Research Director, Inc. Presents Exclusive December PPM Analysis: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago

Christmas In The Top 3

ALL ACCESS presents DECEMBER 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.

NEW YORK: Eight Maids A’Milking

Seeing CCM+E AC WLTW (LITE FM) as the #1 station in NEW YORK is as surprising as a MARK SANCHEZ interception.  However, when you add CHRISTMAS music to the station’s mix, the numbers start to shake like a bowlful of jelly.  LITE certainly benefitted from the pre-holiday hype (6.5-8.4) and is actually in a stronger position than it was at this point last year. SANTA’s omnipresence on the radio did not adversely affect the other stations in the market.  CBS RADIO Classic Hits WCBS-F remained a solid #2 (6.2-6-8) while YMF MEDIA Urban AC WBLS held firm at #3 for the fourth straight survey (6.1-6.1).  Meanwhile, CCM+E Top 40/M WHTZ (Z100) rebounded from its lowest outing of 2012 to reclaim sole possession of #4 (4.8-5.1).  This turned out to be an excellent survey for Hispanic radio, as SBS Tropical WSKQ (MEGA) returned to the top 5 by posting its best number of the year (4.2-4.8).

CCM+E Top 40/M WKTU rebounded from its lowest showing of the year to move up a couple of slots to #6 (4.1-4.5) while cluster compatriot CCM+E Classic Rock WAXQ (Q104.3) picked up its best number since JULY to move up to #7 (3.8-4.4).  UNIVISION Spanish Contemporary WXNY (X96.3) found itself on the "nice" list and received a gift of the best number the station has seen in over a year (3.7-4.3) to climb up to #8.  Last month we saw the incredible power of radio as the market was hungry for information concerning Superstorm SANDY.  While the aftermath continues to haunt the area, the need to stay in touch has waned.  We see that in the numbers of both news AMs.  CBS RADIO News WINS-A fell from a tie at #5 to #9 (4.8-3.7) while cluster buddy CBS RADIO News WCBS-A dropped from #4 to #10 (5.3-3.6).

All CHRISTMAS All The Time succeeded in strengthening WLTW’s hold on #1 25-54 as the station almost matched its total from last year.  Speaking of which, WSKQ has increased its total by two-and-a-half share points in the last year and moved from #4 to #2.  There is a two-way tie at #3 as WBLS slid from #2 to match wits with WHTZ.  WCBS-F posted its best number since APRIL and assumed solo ownership of #5.  Kudos to WAXQ, WKTU and WXNY as all three stations had strong showings in the face of the CHRISTMAS blitz.

While CHRISTMAS may be for the kids, it did not affect WHTZ, as the station posted its best number since AUGUST to remain #1 18-34.  WLTW did beat its in-demo number from last year and moved up to #2, while WSKQ had its best book of the year to wrestle control of #3.  EMMIS Top 40/R WQHT (HOT 97) rebounded from its lowest number of the year with a very strong showing but fell from #2 to #4.  WXNY blasted its best book in over a year and returned to the top 5.  CCM+E Urban WWPR (POWER 105.1) rebounded nicely from its lowest number of the year but still fell from a tie at #3 to #6.
Sleigh bells were ringing and 18-49 was listening as WLTW beat its pre-holiday number from last year and moved up to #1, supplanting WHTZ which, despite rebounding from its lowest number of the year, fell to #2.  WSKQ continued its strong book and moved from a tie at #4 to #3.  WBLS held its strong number but slid a spot to #4 while WKTU was up numerically but fell from a tie at #4 to #5.

LOS ANGELES: Seven Swans A’Swimming

The folks at CCM+E AC KOST are not pouting because SANTA CLAUS came to town and propelled the station to #1 (4.3-7.1) at a pace that far eclipses the number it had last holiday season.  These sounds of the season ended CCM+E Top 40/M KIIS’s (KISS FM) eight-book run at #1 even though the station matched its best book of 2012 (5.5-5.6).  Cluster sister CCM+E Hot AC KBIG (MY FM) posted its lowest number since MAY (5.0-4.8) but managed to hold steady at #3.  With the election buzz now in the rear view mirror, CCM+E Talk KFI-A dropped a couple of spots to #4 while delivering its lowest number in over a year (5.3-4.2).  CBS RADIO Classic Hits KRTH (KEARTH) returned to the top 5 (3.9-3.9).

This forced EMMIS Top 40/R KPWR (POWER) to drop a slot to #6 (4.0-3.8) just ahead of CCM+E Rhythmic AC KHHT (HOT) (3.3-3.6) at #7.  In a market this size, small movements in shares can often lead to huge gains (or losses) in rank.  UNIVISION Spanish Contemporary KLVE (KLOVE) moved from a tie at #9 to #8 (3.1-3.2) while three stations became deadlocked at #9.  The other All Christmas station, CBS RADIO Smooth Jazz KTWV (THE WAVE), jumped from a tie at #14 with its best book since JUNE (2.9-3.1). UNIVISION Regional Mexican KSCA moved up from a tie at #12 (3.0-3.1) while CBS RADIO Top 40/M KAMP (AMP) slid from #8 (3.2-3.1).

