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

Markets #6-#10

The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC., along with the math mavens from XTRENDS, want to make this a NOVEMBER to remember. Why? Because we like to recycle clichéd advertising lines when we cannot come up with an original concept. This survey was conveniently located from 10/11 through 11/7 and the analysis was carefully crafted by our highly trained and courteous in-house customer care representatives. Oh, and be sure to visit us on the web at double you, double you, double you dot ... oh, never mind. 

HOUSTON-GALVESTON: The Forecast Remains Sunny

Santa Claus is coming to town and all that means is that iHEARTMEDIA AC KODA (SUNNY) will continue to win the 6+ demo. The station was #1 for the eighth book in a row (7.2-7.5) though its lead over the rest of the field shrank a bit. That’s because UNIVISION Regional Mexican KLTN (QUE BUENA) moved up to #2 with its highest share in over a year (6.0-6.8). URBAN ONE Urban AC KMJQ (MAJIC) slipped back to #3 (6.1-6.1) but remained comfortably ahead of COX RADIO Classic Rock KGLK (THE EAGLE), which held steady at #4 (5.4-5.3). CUMULUS Top 40/M KRBE inched up to #5 (4.8-4.9). COX RADIO Country KKBQ (93Q) took a step forward to #6 (4.7-4.6). ENTERCOM Adult Hits KKHH (THE SPOT) was down for the third book in a row (4.9-4.2) as it fell to a tie at #9.

For the second book in a row, KLTN had its best 25-54 book in over a year and was the demo’s leading station. KODA bounced back from a down book to remain at #2 while two stations moved up and into a tie at #3. KMJQ advanced from #5 with a small increase while iHEARTMEDIA Alternative KTBZ (THE BUZZ) took a step upward from #4 despite being down for the fourth straight survey. KRBE moved up three places to #5 with its best book in over a year. KKHH had its lowest mark since JUNE as it dropped to #6. It was just ahead of two stations tied at #7. KKBQ slid from a tie at #6 with a small loss while URBAN ONE Top 40/R KBXX (THE BOX) moved up from #9 with a slight increase.

KBXX remained a solid #1 18-34 for the second straight survey. However, it was off slightly while KODA regained all of what it lost last time. SUNNY moved up to #2 and shaved the lead to under a share. KLTN had its highest share in over a year to advance four squares to #3. iHEARTMEDIA Urban KQBT (THE BEAT) slid to #4 despite a slight increase. ENTERCOM Spanish Contemporary KLOL (MEGA) held steady at #5 with a slight decrease. KRBE was close behind as it moved from #9 to #6 with its best book in exactly a year. Two stations dropped out of the top five. KKBQ fell from #2 to #7 with its lowest score since FEBRUARY. KTBZ dropped from #4 to #10 with its smallest share in over a year.

KLTN had its fourth straight up book 18-49 and captured the demo for the second straight survey. KODA got back most of what it lost last month to remain at #2 but was still more than a share off the pace. KBXX took two steps forward to #3 just by being flat while KTBZ remained at #4 with a slight decrease. KRBE jumped from #8 to #5 with its best outing since JUNE. KKHH fell three places to #6 with its second down book in a row.

WASHINGTON, DC: To Top Things Off

Same as it ever was pretty much describes the market though it is worth pointing out that three of the top five 6+ stations do not play songs for a living. HUBBARD News WTOP was #1 for the eleventh straight survey (9.9-9.5) and was closely followed by AMERICAN UNIVERSITY N/T WAMU, which posted its largest share since FEBRUARY (8.3-9.0). URBAN ONE Urban AC WMMJ (MAJIC) held steady at #3 as it regained some of last month’s big loss (6.4-6.7) and bested arch rival #4 HOWARD UNIVERSITY Urban AC WHUR (5.8-5.8) for the eighth book in a row. CUMULUS Talk WMAL nudged its way up to #5 with its highest share in over a year (5.0-5.1). iHEARTMEDIA AC WASH slipped to #6 as it returned most of last month’s large increase (5.8-4.8). It was tied with CUMULUS Hot AC WRQX (MIX), which moved up from #8 with its best book in over a year (4.4-4.8). In its first full book in its new skin, ENTERCOM Classic Hits WIAD (THE DRIVE) remained at #18 (2.3-2.4).

WAMU continued to dominate the 25-54 space as it captured the demo for the eighth straight survey. The station was off a bit but still led WMMJ – which moved back up to #2 as it regained most of last month’s loss – by over two shares. WTOP slipped back to #3 with its lowest share in over a year. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WIHT (HOT) remained at #4 with a slight increase. WHUR was up for the third book in a row to advance three spaces to #5. The AC war heated up as WASH slipped to #6 with a flat performance and was forced into a tie with WRQX, which moved up from #9 with – again – its best book in over a year.

