Research Director, Inc. Presents Exclusive Nov. PPM Analysis For Houston, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Atlanta And Boston

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ALL ACCESS presents NOVEMBER 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.

Welcome to round two of our ratings analysis for the NOVEMBER 2013 book.  As a reminder, this was really more of a tenth-month thing as three quarters of the survey fell in a differently named month.  The exact dates were 10/10 through 11/06.
Without further explanation, let’s do this thing …

HOUSTON-GALVESTON:  It’s The Same Old Song

For the second consecutive month the order of the NIELSEN universe remained completely unaltered and unadulterated – at least as far as the top five spots were concerned.  RADIO ONE Top 40/R KBXX (THE BOX) assumed its familiar position at #1 (7.5-7.8) – something the station has done in every single survey since SANTA went on vacation.  As if on cue, CCM+E AC KODA (SUNNY) is prepping for the big guy’s return and did so by posting its best number since his contract ran out (don’t worry, it’s been renewed) to remain at #2 (6.6-7.1).  RADIO ONE Urban AC KMJQ (MAJIC) rebounded from its lowest book of the year (6.1-6.3) to hold on at #3.  That was a good thing because COX RADIO Country KKBQ (93Q) matched its best book of the year (5.6-5.9) to strengthen its hold on #4.  UNIVISION Regional Mexican KLTN (ESTEREO LATINO) maintained its grip on #5 despite shedding some share (5.4-5.0).  There was one mover and shaker bubbling outside the top five – KSBJ EDUCATIONAL Christian Contemporary KSBJ had its best showing since JUNE (4.0-4.6) to move from a tie at #9 to #6.

KBXX had its best number since JUNE to remain atop the 25-54 heap but KKBQ got a bit closer as the station lassoed its highest total in over a year to leap forward two spaces to #2.  KODA’s pre-CHRISTMAS sale saw the station shed a bit of share as it slipped a spot to #3 while KLTN did the same and dropped a rung to #4.  KMJQ was up and got dangerously close to moving out of the #5 position but could not quite manage that task.  KSBJ’s good news continued as the station had its best book since JANUARY to climb four places to #7.

It was no shock to see KBXX take home the 18-34 crown again and, thanks to the fact that CCM+E Alternative KTBZ (THE BUZZ) was off a bit, the gap between the top two stations swelled an abnormally large six full shares.  KKBQ was down for the third straight month but managed to move up a spot to #3, trading spaces with KLTN, which had its lowest book in over a year.  CBS RADIO Top 40/M KKHH (HOT) remained at #5 despite a slightly down book.  KODA had its best performance since JUNE to move up three spots to #6.
Last month, KBXX ended a run of five straight books with a double-digit score 18-49.  This month, the station began what it hopes will be a new streak.  It maintains a commanding lead over KKBQ, which did, by the way, just secure its best book in over a year.  KODA had its best book since it was playing all that holly, jolly stuff to move forward two paces to #3.  KLTN dropped enough weight to move from a tie at #2 to #4 while KTBZ had its lowest score in over a year to drop one spot to #5.  Talk about your buzz kill (sorry, it was too easy …).

WASHINGTON, DC: Shutdown The Town

There are many things that can affect the local radio ratings on a month-by-month basis and major, attention-getting events are often at the top of that list. In the case of our nation’s capitol, there were not one but two events that caught the attention of the listening audience – the tragic events at the Navy Yard and the government shutdown.  This combination propelled HUBBARD News WTOP back to the top of the ratings mountain for the first time since JUNE (7.8-9.3).  It was also the station’s highest number in over a year.  AMERICAN UNIVERSITY N/T WAMU did not benefit directly from all the market buzz and the station slipped back one spot to #2 (8.6-8.3).  There was a general decrease in the shares taken by the music stations this survey –with one notable exception.  CCM+E Top 40/M WIHT (HOT) remained at #3 but bounced back from its lowest book of the year (5.8-6.0).  HOWARD UNIVERSITY Urban AC WHUR remained in place at #4 though the station did post its lowest number since MAY (5.5-5.3).  Last month, two stations were locked arm-in-arm at #5 and decided to do the togetherness thing one more time.  CCM+E AC WASH – with visions of sugar plums dancing in its head – scored its lowest number in over a year (4.9-4.6) while RADIO ONE Urban AC WMMJ (MAJIC) conjured up its smallest book since JANUARY (4.9-4.6).

For the second consecutive survey, the players and rank order of the 25-54 masthead remained unchanged.  WTOP did have its best book since FEBRUARY to remain the market leader while WIHT rebounded nicely from its lowest book of the year to remain at #2.  WHUR maintained its hold on #3 despite being slightly off while WAMU kept pace at #4 though it did shed a bit of share.  WASH landed its lowest book in exactly one year but maintained its vise-like grip on #5.

