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Research Director, Inc. Presents Exclusive April PPM Analysis For Houston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Atlanta, Boston
May 14, 2013
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. HOUSTON-GALVESTON: The April Forecast Was Sunny
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ALL ACCESS presents APRIL PPM market highlights, compiled by the Ratings Experts at RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. and powered by XTRENDS, radio's #1 PPM and diary analysis tool. All numbers reflect subscriber only data.
HOUSTON-GALVESTON: The April Forecast Was Sunny
Make it four months in a row – and 11 times over the last 14 surveys – that RADIO ONE Top 40/R KBXX (THE BOX) was the one station the people of HOUSTON listened to above all others (8.0-7.6). However, its lead over the #2 station, CCM+E AC KODA (SUNNY), is now the smallest it has been since JANUARY. SUNNY, which has been riding a two-book surge, posted its best number not under the influence of jingling-type tunes since JULY (6.3-6.7) as it moved from a tie at #3 to #2. RADIO ONE Urban AC KMJQ (MAJIC) is on a three-book downtrend and fell from #2 into a tie at #3 (6.5-6.3) with incumbent UNIVISION Regional Mexican KLTN (ESTEREO LATINO), which maintained an even keel (6.3-6.3). COX RADIO Country KKBQ (93Q) has been on quite the roll since seeming to bottom out in the HOLIDAY book. The station has grown by over two shares during that time, and its most recent effort (5.6-5.9) was its best in over a year and kept the station in solid position at #5.
Since recapturing the 25-54 crown last month, KBXX refused to relinquish its control of the top spot despite a slightly deflated number. This allowed KLTN to inch a little closer at #2 even though the station’s numbers were completely flat. KODA performed well here, posting its best snowflake-free number since AUGUST to climb from #6 to #3. This forced KMJQ, which had its lowest number since JUNE, to drop from #3 into a tie at #4 with KKBQ, which ended a strong three-book run.
It is not often that a station can lose over a share of listening yet continue to dominate in the way that KBXX does 18-34. While it scored its lowest number since JUNE, it still has a more than five-share lead over new #2 CCM+E Alternative KTBZ (THE BUZZ), which moved up from #3 with its best book since NOVEMBER. The KODA express continued to roll as the station had its best Kringle-free book in over a year to leap from #7 to #3. All this upward mobility did cause a bit of displacement as KLTN had its lowest number in over a year to slide from #2 to #4 while KKBQ, which almost duplicated its best book in over a year from last month, was asked to drop a spot to #5.
By now you know the narrative: KBXX has a “down” book yet continues to dominate a demo. Same story for 18-49 as the station’s lead over #2 KLTN is now under three shares – the lowest it has been since KLTN had its monster JANUARY. KKBQ continued to impress as it matched its best book of the last year to remain at #3 while KTBZ dropped out of a tie at #3 into sole possession of #4 by scoring its third straight down book. Though KODA remained at #5, it did post its best Christmas Shoes-less share in over a year.
WASHINGTON, DC: News Rules
It would somehow make sense in the capital of the free world that the news business would be booming. For the fourth month in a row, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY N/T WAMU was the market leader with yet another record-setting performance (9.4-9.7). While the station was also #1 a year ago, it has added quite a bit of audience compared to the 7.6 it had back then. HUBBARD News WTOP was down for the second book in a row but held on to the #2 spot (8.0-7.9) and is also far more listened to than last year when it was #3 with a 6.5. When you also add in the shares of CUMULUS Talk WMAL (3.5-2.7) and CBS RADIO News WNEW (1.2-1.3), you end up with a whopping 21.6 share of news listening in the market! CCM+E Top 40/M WIHT (HOT) was off slightly (6.7-6.5) to remain the #1 music station at #3. RADIO ONE Urban AC WMMJ (MAJIC) had its best book in over a year (4.7-5.3) to climb from #6 to #4 while HOWARD UNIVERSITY Urban AC WHUR did not seem to suffer any ill effects from the departure of MICHAEL BAISDEN as the station remained at #5 (5.3-5.2).
here was some movement 25-54 but it was more addition by subtraction. WAMU claimed the #1 position by virtue of holding on to the exact same number from the previous month. Last survey, two stations were deadlocked at the top spot. WIHT scored its lowest number in over a year to slip to #2 while WTOP was off for the second straight book to fall to #3. WHUR ended a two-book slide to climb from #6 to #4 while WMMJ was flat and happy to remain at #5. Ever since owning the market by channeling SANTA, CCM+E AC WASH has been experiencing ratings deflation and fell out of the top 5 to #6.