With WIAD exiting the AC arena, two former direct competitors saw improvements 18-34. WIHT was #1 for the fourth book in a row while WRQX moved up three places to #3 with easily its best share in over a year. In between was ENTERCOM Top 40/R WPGC, which moved up to #2 with its highest share since FEBRUARY. iHEARTMEDIA Alternative WWDC (DC101) remained at #4 with a slight increase. URBAN ONE Urban WKYS (KISS) slipped to #5 with its lowest score in over a year and was tied with WAMU, which advanced from #9 as it regained some of last month’s huge loss. WASH had its lowest total since APRIL as it fell five places to #7. Ahh, but BURL IVES is almost here …

There was quite a bit of turmoil in the 18-49 ranks but that did not affect the top two stations. WAMU was off slightly but remained #1 for the fourth book in a row. WIHT repeated at #2 but with its highest share in over a year. WPGC improved from #6 to #3 with its best outing since MAY. Last month, WRQX and WMMJ were tied at #9. They remained an item this time but improved their standing to #4. WWDC was not far behind as it jumped from a tie at #11 to #6 with its best performance in over a year. Three stations exited the top five. WKYS fell three places to #7 with a small decrease while WTOP dropped five spots to #8 with its smallest share in over a year. WASH dropped nine slots to #13 as it lost a painfully large chunk of share. 

ATLANTA: The Status Remained Quo

There was a bit of rearranging in the 6+ top five but the players remained the same as before. One thing did not change – COX RADIO Talk WSB-A was still #1. And, the station had its best outing since FEBRUARY (8.2-8.6). COX RADIO Classic Hits WSRV (THE RIVER) moved up to a distant #2 position (6.4-6.7). This pushed ENTERCOM Urban WVEE (V-103) back to #3 as it posted its lowest number since FEBRUARY (7.2-6.1). COX RADIO AC WSB-F (B98.5) remained at #4 (5.4-5.3) but was forced to share with URBAN ONE Urban AC WAMJ (MAJIC), which moved up a spot (5.1-5.3). The next closest pursuer to this quintet of stations was iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WWPW (POWER). It moved up to #6 with its best book in over a year (4.4-4.5).

Though WVEE returned all of last month’s healthy increase, the station remained #1 25-54 for the ninth book in a row. WSRV was flat and steady at #2 but still trailed the leader by about two shares. WSB-F was off slightly to remain at #3 where it was joined by CUMULUS Top 40/M WWWQ (Q100), which moved up from #6 with its best outing since APRIL. WSB-A slipped to #5 with a slight decrease while WAMJ dropped back to #6 despite a solid gain.

WVEE had its lowest 18-34 share since FEBRUARY but still won the demo for the seventh straight survey. WWWQ ended a four-book surge but remained #2 and narrowed the gap to under a share. ENTERCOM Hot AC WSTR (STAR) had its best book in exactly a year to advance five spaces to #3. This pushed URBAN ONE Urban WHTA (HOT) back to #4 as it was down for the fourth book in a row. WSRV was up three places to #5 with its highest share since APRIL. The two stations previously tied at #4 remained an item but dropped to #6. Those were WWPW and CUMULUS Country WKHX (KICKS).

For the third book in a row, WVEE and WWWQ were the #1 and #2 stations 18-49, respectively. V-103 had its lowest share since MARCH while Q100 was up slightly. The net result was that the gap had narrowed to under two shares. Three stations moved up and into a tie at #3. WSB-F took one small step forward with a slight decrease. WAMJ advanced from #7 with its highest share in over a year while WSRV moved up from #6 with a slight increase. WWPW fell three places to #6 with its first down book since APRIL. WHTA dropped to #7 with its third straight down book.

PHILADELPHIA: Old Folks Boogie

You’re not old, you’re a classic. That may work with cars and songs but we’re pretty sure it does not apply to people. Still the leading 6+ stations were certainly a little gray around the temples. ENTERCOM Classic Hits WOGL moved back to #1 – after a two-book hiatus – as it ended a three-book slide (6.8-7.4). BEASLEY Classic Rock WMGK moved up to #2 (6.8-6.9) while iHEARTMEDIA Urban AC WDAS advanced to #3 (6.6-6.6). The newly re-re-named ENTERCOM AC WBEB (B101) slipped to #4 (7.0-6.5) and was tied with BEASLEY Active Rock WMMR, which moved up from #6 with its highest share in over a year (6.1-6.5). Boy, those EAGLES fans can fall off the bandwagon rather quickly, can’t they? Next thing you know they’ll boo Santa. ENTERCOM Sports WIP dropped from #1 to #6 as it gave back almost all of last month’s huge increase (7.3-6.3). 