Regardless of what was happening in the “real world,” WIHT continued with its dominating ways 18-34 by hitting double digits for the tenth straight book.  Back in JULY, RADIO ONE Urban WKYS (KISS) looked as if it was ready to dethrone the champion.  Alas, while the station has been a solid #2 since then, it still trails the leader by over three shares.  CBS RADIO Top 40/R WPGC was off a bit but held to its customary role as the #3 station while CCM+E Alternative WWDC (DC101) remained at #4 despite landing its lowest book in over a year.  There were three – count ‘em – three stations circling around each other at #5.  CCM+E Country WMZQ was there last month but roped its lowest book since MAY.  WASH was up slightly and moved up from #6 while CBS RADIO Hot AC WIAD (FRESH) had its best book in over a year to climb two spots.

WIHT had its best 18-49 book since MAY to remain in the leadership position while WKYS was flat and fell a bit farther off the pace at #2.  WTOP had its best showing since FEBRUARY to move up three places to #3.  WHUR was also flat yet, through a bit of mathematical legerdemain, managed to move up one spot to #4.  Last month, a couple of cluster sibs were locked together at #3.  This month, they continued the togetherness act though they were a bit farther down the chart.  WASH, with its lowest book since APRIL, and WWDC, with its smallest number since JUNE, were tied at #5.

PHILADELPHIA: The Beeeet Goes On

Knowing that this is the final book of 2013 that will not be affected by the smell of chestnuts roasting on the open fire, it might be safe to predict that WEAZ-FM RADIO AC WBEB (B101) will finish out the year as the market’s #1 station.  Since this was its eighth straight victory (7.5-7.3), we’re thinking it will hit ten before it’s all over.  CBS RADIO Classic Hits WOGL certainly made a last-ditch effort to stop the streak as the station had its best book in over a year (6.0-6.6) to remain a very solid #2.  A couple of its cluster buddies, which also happen to come from a different side of the band, were locked in battle at #3.  CBS RADIO Sports WIP-F was flat (5.6-5.6) yet moved up two places while CBS RADIO News KYW-A  was up for the second straight book (5.4-5.6) to move in from #7.  GREATER MEDIA Classic Rock WMGK was off slightly (5.6-5.5) but held on at #5.  Its younger and more tattooed brother, GREATER MEDIA Active Rock WMMR scored its lowest number since JULY (5.7-5.4) to drop two spots to #6.  CCM+E Urban AC WDAS landed its lowest total since JUNE (5.9-5.1) and it fell from #3 to #7.

Speaking of streaks, this was the eighth consecutive win for WMMR 25-54 and even though the station ended a two-book surge, it maintained a healthy advantage over WBEB at #2.  Make it seven books in a row that WMGK has been up or flat.  The station remained at #3 but posted its best number in over a year.  WIP-F must be enjoying CHIP KELLY’s high-powered offense as it also had its best book in over a year to move forward one position to #4.  WOGL was up for the second straight month and jumped three places to #5.  WDAS had its lowest month in over a year and dropped from #4 to #9.

This was the fifth straight month atop the 18-34 chart for CCM+E Alternative WRFF (RADIO 104.5), though since the station transmitted its lowest number in over a year, there is a real horse race brewing.  Last month, three stations were tied up in knots at #2.  This month, two stations are in the same position.  WBEB remained where it was but is now in the same barn with BEASLEY Country WXTU, which had its best book since JUNE to move up from #5.  CCM+E Urban WUSL (POWER) was off slightly but that was enough to cause the station to drop two spots to #4.  WMMR was handed its lowest number since JULY, which forced the station to move down three spots to #5.

WMMR extended its 18-49 winning streak to eight months, even with a down book.  WBEB was down but remained at #2 and even managed to close the gap on WMMR.  WXTU had a solid book to move up two places to #3 while CCM+E Top 40/M WIOQ (Q102) was up for the second straight survey and gained two spots in the standings at #4.  WRFF suffered its fifth straight down book and dropped a spot to #5 while WDAS scored its lowest number in over a year to fall from #3 to #9.

ATLANTA: Talk Is Not Cheap

For the third month in a row, COX RADIO Talk WSB-A was the #1 station in town as it landed its best number in exactly one year (7.9-8.1).  Ironically, a year ago WSB-A had an 8.3 but that was only good enough for second place behind CBS RADIO Urban WVEE (V103).  This time, V103 was up slightly (7.1-7.2) but had to settle for the #2 position.  COX RADIO Urban AC WALR (KISS) managed to move up a spot to #3 despite a down book (6.6-6.4), while its cluster cohort COX RADIO AC WSB-F (B98.5) did virtually the same thing by moving up to #4 (6.5-6.3).  These moves may have been influenced by the fortunes of RADIO ONE Urban AC WAMJ (MAJIC), which had its lowest number since JULY (6.8-6.0) and dropped two places to #5.