Thanks to a bit of elfin magic, KOST returned to the top spot 25-54 that it hasn’t seen since last JANUARY. KIIS maintained its hold on #2 while KBIG relinquished its crown from last month to fall to #3.  CBS RADIO Alternative KROQ was as flat as a Christmas cookie but still fell a spot to #4 ahead of the resurgent KSCA, which jumped from a tie at #8 to #5.

In spite of JACK FROST nipping at its nose, KIIS secured its best in-demo book in over a year to reclaim the top spot 18-34.  By moving up to the rooftop, this forced KPWR to move back to #2 just ahead of KBIG at #3 – despite the fact that MY FM had its best book since JULY.  KOST continued playing reindeer games and moved from #8 to #4.  All this upward mobility forced KAMP to drop from a tie at #3 to #5. KROQ dropped out of the top 5 by posting its third straight down book.
Even with the incessant march of the wooden soldiers, KIIS secured its 12th straight #1 book 18-49. KOST outperformed its pre-holiday number of a year ago and climbed from a tie at #5 to #2.  This forced the rest of the top 5 to slip a slot, with KBIG coming in at #3, KPWR at #4 and KROQ at #5.

CHICAGO: Six Geese A’Laying

The arrival of Jolly Old Saint Nick created quite the stir on the Windy City radio scene but it was not quite big enough to topple the perennial #1 station. CCM+E Urban AC WVAZ (V103) topped the charts (5.5-6.1) for the eighth straight book.  The Sugar Plum Fairy laid a big, fat juicy one on CCM+E AC WLIT (LITE FM) as the station went over the river and through the woods from #14 to #2 (2.8-6.0) – a number that was over a share lower than last year’s pre-holiday performance.  The news game was not quite as noteworthy this month as CBS RADIO News WBBM-A slipped from a tie at #1 to #3 (5.5-5.1).  Meanwhile, HUBBARD Hot AC WTMX (THE MIX) rebounded from its lowest number of the year to jump from #7 to a tie at #4 (3.9-4.2) with TRIBUNE N/T WGN-A, which dropped a notch from #3 (4.5-4.2).

UNIVISION Regional Mexican WOJO (LA QUE BUENA) fell out of the top 5 for the first time in a couple of surveys (4.3-4.0) by landing at #6.  In one of those strange twists of mathematics, CCM+E Top 40/M WKSC (KISS FM) was down for the fifth book in a row (3.7-3.6) yet managed to rise from #9 to #7.  There was a three-way at #8 as CCM+E Urban WGCI rose from a tie at #10 (3.5-3.5) while CBS RADIO Country WUSN (US 99.5) fell from #6 (4.0-3.5) with its lowest number of the year.  Cluster roomie CBS RADIO Top 40/M WBBM-F (B96) rounded out the troika by rising from #12 (3.4-3.5).  Three other stations pressed the down button on the Arbitron elevator and left the top 10 entirely: CUMULUS Talk WLS-A (4.1-3.3) fell from #5 to #11 while its cluster companion CUMULUS Oldies WLS-F went from #8 to a tie at #12 (3.8-3.2) with HUBBARD Classic Hits WDRV (THE DRIVE) (3.5-3.2).

You can excuse the folks at WLIT if they’ve gone a-wassailing, as the station more than doubled its 25-54 share from last month and rose from #15 to #1.  WVAZ is probably just sipping egg nog as the station posted its best number since JULY and rose a notch to #2.  WTMX was up for the second straight book but slipped a slot to #3, while last month’s #1 – WOJO – went tobogganing down to #4.  After a brief departure, WKSC returned to the top 5 while both WDRV and WGCI dropped out and are now tied at #6.

The 18-34 snow globe was shaken pretty vigorously.  WGCI was #1 for the fourth book in a row and posted its best number since MAY while WTMX inched up a slot to #2.  CCM+E Regional Mexican WNUA (EL PATRON) soared from a tie at #8 to #3.  As recently as JUNE, the station was ranked #19 in this demo.  WBBM-F moved from a tie at #5 to #4 while CRAWFORD Urban WPWX (POWER) scored its best number since APRIL to climb from #7 to #5.  The Christmas buzz WLIT is experiencing continued here as the station rose from a tie at #20 to #7 while WUSN had more of a hangover as it fell from #2 to #8.

There were all sorts of movement 18-49.  WTMX recaptured the #1 spot while WGCI slid up to #2.  The ho-ho-hoing rang loud and clear for WLIT as it took the magic sleigh from #20 to #3.  WVAZ was also on the “nice” list as it rose from a tie at #8 to #4.  WKSC slipped a slot into a tie at #5 with last month’s #1 WOJO.  WUSN ended its all-too-brief stay in the top 5 and fell to more familiar turf at #9.

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