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

Markets #6-#10

Now that winter is here ... no, wait ... that’s something else. Now that winter is <mostly> gone, The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC, along with one of the forgotten houses of Westeros -– XTRENDS -– bring you the latest edition of the MARCH survey. In this case, it came in like a dire wolf and went out like a dragon. Or, not. One thing for sure is that we will be examining the numbers produced from 2/28 through 3/27. There are no spoiler alerts, just the facts ...

HOUSTON-GALVESTON: It’s Always Sunny In…

Though its 6+ share was down for the third straight survey, iHEARTMEDIA AC KODA (SUNNY) continued to lead the way by a wide margin (8.5-8.2). UNIVISION Regional Mexican KLTN (QUE BUENA) was #2 for the sixth straight survey as it got back a good portion of last month’s big loss (6.2-6.7). URBAN ONE Urban AC KMJQ (MAJIC) repeated at #3 – also for the sixth book in a row -– but with its lowest share since DECEMBER (6.1-5.8). CUMULUS Top 40/M KRBE moved up to #4 with its highest share in over a year (5.0-5.3) while ENTERCOM Adult Hits KKHH (THE SPOT) advanced four spaces to #5 with its best showing since AUGUST (4.2-5.1). Three stations were just behind at #6. COX RADIO Classic Rock KGLK (THE EAGLE) slipped from #4 (5.3-5.0) while ENTERCOM Country KILT-F (THE BULL) dropped from #5 (5.2-5.0). URBAN ONE Top 40/R KBXX (THE BOX) was up from #7 (4.7-5.0).

Last month KLTN and KODA were sharing the spotlight as the #1 stations 25-54. That ended abruptly as KLTN was up slightly to claim the crown while SUNNY slipped to #2 with its lowest share since JUNE. KRBE moved up to #3 while KBXX repeated at #4 as both stations ended two-book slides. COX RADIO Country KKBQ (93Q) made the move of the month as it rose from #15 to #5 with its best total since SEPTEMBER. KKHH took two steps upward to #6 with its third up book in a row. KILT-F dropped five places to #8 as it returned most of last month’s solid increase. KMJQ dropped to #9 as it did much the same thing.

KODA was flat 18-34 for the second straight survey but remained in the top spot for the fifth book in a row. KBXX moved up to #2 and sliced into SUNNY’s lead with its best book in over a year. iHEARTMEDIA Urban KQBT (THE BEAT) stepped up to #3 with a slight increase while KILT-F moved up to #4 despite a modest decrease. KRBE took a step up to #5 as it got back all of last month’s loss. Meanwhile, ENTERCOM Spanish Contemporary KLOL (MEGA) dropped four places to #6 as it surrendered a chunk of last month’s massive increase.

In the 18-49 race, KLTN was up slightly while KODA was off a bit. As a result, they switched places putting KLTN on top. KBXX repeated at #3 with its best outing in over a year while KRBE moved up to #4 by accomplishing the exact same feat. KKHH was up four places to #5 with its third up book in a row. KILT-F slipped to #6 with a slight decrease and was just ahead of #7 KQBT, which was up slightly. KKBQ jumped from a tie at #12 to #8 with its best performance since AUGUST.

WASHINGTON, DC: Same As It Ever Was

Here in the swamp the more things change, the more they stay the same. We’re not talking politics but the 6+ ratings. This month turned out to be a carbon copy of last, at least as far as the top five was concerned. HUBBARD News WTOP was #1 for the third straight survey and was flirting with double digits again (9.8-9.7). A MERICAN UNIVERSITY N/T WAMU was #2, also for the third book in a row (8.6-8.9). For the fourth straight time, URBAN ONE Urban AC WMMJ (MAJIC) was #3. The station was also up for the sixth survey in a row (7.9-8.2). CUMULUS Talk WMAL repeated at #4 with its highest share in over a year (6.6-6.8). In case you are keeping score (and who doesn’t), that worked out to a 25.4 share for spoken-word programming in the DMV. HOWARD UNIVERSITY Urban AC WHUR was again the #5 station (6.5-6.4). No other station was within a share and a half of cracking the top five.

