Exclusive August 2012 PPM Analysis: Washington, D.C., Philadelphia And Atlanta

D.C., Philly And ATL

ALL ACCESS presents JULY 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.
 
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Little Changes In DC
 
Despite all the rhetoric, there was precious little change in the power rankings of the D..C radio players. HUBBARD News WTOP maintained its hold on the top spot despite taking a hit (8.9-8.2).  Still, it was at the same number as in AUGUST 2011, when it also happened to be #1.  WTOP also put together back-to-back 8-share books for the first time since last Fall -- a feat it used to perform routinely. AMERICAN UNIVERSITY N/T WAMU logged its worst book since FEBRUARY 2012 (7.7-7.1), but still managed to hang on to #2 and are over 2 share points ahead of where it was a year ago.  Hard-charging CCM+E Top 40/M WIHT (HOT 99.5) rebounded nicely back to #3 (6.5-7.0). The station flip-flopped (consider that a political reference since this is D.C.) with HOWARD UNIVERSITY Urban AC WHUR, despite the fact that WHUR posted its best numbers of 2012 (6.7-6.8). The top 5 was really the top 6 as CCM+E AC WASH turned in its lowest book in a year (5.3-5.2) and found itself deadlocked with RADIO ONE Urban AC WMMJ (MAJIC 102.3) (5.1-5.2). MAJIC is now on a four-book upswing.
 
In what appeared to be a statistical anomaly, the top 10 actually went up to 11. CUMULUS Hot A/C WRQX (MIX 107.3) forced its way in with its best book since MARCH (3.0-3.7).  Moving in the opposite direction was CCM+E Classic Hits WBIG (BIG 100.3), which wasn't able to duplicate its best book of the year from the previous survey (5.1-4.5).
 
In the 25-54 world, WIHT may be on a two-book slide but it was still strong enough to score its eighth consecutive stay in the #1 position. WHUR returned to #2 with another great book while WTOP experienced some summer shrinkage to fall to #3.  WAMU successfully defended its #4 ranking.  There was a new #5 as RADIO ONE Urban WKYS decided to post its best in-demo book in over a year.  As recently as MAY it wasn’t even in the top 10 -- and look where it is now.  Bubbling up from farther down the list was CBS RADIO Sports WJFK (106.7 THE FAN), which hit a solid line drive with its best book of 2012.
 
WIHT returned to its usual lofty status with 18-34s, wresting control back from WKYS, which just happened to be on a two-book surge.  This was, in effect, a three-station demo, with CBS RADIO Top 40/R WPGC completing the trio.  Watch out for a surging WRQX.  They were a far cry from the leaders but did experience some dramatic growth.
 
The only thing that had been able to keep WIHT from being #1 18-49 was SANTA, and he’s on vacation right now.  WKYS remained a solid, if distant #2.  WHUR was up for the third straight book to leap into a tie with WPGC for #3.  WRQX managed to slip back into the top 10, while CCM+E Alternative WWDC (DC-101) was on a four-book slide.
 
PHILADELPHIA: Breaking News In Philly

This just in: PHILADELPHIA has a new #1 radio station. CBS RADIO News KYW-A notched its best book since FEBRUARY (6.3-6.7) and vaulted to the top with its second straight up book. WEAZ-FM RADIO AC WBEB (B101) found itself at #2 for the third month in a row (6.3-6.1). CBS RADIO Classic Hits WOGL picked a bad time to stop sniffing glue as it tumbled from #1 to a tie for #3 by posting its worst book since MARCH (6.4-5.9). They were sharing space with CCM+E Urban AC WDAS, which moved up from a tie for #5 (5.5-5.9).  Two other stations also found themselves sharing the same place at the same time -- once thought to be a physical impossibility.  BEASLEY Country WXTU was #5 last survey (5.5-5.3), but it had a new roommate in the form of GREATER MEDIA Active Rock WMMR (5.4-5.3), which was a full share point better than it was a year ago.

Of the eight stations in the top 10, only two managed to actually improve their ratings in AUGUST.  Besides KYW, CCM+E Urban WUSL (POWER 99) experienced a bit of a growth spurt (3.6-4.1).  Posing a serious threat to the natural order of things in the top 10 was CCM+E Hot AC WISX (MIX 106.1), which was on a five-book ratings sugar rush.

