Research Director, Inc.: Exclusive October PPM Analysis For Houston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Atlanta, Boston

Markets #6-10

All the leaves are brown and the Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC., snuggled together with the math mavens from XTRENDS, bring you another pumpkin spice-infused round of radio ratings analysis. Breathe deep of the coming prose as we examine the NIELSEN-defined month of OCTOBER. To be precise -– and we are all about data, after all -– this was a period that began on 9/14 and ended 10/11. A relatively benign 28-day period but sure to produce a surprise or two. Read on …

HOUSTON-GALVESTON: Harvey Part Deux

Before we dive into the nitty gritty, we wanted to note something not usually covered by our analyses -– cume. We will not divulge the numbers themselves but will point out that in the previous survey, HARVEY had a major effect on the cume of many stations. We have observed that those numbers -– often in the tens of thousands -– have returned this month. How did that affect shares? Well, URBAN ONE Urban AC KMJQ (MAJIC) was #1 6+ again with its highest share since JUNE (7.2-7.7). iHEARTMEDIA AC KODA (SUNNY) moved up to #2 as it rebounded from last month’s downturn (6.4-6.9). UNIVISION Regional Mexican KLTN had its highest score since APRIL (4.7-6.3) to move up to #3. COX RADIO Classic Rock KGLK (THE EAGLE) slid back to #4 (6.7-5.9) while CBS RADIO Adult Hits KKHH (THE SPOT) picked up some of last month’s loss as it moved up to #5 (4.4-4.7). The two previous stations united in harmony at #5 did not fare as well this time. URBAN ONE Top 40/R KBXX (THE BOX) ended a small two-book run (4.6-4.1) and dropped to a tie at #9. iHEARTMEDIA Urban KQBT (THE BEAT) fell to #11 with its lowest total in over a year (4.6-3.8).

Back in JULY, KLTN had reached the low point of a pretty severe six-book slide. The station has been on the upswing since and landed at #1 25-54 this time with its highest share since FEBRUARY. KODA slid back to #2 despite a small increase. KMJQ remained at #3 but with its best showing since MAY. iHEARTMEDIA Alternative KTBZ (THE BUZZ) was up for the third month in a row as it moved up to #4. KKHH also took a step upward -– to #5 –- as it ended a two-book slide. KGLK slipped to #6 as it returned most of last month’s increase.

The two stations that were co-leaders of the 18-34 demo last month each had down books. It was just that one was more downer than the other. KBXX remained on top as it lost about half of last month’s increase. KQBT had its lowest share since BING CROSBY was on the airwaves and fell back to #2. KODA was close behind. The station moved up to #3 (with visions of sugar plums) with its highest BING-less share in over a year. KTBZ has been on a roller coaster ride ever since MAY. This time around it was on a down cycle, dropping from #3 to #4. KLTN slid back to #5 with its second straight down book while CUMULUS Top 40/M KRBE slid to #6 with its third straight down survey. A couple of stations had some solid gains this month. CBS RADIO Hot AC KHMX (MIX) inched up to #7 with its highest share in over a year. KMJQ was up four slots to #8 as it halted a four-book slide.

After leading the 18-49 pack for the last two months, KODA dropped back to #2 despite bouncing back from last month’s loss. This was largely due to the fact that KLTN again had its best outing since FEBRUARY to regain its #1 status after a three-month lay-off. KTBZ was off slightly but inched up to #3 while KBXX advanced one square to #4 despite surrendering all of last month’s increase. KMJQ had a strong increase that drove the station forward three paces to #5. KQBT fell three slots to #6 with its lowest total since the BING CROSBY days.

WASHINGTON, DC: TOP Shelf

The news is the news as HUBBARD News WTOP topped the 6+ leaderboard for the second month in a row. The station also reported its largest share since MARCH (9.4-9.8). Nipping at its heels was #2 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY N/T WAMU, which rebounded from last month’s loss (8.9-9.3). In its customary #3 position was HOWARD UNIVERSITY Urban AC WHUR (7.1-7.0). Then came everyone else. iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock WBIG remained at #4 but did take a bit of a hit (5.6-4.9). Close behind was #5 CUMULUS Talk WMAL-F, which was talking about its best book in over a year (4.3-4.7). URBAN ONE Urban AC WMMJ (MAJIC) regained some of last month’s loss to move up two places to #6 (4.2-4.6). For the third book in a row, iHEARTMEDIA AC WASH had the smallest increase possible (4.3-4.4) though it was forced to take a step back to #7. Its sister station – iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WIHT (HOT) – fell to #8 with its lowest mark in over a year (4.4-3.8).