As with the above demo, there was precious little change 25-54 as the top six stations were frozen in place. WAMU posted its largest share in over a year to win for the third straight survey. WMMJ was flat and stable at #2 while WTOP gave an encore performance at #3 with a slight decrease. WHUR was also flat and stable but at #4 while URBAN ONE Urban WKYS (KISS) repeated at #5 with a slight decrease. WASHINGTON ADVENTIST UNIVERSITY Christian Contemporary WGTS came in at #6 again with its third straight up book. WMAL has been on a roll. The station was up for the third book in a row and advanced to #7 with its best share in over a year.

Stability was not the watch word 18-34. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WIHT (HOT) returned to the top spot despite a slight decrease. Last month’s leader – WAMU – lost a chunk of share and fell to #2 where it was tied with WKYS, which moved up two slots with its highest score since JULY. iHEARTMEDIA AC WASH dropped two places to #4 as it returned about half of last month’s massive increase. iHEARTMEDIA Alternative WWDC (DC101) held steady at #5 with a slight increase. ENTERCOM Top 40/R WPGC returned at #6, also with a slight increase.

It was the top three and ties 18-49. The first three positions were unchanged as WAMU won this month’s tournament with its best book in over a year. WMMJ repeated at #2 with a slight increase while WKYS was at #3 again with a slight decrease. There was a wide gap between this trio and a large group of stations that were in a virtual tie. Three of them were designated #4. WASH remained in place with a small loss while WIHT took a step upward with a slightly smaller small loss. WGTS advanced from a tie at #9 with its best outing since OCTOBER. Close behind in a tie at #7 were WTOP and WHUR, which both had slight increases.

ATLANTA: Talk The Talk

While the 6+ leader for the third straight survey was COX RADIO Talk WSB-A (7.0-7.1), the real story concerned the next three slots. They were all occupied by stations in the same format. A close #2 was URBAN ONE Urban AC WAMJ (MAJIC), which was up for the third book in a row (6.3-6.9). ENTERCOM Urban WVEE (V-103) stood alone at #3 as it bounced back a bit from a down book (5.9-6.1). COX RADIO Urban AC WALR (KISS) moved from a tie at #7 to #4 with its highest share in over a year (5.1-5.9). SALEM Christian Contemporary WFSH (THE FISH) remained at #5 (5.4-5.7) and was paired with COX RADIO AC WSB-F (B98.5), which moved up from a tie at #7 with its best book since MAY (5.1-5.7). COX RADIO Classic Hits WSRV (THE RIVER) slid to #7 with its lowest total in over a year (5.9-5.6). All in all, five stations were separated by only a half share.

WVEE continued to be the leading station 25-54 but was hearing footsteps from one of its prime competitors as WAMJ moved up to #2 with its best book in over a year. The stations were separated by less than a half share. WSRV slipped to #3 with its lowest mark since SEPTEMBER while WSB-F moved up three places to #4 with its best outing since JULY. URBAN ONE Urban WHTA (HOT) slipped to #5 despite a slight increase while WALR was up to #6 with its best mark in over a year.

For the first time since APRIL, WVEE was not the #1 station 18-34. It slipped to #2 with a solid loss and was passed by WHTA, which assumed control despite a slight decrease. WAMJ repeated at #3 with another solid increase. As recently as the HOLIDAY book the station was tied at #15. It has more than doubled its share since then. Two stations bounced back from down books to move up and into a tie at #4. They were iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WWPW (POWER) and CUMULUS Top 40/M WWWQ (Q99.7). They were just ahead of two stations at #6 that both had solid increases. That duo consisted of WALR and WSB-F.

Despite posting its lowest 18-49 share in over a year, WVEE was able to maintain its grip on the #1 spot. WAMJ moved up to #2 with its best book in over a year and whittled down the gap to less than half a share. WHTA slipped back to #3 with a slight decrease while WSB-F moved up to #4 with its highest total since SEPTEMBER. WSRV slipped to #5 with a flat performance.

