Research Director, Inc.: Exclusive April PPM Analysis For New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas-Ft. Worth

Exclusive Analysis From Research Director, Inc.

ALL ACCESS RECAPS APRIL 2020 DAY ONE

Last month we were talking about a tale of two surveys as MARCH was neatly bisected by COVID-19. This time we are looking at a book that was completely infected by the virus. As if life weren’t strange enough, the numbers are not what we are accustomed to seeing. Which makes sense. Life is not normal so why should listener patterns be any different? The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC., along with our not-too-close partners from XTRENDS, dive into the dystopian landscape that was APRIL. For accounting purposes, this one ran from MARCH 26 through APRIL 22. Keep your arms and legs in the vehicle at all times and let the ride begin …

NEW YORK: Give Us 22 Minutes …

Before we get into the meat of the analysis, it bears noting that there was a dramatic decline in 6+ cume from last month to this. Every station we looked at had significant cume loss (you can see the exact numbers by clicking on the “Ratings” tab and searching by market). For example, iHEARTMEDIA AC WLTW (106.7 LITE FM) was still #1 in the market with 6+ cume but saw their numbers drop from over three million to under two.

As for the shares, the leading station this time was SBS Tropical WSKQ (MEGA 97.9), which posted its best number in over a year (6.5-7.7). WLTW slipped to #2 with its lowest share in over a year (6.7-6.1). Clearly the market was hungry for information and this greatly benefitted ENTERCOM News WINS-A, which moved up to #3 with its fourth up book in a row (4.7-5.7). ENTERCOM Classic Hits WCBS-F slipped to #4 (6.2-5.3) and was tied with iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock WAXQ (Q104.3), which leapt from a tie at #7 (4.0-5.3). Speaking of information, NEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO N/T WNYC had its largest share in over a year (4.0-5.1) to inch up to #6. MEDIACO Urban AC WBLS slipped to #7 (5.4-4.7). A couple of other stations had strong increases. ENTERCOM News WCBS-A was up to #9 (2.9-3.4) while NEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO Classical WQXR advanced seven spaces to #10 (2.2-3.3).

WSKQ had a huge 25-54 share increase as it rose to #1. WNYC was up four places to #2. The station has doubled its share from FEBRUARY. WLTW slipped to #3 while iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WHTZ (Z100) remained at #4 with a slight decline. Three stations ended up not socially distancing at #5. WCBS-F slipped from #3 while WBLS dropped down from a tie at #4. WAXQ turned it up from a tie at #11 with its fourth up book in a row. WINS-A was up to #9 and also doubled what it had in FEBRUARY.

For the fifth straight survey, WSKQ was in double-digits 18-34. This time, however, the share was enormous. It matched the total of the next three stations combined! WLTW repeated at #2 though it was down for the fourth book in a row. MEDIACO Top 40/R WQHT (HOT 97) came back at #3 with a small loss while WHTZ remained at #4 with its seventh straight down book. iHEARTMEDIA Urban WWPR (POWER 105.1) slipped to #5 with its smallest share in over a year. Both WINS-A and UNIVISION Spanish Contemporary WXNY (LA X96.3) were tied at #7.

WSKQ was #1 18-49 for the fourth book in a row and this time the station crashed through the double-digit barrier with room to spare. WLTW was again #2 with a slight loss while WNYC jumped from a tie at #9 to #3. WWPR stepped back to #4 and WHTZ dipped to #5. Both stations had slight declines. WCBS-F fell three places to #8 with a large loss.

LOS ANGELES: For Your Information

As will likely be this month’s theme, an information station was #1 6+ while every station lost large chunks of cume. The market leader this time was iHEARTMEDIA Talk KFI-A, which went from #5 to #1 (4.2-5.5) despite losing over 130,000 in cume. We won’t outline the other cume declines here but you can look them up. ENTERCOM Classic Hits KRTH (K-EARTH 101) slipped to #2 (5.2-5.2) while two stations ended up at #3. iHEARTMEDIA AC KOST slipped a spot (5.1-4.5) while ENTERCOM Rhythmic AC KTWV (94.7 THE WAVE) remained in place (4.9-4.5). UNIVISION Spanish Contemporary KLVE (K-LOVE 107.5) stepped up to #5 (4.0-4.2) while iHEARTMEDIA Hot AC KBIG (104.3 MY FM) stepped down to #6 (4.4-4.1).

The top three 25-54 stations were relatively unchanged from last month. KLVE was again #1 with a slight loss. KRTH moved up to #2 with a slight gain while KOST repeated at #3 with a slight loss. UNIVISION Regional Mexican KSCA (LA 101.9) was up five slots to #4 with easily its highest share in over a year. SBS Regional Mexican KLAX (97.9 LA RAZA) stepped up to #5 with a slight increase. Three stations were self-quarantined at #7. KBIG dropped from #2 with its smallest share in over a year while iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M KIIS (102.7 KISS FM) stepped back from #5 with its lowest mark since JULY. ENTRAVISION Spanish Adult Hits KLYY (JOSE 97.5) advanced from #14 with its highest score in over a year. KFI-A was up for the fourth book in a row as it landed at #10.

