEL: A clean sweep for Top 40 KIIS -- as they won 12+, 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 adults in the month of JANUARY. It was the final month that KIIS will have the Top 40 format all to themselves, although MARCH will be the first month for KLSX in full. The first weekly PPM results become available for KLSX "AMP RADIO" on MARCH 23rd.

AC KOST, which performed extremely well during the Holiday period, slid back to slightly above normal levels -- still ranking #3 with adults 25-54, better than the 6th and 7th rankings in OCTOBER and NOVEMBER.

The big news out of the CLEAR CHANNEL building in BURBANK is the continued growth of Alternative KYSR (98-7), which closed the gap with CBS rival KROQ. 98-7 soared from 12th to 6th 18-34 to rank right behind KROQ (which slipped from 4th to 5th). KYSR beat KROQ 18-34 adults in the final two weeks of the survey. 98-7 also went from 12th to 7th 18-49 and 13th to 11th 25-54. Its JANUARY shares were new highs across all cells.

Hot AC KBIG (104-3 MY-FM) actually got a boost into the top 10 when KOST was in holiday music, but slipped back to 12th 25-54 in JANUARY.

Rhythmic AC KHHT (HOT 92.3) has been a steady 16th or 17th in the 25-54 cell the entire PPM run -- although its JANUARY share was its highest to date.

Talk KFI moved from 18th back up to 17th 25-54, still making it the highest rated 25-54 outlet on the AM band.

Sports KLAC scored its highest 25-54 adult ratings to date.

CBS: The crown jewel of CBS remained Alternative KROQ. Despite being attacked by KYSR, KROQ held its own. The legendary station ranked 3rd 25-54, 2nd 18-49, and 5th 18-34. The stellar 25-54 results really showed how much brand heritage KROQ has -- and that is really an upper-demo powerhouse.

Classic Hits KRTH also scored solid results in JANUARY, moving from 12th to 6th full week among adults 25-54. KRTH had its second highest 25-54 PPM share to date. The station also saw nice growth 18-34 and 18-49 adults.

Adult Hits KCBS-F (JACK) remains a steady performer, ranking 8th 25-54 this month, pretty much in line with where they have been.

Smooth Jazz KTWV (THE WAVE) was also consistent -- ranking 12th 25-54 -- and well among the top-10 English-language stations in demo. While Smooth Jazz struggled or left a number of markets, THE WAVE remains potent and viable in LOS ANGELES.

In its final full month as an FM Talker, KLSX ranked 19th, but grabbed its highest 25-54 PPM share ever. KLSX was growing nicely when CBS pulled the plug and had some solid results in its Male 25-54 target.

News KNX had its second highest 25-54 rank and share in JANUARY, while sister KFWB was 27th in that cell.

EMMIS: Rhythmic KPWR (POWER 106) returned to #2 with its core demo of Adults 18-34, although still a distant second to KIIS. However, POWER 106 had its second-best share month in the cell to date. POWER was also top 5 again with Adults 18-49.

Rhythmic AC KMVN (MOVIN’ 93-9) slid back from 18th to 21st 25-54, despite being relatively flat in share. It was still MOVIN’s second best 25-54 share month in PPM.

CITADEL: Classic Rock KLOS is currently undergoing some music changes, so evaluating it in JANUARY would not be fair. However, the station did slide in rank to 14th 25-54, its lowest rank yet in PPM. On the flipside, not unlike sister WPLJ/NEW YORK, KLOS has a strong morning show brand in MARK & BRIAN -- which took over the #1 position in L.A. 25-54 in mornings. However, KLOS lost almost half its audience at 10a and struggled to be top 15 25-54 after 10a. With KLSX flipping from Talk to Top 40, there are going to be some available 25-54 men, and KLOS could well be a beneficiary in those other dayparts.

UNIVISION: Spanish Contemporary KLVE saw its five-month 25-54 rating decline level off in JANUARY with regard to share -- and also found itself tied for 3rd in rank.