For the tenth consecutive survey, WAMU was #1 25-54. And, for the eighth time in that span, the station cracked the double-digit barrier. WTOP again had its best outing since MARCH to remain #2 but was almost two shares off the pace. WHUR moved up a couple of places to #3 with a slight increase while WIHT slid back to #4 with -– again -– its lowest score in over a year. The two previous stations with the #8 designation moved up in the ranks. WMMJ rose to #5 as it ended a two-book slide while CBS RADIO Sports WJFK-F (THE FAN) rode the NATS ultimately doomed playoff run to a #6 status. It was also the station’s best book in over a year. URBAN ONE Urban WKYS (KISS) dropped to #8 with its lowest total since MAY while WBIG went small as it dropped from #4 to a tie at #11 with its least productive outing since DECEMBER.

As you may have gathered from the previous two demos, WIHT had a down book. That trend continued 18-34 though the station remained in its usual #1 position. Cluster bro’ iHEARTMEDIA Alternative WWDC (DC101) inched up to #2 with a slight increase while iHEARTMEDIA Country WMZQ jumped three places to #3 and became part of the conversation with its highest share in over a year. WKYS dropped to #4 with its lowest mark since MARCH while CBS RADIO Top 40/R WPGC slipped back to #5 with its lowest total in over a year. WBIG dropped four slots to #9 with its smallest share since JANUARY.

The song remained the same 18-49 as WAMU was #1 for the tenth straight survey with a slight increase. WTOP moved back up to a somewhat distant #2 with its highest share since MARCH. WIHT slipped back to #3 because, well, you know the theme already. WKYS remained at #4 but gave back all of last month’s healthy increase. WWDC inched up to #5 with a flat performance while WMZQ took three steps forward to #6 with –- once again -– its highest share in over a year. WHUR ended a big two-book slide and rose four places to #7.

PHILADELPHIA: Please, Sir, Can I Have Some MORE?

For the second book in a row, JERRY LEE RADIO AC WBEB (MORE) was up (7.2-7.6) as it remained #1 6+. Never underestimate the power of the shield. CBS RADIO Sports WIP-F was humming “Fly Like An Eagle” as it soared to #2 with its largest haul in over a year (6.4-7.5). iHEARTMEDIA Urban AC WDAS slipped back to #3 as it returned most of last month’s big gain (7.1-6.4). CBS RADIO Classic Hits WOGL remained at #4 but was down for the third straight survey (6.6-6.2). BEASLEY Classic Rock WMGK dropped to #5 with its lowest mark since FEBRUARY (7.0-6.0).

The 25-54 scenario looked quite a bit different from the previous demo. WDAS advanced two places to capture the flag with its best book since JUNE. This dropped WMGK back to #2 as the station posted its lowest score since APRIL. BEASLEY Active Rock WMMR moved up to #3 with its second solid up book in a row. WBEB dropped back to #4 with its lowest share in over a year and was tied with iHEARTMEDIA Alternative WRFF (RADIO 104.5), which was up from #5 with its third straight up book. Though WIP-F was unable to crack the top five -– it remained at #6 -– the station again had its largest point total in over a year.

WBEB continued to dominate the 18-34 arena. Though it was off a bit this time, the station did post its sixth straight win and led #2 iHEARTMEDIA Urban WUSL (POWER) by over a share and a half. This despite the fact that POWER had a solid increase. The two previous rockers tied at #3 were sent to their respective corners. WRFF remained in the position as it bounced back from last month’s big hit while WMMR slid back to #4 with a slight decrease. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WIOQ (Q102) moved up to #5 with a slight decrease as WMGK dropped to #7 with its lowest share since BRENDA LEE was in the air. In between those two was WDAS, which took two steps forward to #6 with its best showing since MAY.

Speaking of which, WDAS had its best 18-49 book since DECEMBER, which pushed the station up to #1. It edged out WBEB, which dropped back to #2 with its lowest mark since APRIL. WUSL was ever so close at #3 as it ended a two-book slide. WMMR moved up to #4 with its third up book in a row while WRFF dropped back to #5 despite a slight increase. WMGK fell to #7 as it ended a two-book surge and was tied with WIP-F, which was up for the third straight survey.

ATLANTA: Double (Almost) Double

That COX RADIO Talk WSB-A was #1 6+ came as no surprise. Neither was the fact that the station topped double digits (9.9-10.2). After all, it has done that before. The OCTOBER surprise was that the station came this close to doubling the #2 stations. CBS RADIO Urban WVEE (V-103) remained in place but with its lowest share in over a year (6.0-5.7). It was joined by SALEM Christian Contemporary WFSH (THE FISH), which was up for the third straight survey (5.3-5.7). COX RADIO Classic Hits WSRV (THE RIVER) rose to #4 as it ended a four-book slide (4.9-5.5). COX RADIO Urban AC WALR (KISS) fell to #5 with its least productive outing since NOVEMBER (5.3-5.1). Making a bid for the top five was another surprise station. CITY OF ATLANTA BOE N/T WABE was up to #6 with its best book in over a year (4.2-4.8).

