Research Director, Inc.: Exclusive August PPM For Houston-Galveston, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Boston

Exclusive Day 2 Analysis From Research Director, Inc.

Back from the shadows again, the Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC., along with our essential partners from XTRENDS, take another stab at deciphering what happened in AUGUST.  Historically, which means every single stinkin’ year except this one, this would be the dog days month. End of summer vacations, back-to-school shopping and prep – you know, life. That has all been torn asunder and with it, the usual patterns of radio listening. The one new tweak to this survey was the resumption of actual live professional sports competitions. The survey ran from 7/16 through 8/12 and unfolded like this …

HOUSTON-GALVESTON: Keep On The Sunny Side
The livin’ remained easy for iHEARTMEDIA AC KODA (SUNNY 99.1). The station was #1 6+ for the third book in a row and posted its best Frosty-free share since DECEMBER (7.1-7.5). The station also continued to lead the market in cume (1,539,300-1,497,700) with a decrease of 2.7%. The market fell by 0.9%. COX MEDIA GROUP Classic Rock KGLK (THE EAGLE 106.9 & 107.5) bounced back from a down book (6.4-6.9) as it moved up to #2. UNIVISION Regional Mexican KLTN (QUE BUENA 102.9) slipped to #3 (6.5-6.5) while iHEARTMEDIA Alternative KTBZ (94.5 FM THE BUZZ) flitted up to #4 (5.8-5.6). iHEARTMEDIA N/T KTRH-A stepped up to #5 (5.6-5.3) while ENTERCOM Adult Hits KKHH (95.7 THE SPOT) dropped back to #6 (6.0-5.0). 

The 25-54 demo was all agog as KTBZ swarmed the top of the leaderboard for the third straight survey. KLTN stepped up to #2 as it ended a three-book slide while KODA was up two slots to #3 thanks to a rather large increase. KGLK remained settled at #4 with a small increase while KKHH dropped three places to #5 as it surrendered all of last month’s huge increase. UNIVISION Spanish Adult Hits KOVE (AMOR 106.5) also returned all of last month’s large increase as it fell from a tie at #5 to a tie at #7.

The real drama this survey came from the 18-34 arena. URBAN ONE Top 40/R KBXX (97.9 THE BOX) ended a two-book slide as it returned to #1 after a two-month layoff. KTBZ dropped back to #2 with its lowest share since MARCH. ENTERCOM Spanish Contemporary KLOL (MEGA 101FM) was up three places to #3 with its highest mark since APRIL. Two stations moved up and into a tie at #4. KLTN took one step upward with a small increase while KODA advanced from a tie at #8 with its best showing since FEBRUARY. iHEARTMEDIA Urban KQBT (93.7 THE BEAT) fell to #6 with its smallest share in over a year. UNIVISION Spanish Contemporary KAMA (104.9 & 93.3 LATINO MIX) was close behind at #7 as it regained all of last month’s big loss. KKHH fell six places to a tie at #10 with a large share loss.

Though KTBZ suffered a modest loss, the station was #1 18-49 for the third straight survey. KODA stepped up to #2 with its best Frosty-free share in over a year while a flat KLTN slipped back to #3. KLOL and KGLK had been tied at #7. They remained an item but at the loftier digs at #4. They were joined in that space by KKHH, which dropped back from #3 as it gave back all of last month’s huge increase. KBXX and KOVE had been sharing the night together at #5. They both had down books and landed at #7 and tied at #11, respectively.

WASHINGTON, DC: Back On (W)Top
For the first time since FEBRUARY, HUBBARD News WTOP was the leading 6+ station. It also posted its largest share in over a year (7.7-8.5). The station also led in cume for the sixth straight survey (724,700-771,200) – an increase of 6.4%. By contrast, the market rose by 2.5%. This ended the four-book winning streak for CUMULUS Talk WMAL-F, which slipped to #2 with its lowest share since MARCH (8.4-7.9). HOWARD UNIVERSITY Urban AC WHUR was again the leading music station. It slipped to #3 as it halted a three-book surge (7.7-7.2). Joining it in that space was AMERICAN UNIVERSITY N/T WAMU, which rose from #5 as it ended a four-book slide (6.6-7.2). URBAN ONE Urban AC WMMJ (MAJIC 102.3/92.7) stepped down to #5 with its smallest share in over a year (7.1-6.6). The next closest station was iHEARTMEDIA AC WASH at #6 (5.6-5.4). 