The same can’t be said for Regional Mexican sister KSCA (LA NUEVA), which continued a downward trend, dropping to a PPM low in share and rank (#10). It actually dropped to the 3rd position among Regional Mexican outlets, behind SBS rival KLAX (LA RAZA) and LIBERMAN's KBUE (QUE BUENA).

Spanish Adult Hits simulcast KRCD/KRCV (RECUERDO) -- after several up months -- declined slightly in JANUARY. RECUERDO slid to 9th 25-54.

SBS: Once again, the Regional Mexican champ is SBS owned KLAX (LA RAZA), giving the CORAL GABLES, FL-based broadcaster the #1 Spanish-language station in both NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES among adults 25-54. KLAX moved up to 2nd 25-54 and 3rd 18-49 and beat some very tough format competitors. Once again, great numbers for EL MANDRIL in afternoons led KLAX.

However, the company continued to see Latin Urban KXOL (LATINO 96.3) decline. The format has faded away in almost every other market where it was launched. KXOL, unlike other outlets in the format, has continued to mix both English hip-hop with Reggaeton music. However, KXOL tied for its worst 18-34 result yet and was 10th in that core demo. With KLSX playing a healthy dose of the English-language hits on KXOL, one has to wonder how this will affect them.

ENTRAVISION: The story out of ENTRAVISION is with newly launched Regional Mexican KDLD (EL GATO). While former occupant INDIE 103-1 received accolades from publications like ROLLING STONE, EL GATO is receiving high marks very quickly from listeners and generating record shares for the pair of 103.1 frequencies. Within two weeks of its launch, EL GATO had over triple the numbers of INDIE in most key target demographics. For the full month of JANUARY (and with only 2½ weeks in the format), EL GATO went from 35th to 24th 18-49 and from 26th to 18th 18-34. While these two signals have been through a plethora of formats over the years, this one has early signs of being something very real.

Spanish Adult Hits sister KLYY (JOSE) remained a mid-level performer, but ranked 18th 25-54 and 16th 18-49.

Finally, Spanish Contemporary KSSE (SUPER ESTRELLA) is still having its challenges. The company disbanded the network recently to install JOSE on in those markets, and now the one-time flagship ranked only 24th 25-54. Considering KSSE had the best metro coverage of the three Entravision brands, it had to be disappointing to see EL GATO tied or beating KSSE every week since it’s been on 25-54 and have beaten it every week 18-49.

LIBERMAN: A huge month for Regional Mexican trimulcast KBUE/KBUA/KEBN. The trio leapt from 11th to 6th 25-54 and 10th to 4th 18-49, moving into the #2 position in the format behind KLAX.

OTHERS: Not much movement at all for BONNEVILLE AAA KSWD (THE SOUND). The outlet fell from 30th to 36th 25-54, its lowest rank and share yet in PPM. MT. WILSON Country KKGO (GO COUNTRY 105) ranked 25th this month 25-54.

CHICAGO

CBS: The tumultuous scandal that centered on former ILLINOIS Governor ROD BLAGOJEVICH was in full swing during JANUARY. Coverage of the spectacle and all of its latest developments on CBS All News WBBM-A helped lead the station to #1 among Persons 25-54 in the JANUARY PPM results. In addition to the BLAGOJEVICH saga, there was, of course, WINTER weather coverage and the continuing financial crisis. In addition to top honors 25-54, WBBM-A scored #4 among Persons 18-49.

Country WUSN continued to be a model performer for the Country format, climbing to #6 25-54, its best ranking and share yet. However, even more impressive was WUSN's rise to #2 18-49 and the #1 English-language station.

WBBM-F (B96) ranked #4 in its principal target of adults 18-34. B96 made some deliberate musical adjustments with more pop-friendly tracks, including hits from KELLY CLARKSON, TAYLOR SWIFT and PINK. B96 scored its highest PPM results in the Holiday book, but slipped back in share in JANUARY. However, they did rise in rank to a new high of 4th.

Big news for Adult Hits WJMK (JACK-FM). Not only did the station drop STEVE DAHL late last year, it shifted the music to a more Classic Rock/Hits presentation -- focused on '70s and '80s Rock hits -- with a much tighter library. JACK scored its best 25-54 numbers yet and leapt from 15th to 11th 25-54.