Once again WVEE ruled the 25-54 roost. The station was off slightly but #2 WSB-A allowed the gap to widen a bit by being off a little more than the leader. WSRV surged from #7 to #3 as it ended a four-book ebb while CUMULUS Top 40/M WWWQ (Q100) stepped back to #4 despite a slight increase. WABE had its fourth straight up book. In that span, the station has gone from #16 to its most recent posting at #5. WFSH moved up to #6 with its best showing since APRIL. Two stations did drop out of the top five. URBAN ONE Urban AC WAMJ (MAJIC) fell to a tie at #7 as it ended a two-book run while URBAN ONE Urban WHTA (HOT) dropped to a tie at #9 with its lowest share in over a year.

The tie at #1 18-34 last month was broken. WWWQ took complete control of the demo by posting its largest share in over a year. WVEE dropped back to #2 with its lowest total since NOVEMBER and the gap between the two stations was dangerously close to two shares. WHTA remained at #3 but with its lowest total in over a year while iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WWPW (POWER) assumed command of the #4 position with a flat performance. WFSH flopped back to #5 with a slight decrease and was tied with ENTERCOM Hot AC WSTR (STAR), which moved up from #7 with a slight increase.

It was another big 18-49 win for WVEE. The station was off slightly and WWWQ moved up to #2 with a slight increase so the stations were a little less than a share apart. WFSH had its best book since MARCH to move up to #3 while WHTA dropped to #4 with its second straight down book. WABE advanced six spaces to #5 with a huge increase. COX RADIO AC WSB-F (B98.5) slid two slots to #6 and was paired with WSRV, which ended a four-book slide.

BOSTON: A Big Fat Kiss

This was the month where iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WXKS (KISS) assumed control of the market. The station was #1 6+ for the second straight survey and opened up a big gap over the rest of the field (7.9-7.6). ENTERCOM Sports WEEI-F rode the ultimately doomed RED SOX playoff run to its highest share in exactly a year (5.3-5.9) as it moved up to #2. You know how this story ends. BEASLEY AC WMJX (MAGIC) held steady at #3 but with its lowest score since APRIL (6.3-5.8). BEASLEY Classic Hits WROR dropped to #4 with its smallest share in over a year (7.1-5.6). Speaking of playoff runs, CBS RADIO Sports WBZ-F (THE SPORTS HUB) had its best book since FEBRUARY (wonder what happened then?) as it advanced three yards (with a cloud of dust) to #5 (4.4-5.4). CBS RADIO News WBZ-A remained at #6 (5.2-5.3) while CBS RADIO Classic Rock WZLX fell to #7 with its third straight down book (5.3-5.1).

This marked the sixth straight 25-54 win for WXKS, though the station saw its lead shrink to less than a share and a half. Sports was the theme for the next two slots. WBZ-F was up to #2 with its highest score since JANUARY while WEEI-F advanced to #3 with its third up book in a row. WROR fell to #4 with its lowest mark since NOVEMBER while WMJX remained at #5 with a small decrease. Two stations were tied at #6.  WZLX was flat but took one step forward while CBS RADIO Hot AC WBMX (MIX) remained in place with a small loss.

Another 18-34 win for WXKS. That made 10 in a row -– the last five of which featured double-digit shares. BEASLEY Rhythmic AC WBQT (HOT) took sole possession of second place with its highest share since JANUARY but was about three and a half shares behind the leader. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/R WJMN (JAM’N) slipped back to #3 with a small decrease while WROR remained at #4 with its best score since JUNE. BEASLEY Country WKLB was off slightly but remained at #5. It had a new partner this time as WBZ-F moved up from a tie at #9 with its largest scoring output since MAY. This pushed CBS RADIO Top 40/M WODS (AMP) down to #7 as it was off slightly.

WXKS completed the demo sweep as it captured the 18-49 crown for the seventh straight survey. However, #2 WBZ-F was up for the third book in a row to shave the lead to a mere two shares. WBQT inched up to #3 despite a small decrease while WEEI-F advanced four spaces to #4 with its highest score in exactly a year. WMJX remained in place at #5 but with its lowest total in over a year and was forced to share the space with WJMN, which moved up despite a slight decrease. WROR dropped four slots to #7 with its third down month in a row.

This concludes the contest portion of this section. Coming up, The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. will divine the fates of DETROIT, MIAMI, SEATTLE-TACOMA, PHOENIX, and MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL. But, for now, we have to get into costume.

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