For the first time since NOVEMBER, WIHT is on top of the world 18-34, which ended the five-book run as market leader of RADIO ONE Urban WKYS (KISS), which slipped back to #2. Still, the race is for #3 as these two stations dominate the market and CCM+E Alternative WWDC (DC101) held court with a slight uptick. CBS RADIO Top 40/R WPGC had a slight down tick but remained at #4. Two stations are wrestling for control of #5 – WASH, which was there last month, and cluster brother CCM+E Country WMZQ, which galloped in from #6 with its best book in over a year. Oh, and in case you were wondering, WTOP went from a tie at #12 to #10 while WAMU went from a tie at #12 to a tie at #11.
WIHT was the sole proprietor of 18-49 for the fourth straight month. Despite posting its lowest number since NOVEMBER, WKYS remained at #2. Last month’s two-way knot at #3 has expanded to a three-way. WAMU was off slightly but remained in the mix while WTOP moved up from #5 and WWDC strode in from #6. WASH broke out of last month’s logjam but fell into a tie at #6.PHILADELPHIA: The Ties That Bind
Proving there is enough room in this town for the both of them, two stations found themselves deadlocked at #1. CBS RADIO News KYW-A was off for the second book in a row (7.8-7.0), which opened the door for WEAZ-FM RADIO AC WBEB (B101) to forge a share of the lead (6.9-7.0). Exactly one year ago, B101 was #1 with a 6.5 and that was the last time the station topped the charts without the benefit of that performance-enhancing music of a jingling persuasion. Quietly, CBS RADIO Classic Hits WOGL has put together a nice four-book winning streak (5.6-5.9) and moved from a tie at #4 to #3 – its highest ranking since JULY. In its first full survey without MICHAEL BAISDEN anchoring afternoons, CCM+E Urban AC WDAS posted its lowest number since NOVEMBER (6.3-5.8) to slip a slot to #4. GREATER MEDIA Active Rock WMMR slipped slightly (5.6-5.4) to drop a notch to #5 while BEASLEY Country WXTU had its best book since NOVEMBER (4.6-5.1) to move up to #6.
While WBEB and KYW-A were slugging it out for the 6+ crown, WMMR swooped in and snatched #1 25-54 by matching its best book since MAY. WBEB ended a two-book tear by slipping to #2 while CCM+E Alternative WRFF (RADIO 104.5) slipped a bit numerically but rose from #4 to #3. WDAS was also off a bit and slipped from #3 to #4. While WOGL remained at #5, it posted its best number since JUNE. WXTU ended a two-book slide to carom from #8 to #6.
For the second month in a row, WRFF led the market 18-34 but since CCM+E Urban WUSL (POWER) hit a major speed bump this month, the gap between the two widened considerably. WMMR continued to expand its universe by posting its biggest share since NOVEMBER yet had to be content to remain at #3 – though it is so close to #2 it can almost taste it. During the HOLIDAY survey, WXTU seemed to get a lump of coal as it sat at #10. The station has been growing steadily since then and just moved up a notch to #4 with its best book in over a year. WBEB was down for the second straight month and slipped from #4 to #5.
A year ago, WMMR was #1 18-49. History repeated this time around as the station moved up from #2 with the exact same share it had last year. (Cue Twilight Zone music.) WBEB suffered its second down month in a row to slip from the top spot into a tie at #2 with WRFF, which was up for the fourth straight survey. After posting its best book in over a year, WXTU saw its fortunes rise as the station moved from #7 to #4. After a three-month hiatus, CCM+E Top 40/M WIOQ (Q102) moved back into the top 5 with its best book since NOVEMBER.
ATLANTA: Kiss On The Move
It’s not like CBS RADIO Urban WVEE (V-103) is on cruise control – it just looks that way. For the third straight month, the station posted the exact same number (8.3-8.3) and, as per usual, remained at #1. Thanks to movement among its competitors, V-103 managed to widen its gap over the contenders, which include a new #2 – COX RADIO Urban AC WALR (KISS), which leapfrogged a couple of stations to move up from #4 (6.5-6.9). RADIO ONE Urban AC WAMJ (MAJIC) had been a solid #2 for the last few months but after posting its lowest number since NOVEMBER (7.7-6.7), the station slipped to #3. Could this be fall-out from the loss of MICHAEL BAISDEN? After five months as the market’s #3 station, COX RADIO AC WSB-F (B98.5) posted its lowest number since NOVEMBER (7.0-6.3) to slide to #4. Cluster mate COX RADIO Talk WSB-A remained at #5 (6.1-6.0).