In 25-54 WMMR continued to hold on to the #1 position it first grabbed back in FEBRUARY -- even with its lowest ratings of the year. WBEB continued to nip at its heels, while WXTU made a strong jump to #3 with its third up book in a row. CCM+E Alternative WRFF (RADIO 104.5) slid enough to fall into a tie for #4 with an up-and-coming WDAS. Cracking the top 10 for the first time in over a year was WISX, supplanting GREATER MEDIA Adult Hits WBEN (BEN-FM), which saw its recent good fortunes take a dive.

For 18-34s 2012 has been the year of RADIO -- literally -- as WRFF continued to lead this demo. The battle was clearly for second place and WUSL claimed it by jumping all the way up from #5 with its best book since FEBRUARY.  WMMR remained steadfast and steady (not the name of its morning show) at #3.  CCM+E Top 40/M WIOQ (Q102) fell from second to fourth with its worst book of 2012. BEASLEY Top 40/Rhythmic WRDW (WIRED 96.5) rounded out the top 5.

There was a bit of shuffling going on with 18-49s.  WRFF continued to be the leader while WMMR jumped up one spot to #2.  WUSL came roaring up from outside the top 5 to tie for third with a suddenly slumping WIOQ. Fifth place was the exclusive province of WXTU and WDAS, which actually made it semi-exclusive.
  
ATLANTA: Doin’ Fine On Cloud 9

When you throw a 9 share on the table in market #9 for nine months in a row, you may want to think about playing those numbers in the lottery.  CBS RADIO Urban WVEE (V103) just accomplished that feat by going 9.2-9.2.  Oh, yeah, it's still #1 (we sense a theme coming).  Closing the gap a bit and moving back to #2 was COX RADIO Urban AC WALR (KISS 104), which returned to the 7 share range they last visited in MAY (6.4-7.4).  RADIO ONE Urban AC WAMJ (MAJIC) slid back to #3 but was still way ahead of where it was this time last year.  COX RADIO AC WSB-F (B98.5) moved from outside the top 5 to a solid #4, with its best book since SANTA CLAUS came to town (5.6-6.0). Two stations found themselves in sole possession of #5.  RADIO ONE Urban WHTA (HOT 107.9) experienced a decline in numbers for the third straight book (5.9-5.5) and was tied with CUMULUS Top 40/Mainstream WWWQ (Q100) (5.6-5.5).

Outside the top 5, was, well, where LINCOLN Hot AC WSTR (STAR 94) found itself after going 5.8-5.0 -- its worst book since last DECEMBER.  Close on their heels was SALEM Christian Contemporary WFSH (THE FISH), which posted its best book in 2012 (4.6-4.9).  Watch out for CUMULUS Country WKHX (KICKS 107.5), which was making a strong push for top-10 status, with its best book in over a year (3.5-4.3).  COX RADIO Talk WSB-A was on a five-book decline, which had seen it fall from #2 to its current ranking at #9.

WVEE’s dominance with 6+ was nothing when compared to how it thrashed the competition 25-54. The station may want to consider invoking the mercy rule.  WALR and WAMJ traded places in the ongoing battle for #2. WWWQ landed at #4 -- the third book in a row they’ve improved their ranking.  WSB-F came rushing in from outside the top 5 to score a tie at #5 with WHTA, which posted its worst book since JANUARY. WSTR was reeling. As recently as MAY, it was #4 ... and is now #7.

What should come as no surprise to anyone who has read this far, WVEE was #1 in another demo.  This one’s 18-34. However, unlike their utter dominance with 6+ and 25-54, they had some actual competition here. WHTA was now close enough for this to be considered a race.  WWWQ was a solid #3 with a sizeable gap between them and those both above and below.  Speaking of which, CCM+E Top 40/R WWVA (WILD) was off a bit from their record-breaking JULY but maintained a comfortable lead over #5 cluster-mate CCM+E Active Rock WKLS (PROJECT 9-6-1) -- which ironically, just switched to Top 40 POWER 96.1 last week.

Just when you thought there might be a chink in WVEE’s armor, along came the 18-49s.  We looked up "dominance" in the thesaurus and came up with "dominion, command, authority." Choose the adjective you like best.  WHTA and WWWQ were a solid, respectable #2 and #3, respectively.  WAMJ slipped a notch to #4. WSB-F returned to the top 5 for the first time since the HOLIDAY season and, in the process, knocked out WSTR.

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