After taking a couple of books off, WTOP was back in the leadership role 25-54 thanks to a modest increase. Not far behind was #2 WAMU, which advanced from #5 with its third up book in a row. WMMJ was the music leader as it stepped up to #3 with a flat performance. It was just ahead of WHUR, which slid to #4 as it ended a five-book surge. WASH saw its two-book reign come to an end. The station fell to #5 with its smallest share since NOVEMBER. The next closest station was more than a share behind this power five. It was ENTERCOM Top 40/R WPGC, which had a modest decrease.

For the second book in a row, WASH was the 18-34 leader. However, the race got a lot closer. WASH was off a bit while #2 iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WIHT (HOT 99.5) had a solid increase. WPGC stood alone at #3 with its best outing since SEPTEMBER. URBAN ONE Urban WKYS was up two slots to #4 with a small gain. Last month WHUR and iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock WBIG (BIG 100) were locked together at #3. Both stations experienced the exact same large loss of share and remained together at #5.

WAMU had its best 18-49 book since MARCH as it repeated at #1. WIHT was up three slots to #2 as it regained last month’s small share loss. WASH was alone at #3 with a slight decrease while WKYS advanced four squares to #4 with a solid increase. WPGC slipped to #5 with a modest loss while WMMJ remained at #6 with a slight decrease. iHEARTMEDIA Alternative WWDC (DC101) dropped five slots to #7 with its lowest score since JANUARY.

ATLANTA: Double Dipping
The top four slots 6+ remained the same as they were before. COX MEDIA GROUP Talk WSB-A continued to reign supreme. The station was in its usual #1 position and cracked the double-digit barrier for the eighth book in a row (10.6-10.1). COX MEDIA GROUP Classic Hits WSRV (97.1 FM THE RIVER) hit its highest watermark in over a year as it repeated at #2 (7.9-8.3). The station also repeated as the cume leader (817,400-804,300) – a loss of 1.6%. The market rose by 1.2%. COX MEDIA GROUP Urban AC WALR (KISS 104.1 FM) remained at #3 (6.9-7.1) while ENTERCOM Urban WVEE (V-103) came back at #4 but with its lowest number in over a year (6.3-5.7). URBAN ONE Urban AC WAMJ (MAJIC 107.5/97.5) stepped up to #5 with its best outing since FEBRUARY (4.8-5.2). This pushed COX MEDIA GROUP AC WSB-F (B98.5) back to #6 (4.9-4.5).

For the first time since SEPTEMBER, WVEE was not the leading 25-54 station. That honor was bestowed upon WSRV, which had a solid increase as it moved up from #2. WVEE slipped back to second place with its lowest score since Santa was hogging the HOV lanes. WAMJ was up two slots to #3 with its best outing since JANUARY while WSB-A repeated at #4 with a small loss. WALR dropped to #5 as it returned all of last month’s big increase. The next closest station to cracking the top five was CUMULUS Top 40/M WWWQ (Q99.7), which was up to #6 with its highest mark since FEBRUARY.

Last month heads were turning as WVEE had to share the top 18-34 spot with WSB-F. This time those heads were on a swivel as WSRV moved into first place with its largest share in over a year. WVEE slipped to #2 as it was down for the third book in a row. URBAN ONE Urban WHTA (HOT 107.9) remained at #3 with a small loss. ENTERCOM Sports WZGC (92.9 THE GAME) was up to #4 with its highest score since JANUARY. WSB-F ended up at #5 as it halted a three-book surge. WWWQ moved up to #6 with a huge increase.