AAA WXRT tied for 13th 25-54 -- pretty much in the space they've been the last four months.

AC WCFS (FRESH) slumped to its second lowest PPM 25-54 share and lowest rank to date, coming in 19th.

CLEAR CHANNEL: Two CLEAR CHANNEL stations, which performed well during the last couple of months, slipped dramatically.

AC WLIT -- which scored record numbers during the DECEMBER and Holiday books with CHRISTMAS music -- came back to normal levels. WLIT was 12th the three months prior to the CHRISTMAS music -- and topped the market for two months. In JANUARY, they slid back to 11th.

Urban AC WVAZ (V103) dipped from record ratings during the Holiday book and dropped from 2nd to 3rd.

Top 40 WKSC ranked #2 18-34, but didn' have the demographic dominance that sisters Z100 and KIIS have in their respective markets. WKSC did widen its lead over B96 with 18-34s to its largest margin since SEPTEMBER. WKSC was also 6th 18-49.

Urban WGCI was still top 5 18-34, but ranked 8th 18-49, and dropped from 9th to 15th 25-54.

Smooth Jazz WNUA continued to struggle like many in the format have (sans KTWV). WNUA ranked 24th 25-54.

BONNEVILLE: BONNEVILLE remains a perennial leader in the CHICAGO market and saw all three of their FM's enjoy post-Holiday growth.

Classic Rock WDRV (THE DRIVE) rebounded from a six-month slide and moved back up to the 4th spot 25-54.

Hot AC sister WTMX (THE MIX) tied THE DRIVE for 4th place, its best ranking since OCTOBER.

Finally, AC WILV (LOVE-FM) came back post-holiday with itssecond best 25-54 share to date and moved from 18th to 13th.

CITADEL: CHRISTMAS music on WLIT really affected a number of adult stations and several of them rebounded in JANUARY. One of those was Classic Hits WLS-F (TRUE OLDIES 94-7), which motored from 9th to 7th -- and scored its second-best PPM share to date.

The big news load sure helped Talk WLS-A -- which was the best performing CITADEL AM property in the big markets. WLS-A soared from 17th to 9th and by far scored its best PPM results to date.

EMMIS: Longtime WINDY CITY operator EMMIS saw Rock WLUP return to the top 10 25-54.

However, Alternative WKQX (Q101.1) continued to have its challenges. Q101.1 ranked 13th 18-34, 18th 18-49 and 24th 25-54.

UNIVISION: Regional Mexican performed with some very impressive results. JANUARY brought new highs to UNIVISION Regional Mexican outlet WOJO. The station took top honors in both the 18-34 and 18-49 cells -- and ranked #2 Persons 25-54.

UNIVISION also moved the furniture around recently in CHICAGO, so we'll have to wait on those to kick in with WPPN evolving to Spanish Contemporary, while Latin Urban WVIV is now Spanish Adult Hits.

SBS: Regional Mexican WLEY was a top-10 performer 25-54 --  #8 in the JANUARY results. WLEY is in a tie with WTMX among Persons 18-34, so the race between WOJO and WLEY is definitely hot. It’s certainly interesting the PPM phenomenon of tighter races between Spanish-language formats in metered markets.

OTHERS: TRIBUNE News/Talk WGN-A started off strong in PPM back in the late SUMMER. The CUBS were on fire and believed they were destined to end a 100-year championship drought; WGN-A saw great results. However, the CUBS season ended after being swept by the LOS ANGELES DODGERS in the first round of the playoffs and WGN-A's fortunes slid as well. WGN-A was 4th in AUGUST, 8th in SEPTEMBER and 10th in OCTOBER. However, in the off season the station has been as low as 21st and currently ranked 19th.

CRAWFORD Urban WPWX scored its best PPM numbers yet, although still only 15th in its 18-34 target demo.

You can reach Anthony at anthony@radiocrunch.com or KEVIN at musicrunch@rocketmail.com.

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