Nielsen: Classic Hits The 'Format Of The Summer'

Summer Winners

The Classic Hits format enjoyed the largest boost in audience during the summer months compared with the start of the year, earning NIELSEN's honor of "FORMAT OF THE SUMMER." The format also earned the honors in both 2014 and 2015, while Classic Rock won in 2016 and 2017.

Summer 2018 was unique, because the movement among these major formats during JUNE, JULY, and AUGUST was smaller than in years past. Only a few tenths of an average quarter-hour (AQH) share point made the difference this summer for Classic Hits, Classic Rock, and Urban Contemporary, which were the three formats that grew their listening the most.

NIELSEN MUSIC’s BDSradio airplay data found that Classic Hits stations aired 52% of their songs from the '80s, while another 33% came from the '70s; Classic Rock stations aired 40% of their songs that were written in the '80s and another 40% from the '70s.

The release of NIELSEN’s august PPM results validated that Classic Hits become this year's “FORMAT OF THE SUMMER,” as this format garnered the biggest listener boost when comparing JANUARY through MAY trends to JUNE through AUGUST. The table below rolls up the 2018 monthly trends among the 10 largest radio formats ranked by share of total audience (listeners 6+). 

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