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

Markets #6-#10

By now you’ve stowed the inflatables, disposed of the tree, and packed away the decorations into precisely labeled Rubbermaids. Except, of course, for that one guy down the street who always waits until MARCH to take everything down. The holiday season is a mere afterthought until – boom – the HOLIDAY book comes out. The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC., along with the numbers crunchers from XTRENDS, feel your pain. We all share a survey that is tainted by the stench of pine boughs and figgy pudding. All for what? A momentary blip in the known order of the ratings universe? So be it. The survey covered DECEMBER 6th through JANUARY 2nd so it was not purely a yuletide event. 

HOUSTON-GALVESTON: Santa’s Sunny Disposish

Isn’t it ironic that the sun never shines this time of year at the NORTH POLE? It certainly does here as iHEARTMEDIA AC KODA (SUNNY) rode the reindeer to another stunning performance 6+. Of course the station was #1 (9.7-12.1) but it could not quite match last year’s 12.5 share. UNIVISION Regional Mexican KLTN (QUE BUENA) became a more distant #2 as it ended a five-book surge (8.0-6.5). URBAN ONE Urban AC KMJQ (MAJIC) remained at #3 (5.7-5.9) while cluster sister URBAN ONE Top 40/R KBXX (THE BOX) moved up a couple of places to #4 with its highest share in exactly a year (4.6-5.1). CUMULUS Top 40/M KRBE held steady at #5 (4.9-5.0). COX RADIO Classic Rock KGLK (THE EAGLE) slipped to #6 with its lowest mark since APRIL (5.1-4.8). It was tied with the secondary holiday player – KSBJ EDUCATIONAL Christian Contemporary KSBJ – which moved up a slot with its best outing since FEBRUARY (4.2-4.8).

KODA repeated at #1 25-54 and surpassed the double-digit mark though it was slightly off last year’s lofty number. KLTN held on at #2 despite posting its first down book since JUNE. KRBE returned at #3 but with its highest share in over a year. KBXX inched up to #4 as it, too, landed its largest number in over a year. KSBJ moved up three places to #5 with its best outing since JANUARY. UNIVISION Spanish Adult Hits KOVE (AMOR) advanced five squares to #6 as it ended a somewhat severe two-book slide. iHEARTMEDIA Alternative KTBZ (THE BUZZ) had its lowest share in over a year as it dropped five places to #9.

What a difference a year makes. Back then KBXX was #1 18-34 and in double digits while KODA ended up at #2. This year KODA was in the doubles area as it remained #1 while KBXX moved up to #2 despite a slight decrease. KRBE was up three places to #3 with its best outing in over a year. iHEARTMEDIA Urban KQBT (THE BEAT) held steady at #4 despite a slight decrease. KLTN fell three slots to #5 as it lost a rather large chunk of share. ENTERCOM Spanish Contemporary KLOL (MEGA) slipped to #6 where it was tied with KSBJ, which moved up from #8 with its best book in over a year.

KODA was slightly off last year’s 18-49 pace. However, the station was still #1 and returned to double-digit nirvana. KLTN remained at #2 but ended its five-book surge. KBXX repeated at #3 with its best book since MAY but was tied with KRBE, which moved up a slot with – again – its best performance in over a year. Two stations moved up and into a tie at #5. KQBT took one step upward with a slight increase while KSBJ advanced from #8 with its highest score since JANUARY. They were just ahead of KOVE, which moved up three spaces to #7 as it regained all of last survey’s loss. KTBZ fell to #8 with – again – its lowest share in over a year.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: A WASHing Machine

Santa certainly announced his presence with authority as iHEARTMEDIA AC WASH moved up to #1 6+. The station cracked the double-digit threshold (7.3-10.4) and topped last year’s 9.7 share. The other four top five stations remained the same but one format “group” was up while the other was down. HUBBARD News WTOP remained at #2 but with its lowest share in over a year (9.4-8.4). URBAN ONE Urban AC WMMJ (MAJIC) moved up to #3 with its best outing since JULY (6.8-7.4). On the down swing, was AMERICAN UNIVERSITY N/T WAMU, which slipped from first to fourth with its smallest share in over a year (9.5-7.3). Moving up while remaining stationary was HOWARD UNIVERSITY Urban AC WHUR, which held steady at #5 but with its highest mark since SEPTEMBER (5.3-6.2). Showing surprising strength was GWET Classical WETA, which advanced five squares to #7 with its best book in over a year (3.3-4.0).