It was another dominating performance 25-54 for WVEE as the station now has over a three-share lead over the new #2 – WALR. KISS posted its best number since DECEMBER to rise from #6 to #2 and that could have been at the expense of WAMJ, which had its lowest showing since SEPTEMBER to slip to #3. WSB-F has lost over a share since its HOLIDAY high water mark, and this time slipped another slot to #4, where it is tied with cluster brother COX RADIO Classic Hits WSRV (THE RIVER). Radio One Urban WHTA (HOT) may also have suffered some collateral damage from WALR’s rise as the station slipped from #5 to #6.
WVEE continued its ownership of the 18-34 audience but WHTA did inch a bit closer with its best performance since AUGUST. Together, these two stations have a larger share than the next four – combined. CUMULUS Top 40/M WWWQ (Q100) held steady at #3 while CCM+E Regional Mexican WBZY (EL PATRON) maintained its hold on #4. As recently as FEBRUARY, WALR was sitting in a tie at #10. This time the station moved from #7 to #5. Something is happening in the country world. CUMULUS Country WKHX (KICKS) jumped from a tie at #14 to #6 while CCM+E Country WUBL (THE BULL) also moved from a tie at #14 … to #9.
We think it’s called breathing room. WVEE widened its 18-49 lead to almost four full shares. This has a lot to do with the fact that WAMJ lost a full share from last month and is getting dangerously close to having WHTA pass it from the #3 position. WSRV swam upstream from #5 to #4 despite a slight share loss. Two stations are locked in mortal combat at #5. WWWQ, which rose from #6, and WALR, which jumped from #8. WSB-F dropped out of the top 5 after posting its lowest number since MAY.
BOSTON: When You Need To Know …
Radio is ready. We were very curious to see how the tragic events of April 15th affected what people were listening to. For the third month in a row, CCM+E Top 40/M WXKS (KISS 108) was the top performer as it matched the previous month’s number (7.9-7.9). Zooming up the charts was, no surprise, CBS RADIO News WBZ-A, which climbed from a tie at #4 to #2 (6.2-6.8). Another station on the rise was GREATER MEDIA Country WKLB, which also jumped from a tie at #4 to #3 with its best book since MAY (6.2-6.7). Cluster sister GREATER MEDIA AC WMJX (MAGIC) continued its post-HOLIDAY slide and slipped from #2 to #4 with its lowest book since the aforementioned MAY (6.6-6.2). CBS RADIO Classic Rock WZLX made a return appearance to the top 5 from #6 (6.1-6.0). GREATER MEDIA Classic Hits WROR is on some sort of weird ratings ride that shuttles it between #3 and #6. This month the T stopped at #6 (6.3-5.9). GREATER MEDIA Rhythmic AC WBQT (HOT) continued its ratings renaissance with its best number to date (2.7-3.1) yet dipped a spot to #14.
WXKS maintained complete control 25-54 for the fourth straight month. The previous tie at #2 has been broken and WKLB got to make a wish and take sole possession of #2 while WMJX got the short end of the stick to slip to #3. WZLX had its best book since SEPTEMBER to jump from #8 to #4 while CBS RADIO Hot AC WBMX (MIX) was up for the fourth straight book and climbed from #7 to #5. GREATER MEDIA Alternative WBOS (RADIO 92.9) saw its excursion into the top 5 end rather abruptly as the station tumbled from #4 to #8. WBQT experienced more positive ratings momentum and rose from #12 to a tie at #10.
Yes, WXKS is still the dominant 18-34 station even though it received its lowest number in over a year. It did manage to extend its lead over #2 cluster mate CCM+E Top 40/R WJMN (JAM’N), which downloaded its lowest book in over a year, as well. WBOS remained at #3 despite suffering some noticeable ratings erosion. WKLB had its best number since SEPTEMBER to take over sole possession of #4. This nudged WBQT out of a tie at that spot to #5 even though the station posted yet another ratings increase.
WXKS’s two-book surge 18-49 came to an end, leaving the station in its customary position at #1 though its number is noticeably smaller than a year ago. WKLB moved out of a tie at #3 to its highest ranking in over a year at #2. WMJX was down for the fourth straight survey and dropped a notch to #3. Every APRIL, hope springs eternal for the RED SAWX and no station appreciates that more than CBS RADIO Sports WBZ-F (THE SPORTS HUB), which moved from #6 to a tie at #4 with WBOS, which dropped out of a tie at #3. WBQT continued its growth spurt and elevated from #11 to #9.
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