PHILADELPHIA: Be True

The last time ENTERCOM AC WBEB (B101.1) was #1 6+ without the aid of performance-enhancing holiday music was in JUNE. The station moved up from #3 this survey (6.5-7.0) and just edged out cluster mate ENTERCOM Classic Hits WOGL, which slipped back to #2 (7.1-6.8). BEASLEY Active Rock WMMR moved up to #3 thanks to its best book in over a year (6.4-6.6). Two stations moved up and into a tie at #4. ENTERCOM Sports WIP-F stepped up from #6 (5.9-6.1) while iHEARTMEDIA Urban AC WDAS stepped up from #5 (6.0-6.1). BEASLEY Classic Rock WMGK dropped four slots to #6 (6.7-5.8).

WMMR continued to run roughshod over the 25-54 demo. The station was flat but that just matched its best number in the last year. WBEB moved up to #2 with its best Frosty-free share in over a year and narrowed the gap to a mere two shares. WDAS remained at #3 with a slight decrease and had a new partner as WIP-F moved up from #7 with a solid increase. iHEARTMEDIA Urban WUSL (POWER) held steady at #5 with a slight decrease while BEASLEY Country WXTU moved up to #6 with a slight increase. WMGK dropped from #2 to #7 as it lost a rather large chunk of share.

For the second straight survey, WBEB was #1 18-34 as the station had a slight increase. ENTERCOM Top 40/M WTDY moved up to #2 as it regained a portion of last month’s big loss. WMMR slipped back to #3 with a flat book while WUSL was alone at #4 with a slight increase. WXTU slipped to #5 with a slight decrease and was just ahead of iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WIOQ (Q102), which remained at #6 with a slight increase.

WMMR was up slightly 18-49 to remain #1 for the third survey in a row. WBEB repeated at #2 with a strong increase and managed to close to within about a share of the lead. WIP-F got back most of last month’s loss to move up to #3, which pushed WUSL – which was off slightly – back to #4. WTDY advanced three squares to #5 as it got back all of last month’s solid loss. WMGK fell from #5 to #10 with its lowest share in over a year.

BOSTON: The ROR Of The Crowd

Not to mention the smell of the grease paint ... BEASLEY Classic Hits WROR landed its largest share in over a year (6.8-7.8) to vault into the 6+ lead. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WXKS (KISS) slipped back to #2 (7.4-7.3). This was the first time in the last year – barring the Santa books – that KISS was not #1 6+. BEASLEY Sports WBZ-F (THE SPORTS HUB) returned at #3 (6.4-6.4) but was forced into a playoff with ENTERCOM AC WMJX (MAGIC), which moved up a slot (6.3-6.4). iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock WZLX had its best showing since DECEMBER (5.3-5.9) to move up to #5. This pushed iHEARTMEDIA News WBZ-A back to #6 as it ended a two-book surge (5.6-5.0).

There was also a changing of the guard 25-54. WMJX was up for the second book in a row and moved to #1 with its best Frosty-free book since JULY. Last month’s leader – WXKS – dropped back to #2 with its lowest score in over a year. It was tied with WBZ-F, which remained in place with a small loss. WROR was alone at #4 with its fifth up book in a row. WZLX slid back to #5 despite a slight increase.

WXKS cracked the double-digit barrier 18-34 for the third straight survey to remain #1. After also landing double-digit shares for the last two books, WBZ-F exited that rarefied air but remained a solid #2. BEASLEY Rhythmic AC WBQT (HOT) moved up two slots to #3 with its largest share in over a year. WMJX dropped back to #4 with a flat performance. ENTERCOM Hot AC WWBX (MIX) stepped up to #5 with its best performance in over a year. In its final full survey as BEASLEY Alternative WBOS, the station dropped from a tie at #3 to a tie at #9 as it was down for the first time since OCTOBER.

Though WXKS gave back all of last month’s increase – plus a little extra – the station managed to repeat at #1 18-49. WMJX moved up to #2 with its best no-elf share in over a year and was a mere share behind the leader. WBZ-F stepped back to #3 with a small loss while WBQT remained at #4 with its highest share since JUNE. WROR moved up to #5 with its best showing since JULY while WZLX was up to #6 with its third straight up book. WBOS fell from #5 to #9 as it returned all of last month’s massive increase.

So concludes this round of the MARCH survey. You are free to go back to your search for clues on who will eventually sit on the Iron Throne. But before you do, take a moment to sign up for our blog. It’s free, we don’t sell your info (except to Nigerian princes), and it contains valuable information!

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