KLVE got a huge 18-34 ratings bump as it leapt from #9 to #1. KRTH stepped back to #2 with a slight loss. KBIG repeated at #3 and was tied with MERUELO Top 40/R KPWR (POWER 106 FM). Both stations lost share. KIIS dropped three spots to #5 with its lowest mark since SEPTEMBER and was paired with ENTERCOM Adult Hits KCBS-F (93.1 JACK FM), which moved in from #11 with its highest share in over a year. iHEARTMEDIA Urban KRRL (REAL 92.3) dropped from #5 to #11 and was tied with KOST.

Though KLVE had only a slight gain 18-49, it was enough to push the station up to #1. KRTH was off slightly at #2 while KOST moved up to #3 with a slight increase. KIIS fell from first to fourth with its lowest total since OCTOBER. It had company as KSCA advanced from #12 with its largest share in over a year. KBIG fell five spaces to #8 and was tied with KCBS-F.

CHICAGO: Give Me Information, Please

Three of the top four 6+ stations were all about the spoken words. The stats shortly. But first, another message about cume. In MARCH, eight different stations had 6+ cumes in excess of one million. In APRIL that number shrank to zero.

For the third straight survey, ENTERCOM News WBBM-A was #1. The station was also up for the fourth book in a row (7.7-8.4). HUBBARD Classic Rock WDRV (97.1 THE DRIVE) was the lone music station in the top 4 as it moved up to #2 with its highest share in over a year (5.1-6.4). NEXSTAR N/T WGN-A was up to #3 with its largest share in over a year (4.5-5.6). WBEZ ALLIANCE N/T WBEZ also had its best share in over a year (4.3-5.4) as it stepped up to #4. iHEARTMEDIA Urban AC WVAZ (V103) slid to #5 but with only a small loss of share (5.3-5.0). HUBBARD Hot AC WTMX (101.9 THE MIX) dropped to #6 (5.2-4.4).

Wait, wait … don’t tell me but WBEZ was up to #1 25-54. The station has doubled its share since the HOLIDAY survey. WDRV stepped up to #2 with its largest share since JULY. WTMX slipped to #3, ending its four-book winning streak. SBS Regional Mexican WLEY (LA LEY 107.9) made the leap o’ the month as it rose from a tie at #12 to #4. CUMULUS Classic Hits WLS-F stepped up to #5 with a small increase.

iHEARTMEDIA Urban WGCI advanced six spaces to #6 with its best outing in over a year. WVAZ dropped to #8 and was tied with WBBM-A. In JANUARY, UNIVISION Regional Mexican WOJO (QUE BUENA 105.1) was #1. This month the station dropped to #13.

WDRV stomped on the 18-34 accelerator as it moved up to #1 with its highest share in over a year. WLEY zoomed from #14 to #2 almost doubling its previous share in the process. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WKSC (103.5 KISS FM) was only off slightly but was forced to drop down to #3. HUBBARD AC WSHE stood alone at #4 with a small gain while WTMX stepped back to #5 with a slight loss. WGCI moved up four slots to #6 with its highest share since JULY. ENTERCOM Top 40/M WBBM-F (B96) fell five slots to #7 as it returned most of last month’s big increase.

There was some serious shuffling going on in the 18-49 ranks. Two stations moved up and into a tie at #1. WBEZ took one small step forward while WLEY marched in from #14. WDRV was up to #3 and was this close to making it a menage a trois. WGCI was not far behind as it moved up to #4. With all this upward mobility, there had to be some stations that moved in the opposite direction. WTMX fell from first to fifth while WKSC slipped to #6. WOJO and WSHE both left the top five and met up at #7.

SAN FRANCISCO: The Same But More

As previously reported, 6+ cume is down across the board. However, in this market the music stations saw a much greater decline than those that refuse to play songs for a living. The top of the leaderboard remained the same as it usually does. ENTERCOM News KCBS-A was #1 for the fourth straight survey (9.9-9.9). However, it was matched by KQED INC. N/T KQED, which moved up from #2 (8.1-9.9). That’s pretty darned close to a twenty share combined for those two stations. That’s more than the next five stations – combined! The leading music station was – again – iHEARTMEDIA AC KISQ (98.1 THE BREEZE), which held steady at #3 with its highest share in over a year (4.5-5.1). BONNEVILLE AC KOIT repeated at #4 (4.4-4.0) while CUMULUS Classic Rock KSAN (107.7 THE BONE) moved up three spots to #5 (3.4-3.6). iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/R KMEL repeated at #6 (4.0-3.5) while ENTERCOM Hot AC KLLC (ALICE @ 97.3) slipped to #7 (4.2-3.3). Notice ALPHA Classic Hits KBAY (94.5 BAY FM) as it moved up to a tie at #8 with its highest share in over a year (2.4-3.0).