While it may appear that WVEE has suffered some sort of fall from grace based on the previous demo, the station continued its uninterrupted run atop the 25-54 leaderboard.  And, though the station’s numbers are a bit less lofty than they were earlier this year, it still held well over a share lead over the #2 position – which now has a new representative.  COX RADIO Classic Hits WSRV (THE RIVER) ended a four-book slide to jump up two places from #4.  WAMJ was off slightly and dropped one to #3 while WSB-F lost a little more and fell a spot to #4.  A couple of stations broke into the top five and shared the space at that position.  WALR moved up from #6 while WSB-A again had its best book in exactly a year to move up from a tie at #7.  CUMULUS Top 40/M WWWQ (Q100) landed its lowest book since APRIL to drop a couple of places to #7.

That RADIO ONE Urban WHTA (HOT) was #1 18-34 for the third straight month is not the story.  The fact that the station had its best book in over a year – and was up over three shares from last month – probably is.  Erstwhile market leader WVEE was up slightly but is now a distant #2.  WSB-F was up for the third straight month, landed its best book in over a year and moved up one spot to #3 – a nice trifecta.  WWWQ had its lowest number since the HOLIDAY book yet only fell one spot to #4.  LINCOLN Hot AC WSTR (STAR) had its second straight positive ratings experience and moved back into the top five from #7.  CCM+E Regional Mexican WBZY (EL PATRON) notched its lowest total since JUNE to fall from #5 into a tie at #8.

WVEE continued to be the clear market leader 18-49 with yet another solid performance.  WHTA’s best book in over a year moved the station from a tie at #3 to #2 but it still trails V by almost two shares.  WSB-F was off slightly and dropped a spot to #3 while WAMJ was up slightly and was rewarded with a one-place upgrade to #4.  WSRV rebounded from a rare bad book to move back into the top five from #6.  WWWQ was not as fortunate.  It scored its lowest total since APRIL to drop out of a tie at #3 and landed at #6.

BOSTON: Game Of Thrones

Way, way back in JULY the radio world was shocked to learn that CCM+E Top 40/M WXKS (KISS 108) was not the #1 station in town.  At that point, GREATER MEDIA Country WKLB had taken the cake, as it were.  Well, KISS has been dethroned again as CBS RADIO Classic Rock WZLX moved into the #1 spot despite the fact that the station actually had a down book (7.0-6.9).  KISS moved down a spot, in large part because the station scored its lowest book in over a year (7.3-6.8).  You think the RED SOX run to the championship benefitted CBS RADIO Sports WBZ-F (THE SPORTS HUB)?  You think correctly as the station hit it out of the park (5.4-6.7) and moved up from a tie at #5 to #3.  The former #1 WKLB had its lowest number since the times of SANTA (6.5-5.8) to drop from #3 into a tie at #4 with cluster sister GREATER MEDIA AC WMJX (MAGIC), which was in the exact same position last month (5.5-5.8).  CBS RADIO News WBZ-A was up slightly (5.4-5.5) but slipped out of a tie at #5 to #6.

Seeing a new station on top of the 6+ chart is one thing but to find a new market leader 25-54 is a shock.  WZLX was up for the third straight month and landed its best number in over a year to move into the top spot from #2.  WBZ-F might never shave again as it landed in its highest position in over a year, moving from #3 to #2 with a huge tape-measure-sized number.  WXKS saw its ten-month run come to a crashing halt as it dropped two places to #3.  WMJX was unpacking the holiday lights as it moved up from #5 to #4.  WKLB had its lowest number in over a year to drop from #4 to #5 where it was tied by ENTERCOM Sports WEEI-F, which moved up from #7 with its best performance in over a year.

Another demo, another new #1 station.  For ages, 18-34 has been dominated by two stations – WXKS and CCM+E Top 40/R WJMN (JAM’N).  And, until this month, KISS was always the far-and-away leader.  That changed abruptly as KISS had its lowest book in over a year – over five shares lighter than last NOVEMBER – while JAM’N had its best book since JUNE (which was over three shares short of last year’s total).  What a difference a WORLD SERIES makes.  WBZ-F has more than doubled the share of a year ago when the RED SOX were eating fried chicken and drinking beer – and remained at #3.  WZLX has also more than doubled its share from a year ago and stayed put at #4, despite throwing down its best number in over a year.  GREATER MEDIA Rhythmic AC WBQT (HOT) rebounded nicely from its lowest book since MARCH to remain a solid #5.

Since we’ve been crowning new champions in every demo so far, we might as well make it a four-game sweep with 18-49.  Your new #1 station is … tympani … WBZ-F, as the station crushed the numbers again.  WXKS dropped to #2 with – sensing a trend? – its lowest number in over a year.  WZLX posted its best number in over a year and held on at #3.  WJMN and WKLB traded places, with the former having its best book since MARCH, and the latter having its lowest in over a year.

This concludes round two of our analysis.  As always, if you wish to correct anything we’ve said, amplify our position, or just tell us how swell we are, you can find us on the usual channels:

E-mail: sallan@researchdirectorinc.com
Twitter: @researchdirectr
Facebook: www.facebook.com/researchdirectorinc
Web: www.researchdirectorinc.com

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