WASH rode the sleigh to #1 25-54, landed in double digits, and beat last year’s number by a full share. WMMJ stepped up to #2 with its best performance in over a year and was up for the third straight survey. WAMU saw its demo-winning streak end at nine as it dropped to #3 with – again – its lowest score in over a year. WTOP remained at #4 as it, too, landed its smallest number in over a year. Three stations moved up and into a tie at #5. ENTERCOM Top 40/R WPGC was up from #7 with a slight increase while iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WIHT (HOT) took one small step upward despite landing its lowest share since SEPTEMBER. WHUR advanced three spaces with a slight increase. The previous occupant of that position – iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock WBIG – dropped to #10 with its lowest mark since JULY.

Last survey both WASH and WIHT were tied atop the 18-34 leaderboard. Only one of those stations was playing performance-enhancing music – WASH – so it remained on top. It also hit double digits and easily eclipsed last year’s number. WIHT slipped to #2 with a flat performance. URBAN ONE Urban WKYS (KISS) moved up to #3 with its best outing since SEPTEMBER while its chief rival WPGC slid to #4 with its lowest score in over a year. There was another three-way logjam at #5. CUMULUS Hot AC WRQX (MIX) stepped back from #4 with its lowest number since JULY while WHUR moved up from a tie at #10 with its best outing since AUGUST. iHEARTMEDIA Country WMZQ was up from #7 just by being flat.

WASH completed the demo sweep by winning the 18-49 race. It again topped double digits and again handily beat last year’s score. WMMJ was up to #2 thanks to its highest share in over a year. WIHT remained at #3 with a small decrease while WKYS moved up two slots to #4 with a small increase. WPGC held steady at #5 with a slight increase while WAMU fell four places to #6 with its smallest share in over a year.

ATLANTA: Five Golden Fish

Swimming upstream was SALEM Christian Contemporary WFSH (THE FISH), which ascended to the 6+ throne (5.4-8.6). A year ago, under similar circumstances, the station was #2 with an 8.5 share. That was because COX RADIO Talk WSB-A edged it out. That wasn’t the case this year as WSB-A dropped to #2 with its lowest share in over a year (7.9-6.5). ENTERCOM Urban WVEE (V-103) remained at #3 as it ended a two-book slide (5.8-6.3). COX RADIO Classic Hits WSRV (THE RIVER) dropped to #4 (6.3-6.2) while its cluster sister – COX RADIO AC WSB-F (B98.5) remained at #5 with its best book since JULY (5.1-5.6). URBAN ONE Urban AC WAMJ (MAJIC) slid to #7 with its smallest share in exactly a year (5.1-4.4).

Alas, the power of the holiday spirit was not enough to drive WFSH to the top of the 25-54 chart. The station did advance six places to #2 but was well off last year’s #1 pace. It was tied with another water sign – WSRV – which remained in place with a small gain. WVEE captured the flag for the eleventh book in a row as it ended a two-book slide. WSB-F slipped to #4 despite a slight increase. URBAN ONE Urban WHTA (HOT) jumped four places to #5 with its best showing since SEPTEMBER. CITY OF ATLANTA BOARD OF EDUCATION N/T WABE slid to #6 as it ended a five-book upswing. It was tied with CUMULUS Top 40/M WWWQ (Q99.7), which inched up from #7 despite landing its lowest share in over a year. WAMJ fell four slots to #8 where it was tied with WSB-A.

For the ninth straight survey, WVEE was #1 18-34. The station ended a two-book slide and was a share and a half ahead of #2 WHTA, which had its best book since AUGUST. The two stations previously tied at #5 remained an item but were now at #3. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WWPW (POWER) ended a four-book slide while WFSH had its best outing in exactly a year. WWWQ slipped to #5 as it was off for the third straight survey. Two former top five stations took a tumble and landed in a heap at #10. iHEARTMEDIA Country WUBL (THE BULL) ended a two-book surge while CUMULUS Rock WNNX returned all of last survey’s massive increase.

WVEE made it an uneven thirteen in a row as the market’s 18-49 leader. The station had its best book since OCTOBER and was over two shares ahead of WFSH, which swam up four places to #2. Last year it was a share and a half stronger at #1. WHTA repeated at #3 with a nice gain while WSB-F slid to #4 with a flat performance. WSRV inched up to #5 as it regained all of last survey’s loss. WWWQ dropped to #6 where it was tied with WWPW, while WAMJ fell to #8.