For the first time since DECEMBER, KQED was back at #1 25-54 thanks to its highest share in over a year. KMEL stepped up to #2 with a slight decrease while KOIT went from first to third (man, we miss baseball). KLLC slipped to #4 and was tied with KCBS-A. SBS Regional Mexican KRZZ (93.3 LA RAZA) moved up to #6 with its highest mark in over a year and was tied with KSAN.

Though KMEL had its lowest 18-34 share since JULY, the station was #1 for the thirteenth time in the last fourteen surveys. However, it had to share the spotlight with KOIT, which stepped up and into a tie thanks to its best Frosty-free share in over a year. KQED was up three slots to #3 with a huge increase. KLLC remained at #4 and was tied with UNIVISION Regional Mexican KSOL (QUE BUENA 98.9/99.1), which advanced from #10. BONNEVILLE Top 40/M KMVQ (99.7 NOW) slipped to #6 and was partnered with KCBS-A. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M KYLD (WILD 94.9) fell to #8 with its lowest score in over a year.

Once again, KQED had its largest share in over a year. This time it drove the station to #1 18-49. KMEL ended a small two-book surge as it repeated at #2. KOIT slipped to #3 while KSOL climbed to #4 with a solid increase. KRZZ moved up to #5 – also thanks to a solid share gain. KLLC slipped to #7 while KMVQ fell to #8.

DALLAS-FT.WORTH: Keeping The Spirit

Before we get to the main story, an obligatory note about cume. In MARCH, four stations topped the one-million mark. This month – nada …

For the fourth straight survey, the market lead belonged to SALEM Christian Contemporary KLTY (7.0-6.7). It held a comfortable margin over iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M KHKS (106.1 KISS FM), which returned at #2 but with its lowest share in over a year (6.0-5.3). CUMULUS Country KSCS stepped up to #3 (4.9-4.7) while two stations moved up to #4. SERVICE Urban KKDA (K104) was up from #10 with its highest share in over a year (3.6-4.3) while iHEARTMEDIA Hot AC KDMX (NOW 102.9) took three steps upward (4.0-4.3). ENTERCOM Classic Hits KLUV (98.7 K-LUV) slid to #6 (5.1-4.1). It was tied with the market information leader – CUMULUS Talk WBAP-A – which stepped up from #8 (3.9-4.1). iHEARTMEDIA AC KDGE (STAR 102.1) had its smallest share since NOVEMBER (4.7-3.8) as it sank to a tie at #9.

KHKS continued to lead the way 25-54 though the station was glancing over its shoulder at KKDA, which moved up to #2 with its best book in over a year. iHEARTMEDIA Active Rock KEGL (97.1 THE EAGLE) soared to #3 thanks to its fourth straight up book. KLTY slipped to #4 with a small loss. ENTERCOM Adult Hits KJKK (100.3 JACK FM) roared from #14 to #5 with its highest share in exactly a year. KSCS slid to #6 with a small loss while UNIVISION Regional Mexican KLNO (QUE BUENA 94.1) moved up to #7 as it regained most of last month’s lost share. KLUV fell to a tie at #8 as it ended a three-book surge.

For the first time in over a year, KHKS was not the #1 18-34 station. That honor was bestowed upon KKDA, which moved up from #3. KHKS was close behind at #2. KDMX was up three places to #3 with its highest share in over a year. KSCS remained at #4 and was joined by KEGL, which took a step up. CUMULUS Country KPLX (99.5 THE WOLF) fell to #6 as it returned all of last month’s big increase. It was tied with URBAN ONE Top 40/R KBFB (97.9 THE BEAT), which moved up from #8.

KHKS managed to win 18-49 again despite posting its lowest share in over a year. KKDA was mere inches behind at #2 after landing its largest share in over a year. KEGL advanced four squares to #3 as it, too, had its best book in over a year. KLNO was up from #9 to #4 as it bounced back from a down book. KSCS remained at #5 but was forced to share with KLTY, which stepped up from #6. Last survey, KLUV and KPLX were tied at #2. They dissolved the act and fell further down the chart. KLUV ended up in a tie at #9 while KPLX landed at #13.

The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. will now remove our masks and put another batch of data in the oven. We will return shortly with another round of ratings stories. These will include HOUSTON, WASHINGTON, DC, ATLANTA, PHILADELPHIA, and BOSTON.

In the meantime, you could subscribe to our blog. We have been diligently posting helpful links that will help radio weather this crisis. It’s some very useful stuff. Check it out here: www.ResearchDirectorInc.com/Hot-Topics

About RESEARCH DIRECTOR, Inc.: RESEARCH DIRECTOR, Inc. is based in ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND. We help radio stations’ programming and sales departments maximize the value of their research.

For more information, visit www.ResearchDirectorInc.com, call (410) 295-6619, or e-mail info@ResearchDirectorInc.com or sallan@ResearchDirectorInc.com. 

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