WMMR continued to crush the 25-54 competition. The station was #1 for the eleventh book in a row, had its highest share in over a year, and led the two stations tied at #2 by close to three shares. That duo featured WOGL, which moved up from #4 with a slight increase and WDAS, which advanced from #5 with a slightly larger slight increase. WIP dropped to #4 as it ended a three-book surge. WMGK moved up to #5 with a slight increase while WBEB fell to #6 as it ended a two-book surge. BEASLEY Country WXTU was close behind at #7 after landing its best book since JUNE.

There was quite a bit of upheaval in the 18-34 ranks. WMMR was up for the fourth straight survey to assume command of the demo. WXTU had a slight increase but that propelled the station to #2. In its final survey as its old self, the newly recommissioned iHEARTMEDIA AC WISX (THE BREEZE) had its best book in over a year to rise six places to #3. It was tied with WBEB, which fell from #1 with its lowest share in over a year. iHEARTMEDIA Alternative WRFF (RADIO 104.5) dropped to #5 with its lowest total since JUNE and was just ahead of two stations tied at #6. iHEARTMEDIA Urban WUSL (POWER) dropped back from #5 with a small decrease while iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WIOQ (Q102) moved up from #8 with its best outing since FEBRUARY.

WMMR continued to dominate 18-49. The station had its highest share in over a year and led #2 WBEB – which had its lowest share in over a year – by close to three shares. WOGL advanced four spaces to #3 as it regained most of last month’s big loss. WUSL held steady at #4 with a slight decrease. Three stations were crammed into the #5 space. WIP dropped back and punted from #3 while a flat WMGK moved up from #6. WXTU dropped in from a tie at #7 as it bounced back from a down book. WRFF fell to a tie at #8 as it returned most of last month’s increase.

BOSTON: Sports Reports

We’re kind of burying the lead here as iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WXKS (KISS) led the way 6+ for the eleventh straight survey (6.7-6.9). However, it was the athletic supporters that had a real effect on the ratings. BEASLEY Sports WBZ-F (THE SPORTS HUB) moved up to #2 with its highest score in over a year (5.3-6.1). BEASLEY Sports WEEI-F was not far behind as it jumped five places to #3 as it, too, had its best outing in over a year (5.1-5.7). Isn’t it amazing how a hot, local topic can galvanize radio listening? BEASLEY Classic Hits WROR fell back to #4 with its lowest share since the geese were a-laying (6.2-5.6) and was tied with ENTERCOM AC WMJX (MAGIC), which remained in place (5.3-5.6). BOSTON UNIVERSITY N/T WBUR was flat (5.5-5.5) but still dropped three places to #6. iHEARTMEDIA News WBZ-A fell four slots to #8 (5.3-5.0).

The 25-54 pennant race got a lot tighter this month. WXKS was up slightly for its tenth straight victory. However, WBZ-F had its highest share since MAY to narrow the gap from its #2 position. Coming in at a distant #3 again was BEASLEY Rhythmic AC WBQT (HOT), which was up for the third straight survey. WMJX moved up to #4 as it got back some of last month’s huge loss. iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock WZLX slipped to #5 with its lowest total since MARCH and was tied with WEEI-F, which moved up a spot in the rotation thanks to a slight increase. 

The top three 18-34 stations remained unchanged from last month. WXKS just missed double digits again but easily cruised to a two-plus share victory. WBZ-F repeated at #2 with its fourth straight up book. WBQT returned at #3 but with its best mark since FEBRUARY. BEASLEY Country WKLB moved up to #4 as it got back most of last month’s loss. This pushed ENTERCOM Top 40/M WODS (AMP) back to #5 as it was off a bit. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/R WJMN (JAM’N) fell to #7 with its smallest share in over a year.

The 18-49 demo was little changed from last survey as the top four stations remained the same. WXKS won again despite being off slightly while WBZ-F remained at #2 with a solid increase. The stations were a bit more than a share apart. WBQT returned as the #3 station and posted its best number since JUNE. WMJX held firm at #4 with a small gain. WKLB moved up a couple of places to #5 as it got back most of last month’s loss. WZLX slipped to #6 with a flat performance.

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