PHILADELPHIA: Santa Gets A B

So, this is a little interesting. Last year ENTERCOM AC WBEB (B101) and ENTERCOM Classic Hits WOGL presented dueling holiday playlists. Of course, back then they were not housed in the same building. This year, B101 stood alone and was again #1 6+ (10.4-16.6). Curiously, it did not match last year’s 17.0 share. WOGL was #4 last year with a 5.7 share. This year it dipped to #5 with its lowest score in over a year (6.4-5.0). There were three stations in between those two. ENTERCOM Sports WIP-F rode the EAGLES ill-fated playoff run up to #2 (6.3-7.1). iHEARTMEDIA Urban AC WDAS slipped to #3 with its lowest share since JULY (7.4-6.5). BEASLEY Classic Rock WMGK moved up to #4 despite posting its lowest share in exactly a year (6.2-5.5).

WBEB was #1 25-54 for the second straight survey and was over a share ahead of last year’s pace. It also more than doubled #2 BEASLEY Active Rock WMMR, which posted its lowest total in exactly a year. WDAS repeated at #3 but gave back almost all of last survey’s strong increase. WIP-F moved up to #4 as it ended a two-book slide. iHEARTMEDIA Urban WUSL (POWER) inched up to #5 with its best outing in over a year. WMGK dropped to #6 with a small decrease.

It was a cluster party as the top three 18-34 stations belonged to ENTERCOM. Naturally, WBEB was #1 again with a monster share. Not only did it beat last year’s huge number but it matched the combined total of the next three stations! WIP-F rocketed from #10 to #2 with its best book in over a year (something to do with a SUPER BOWL RUN). It was tied with ENTERCOM Hot AC WTDY, which inched up from #3 with a slight increase. WMMR slid to #4 with its lowest total in exactly a year. WUSL stepped back to #5 despite ending a three-book slide. WDAS slid to #7 as it lost a big portion of last survey’s massive increase. 

The elfin magic added about fifty percent to WBEB’s 18-49 share. The station was again #1 but was about a share off of last year’s pace. Still, it was twice as large as #2 WMMR, which again had its lowest score in exactly one year. WUSL moved up to #3 with its highest score since JUNE. WIP-F was up two places to #4 with a strong increase. WDAS slipped to #5 as it ended a two-book surge while WMGK slipped to #6 with a small decrease. It was just ahead of a stationary WTDY, which was up slightly at #7.

BOSTON: Some Elfin Magic

Silk hat or not there was definitely some magic on the air for ENTERCOM AC WMJX (MAGIC) as the station remained #1 6+ (8.9-14.5) and beat last year’s score of a 13.6. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WXKS (KISS) remained at #2 (6.8-6.7) while two stations moved up and into a tie at #3. BEASLEY Sports WBZ-F (THE SPORTS HUB) got back half of what it lost last month (5.1-5.6) while BEASLEY Classic Hits WROR was off slightly (5.7-5.6). iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock WZLX slid to #5 as it returned almost all of last survey’s big gain (6.0-5.3). BOSTON UNIVERSITY N/T WBUR dropped to #7 with its lowest mark in exactly a year (5.1-4.2).

The top four 25-54 stations remained unchanged from the previous survey though their numbers were a bit different. WMJX repeated at #1 with a strong double-digit share but just missed hitting last year’s total. WXKS was again #2 but with its smallest share in over a year. WBZ-F returned at #3 with a slight increase while BEASLEY Rhythmic AC WBQT (HOT) remained #4 though it had a modest loss. WROR moved up to #5 with its best outing since JULY while the two stations previously known as #5 went their separate ways. WZLX dropped to #6 with its fourth straight down book while ENTERCOM Hot AC WWBX (MIX) fell to #7 with its smallest share in exactly a year.

The last time WXKS was not the #1 18-34 station was exactly a year ago. It happened again because of something in the air as WMJX moved up to #1 with a double-digit share that just fell short of last year’s. WXKS dropped to #2 with a flat performance while WBZ-F moved up to #3 as it regained most of last survey’s loss. WBQT dropped to #4 as it ended a four-book surge. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/R WJMN (JAM’N) was alone at #5 after landing its largest share since JUNE. Its former partner – ENTERCOM Top 40/M WODS (AMP) – slipped to #6 with its third down book in a row.

The pattern of the three previous demos continued 18-49. WMJX repeated at #1, cracked double digits, but actually beat last year’s final tally. WXKS repeated at #2 with a slight increase while WBZ-F remained #3, also with a slight increase. WBQT held firm at #4 though with its smallest share since SEPTEMBER. WJMN inched up to #5 with a flat book while BEASLEY Country WKLB fell to #8 with its lowest mark in over a year.

So ends round two of our HOLIDAY hoedown. Thank you for spending some of your valuable minutes with us.

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