Though WVEE had its lowest 18-49 share since the maids were a milkin’, the station remained #1 by a significant margin. WSRV repeated at #2 with a small gain but was a share and a half behind the leader. Two stations advanced and tied at #3. WSB-A was up a couple of places with a slight gain while WAMJ moved up from #7 as it ended a three-book slide. WALR dropped to #5 as it returned all of last month’s large increase. WWWQ was up to #6 with its highest mark since FEBRUARY while WSB-F dipped to #7 with a large decrease.

PHILADELPHIA: One For The Thumb
For the fifth book in a row, iHEARTMEDIA Urban AC WDAS crushed the 6+ competition. The station was off slightly (8.9-8.8) but was still well ahead of #2 BEASLEY Active Rock WMMR (6.7-6.4). ENTERCOM AC WBEB (B101.1) repeated at #3 (6.3-6.2). The station also continued to lead the market in cume (878,300-875,500) – a loss of 0.3%. The overall market went down by 1.5%. ENTERCOM News KYW-A stepped up to #4 as it regained all of last month’s loss (5.7-6.1). BEASLEY Classic Rock WMGK stepped down to #5 with its lowest mark since some misguided people were drinking egg nog (6.1-5.7). ENTERCOM Sports WIP-F ended a two-book slide and moved up to #6 (4.3-4.9).

WMMR continued to exert its influence on the 25-54 sphere. The station was #1 for the eighth book in a row though its six-month double-digit streak came to an end. WBEB stood alone at #2 with a small loss and was close to two shares off the lead. WDAS stepped down to #3 with a small loss while BEASLEY Adult Hits WBEN (95.7 BEN FM) stepped up to #4 with a small gain. iHEARTMEDIA Urban WUSL (POWER 99) slipped to #5 with its lowest score since APRIL. iHEARTMEDIA Alternative WRFF (ALT 104.5) dropped four places to #9 as it ended a robust four-book surge.

WUSL bounced back from a down 18-34 book and that was enough to land the station at #1. WMMR was up three places to #2 with its best showing since FEBRUARY. WBEB ended a three-book surge as it went from first to third. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WIOQ (Q102) also had its highest mark since FEBRUARY as it stepped up to #4. WRFF dropped three places to #5 and was tied with WHYY INC. N/T WHYY, which was up a spot with a slight increase. BEASLEY Country WXTU had its smallest share since Grandma ignored the deer crossing sign and dropped four places to #8.

The 18-49 competition continued to be a race for second place. WMMR was a dominant #1 for the eighth book in a row. A flat WUSL stepped up to #2 but was a share and a half off the lead. WDAS slipped to #3 with a small loss while WBEB remained at #4 even though it returned a good portion of last month’s massive increase. Last month WBEN was at #10 and WHYY was tied at #8. This time both stations advanced to tie at #5. WRFF dropped to #9 as it ended a four-book surge.

BOSTON: Taking The Fifth
This was the fifth straight 6+ victory lap for iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock WZLX though the station did post its lowest share since MARCH (7.4-7.1). iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WXKS (KISS 108FM) remained a close #2 but with its lowest score since FEBRUARY (7.3-6.9). The station was also the cume leader for the sixth book in a row (970,800-904,300) – a decrease of 6.9%. The market grew by a modest 1.0%. iHEARTMEDIA News WBZ-A inched up to #3 (6.7-6.6), which pushed ENTERCOM AC WMJX (MAGIC 106.7) back to #4 (6.9-6.5). BEASLEY Classic Hits WROR repeated at #5 (6.5-6.2).

There was a bit of movement in the 25-54 ranks. One constant remained – WXKS was #1 for the fourth straight survey. BEASLEY Sports WBZ-F (98.5 THE SPORTS HUB) remained #2 but significantly narrowed the gap thanks to a rather large increase. WROR stepped up to #3 with a slight increase while BEASLEY Country WKLB advanced two places to #4 with its fourth up book in a row. WZLX stepped down to #5 with a modest loss while WMJX fell four slots to #6 as it gave back a chunk of last month’s massive gain.

Though WXKS had a modest share loss 18-34, the station continued to be a dominant force. WBZ-F was up to #2 with a solid gain but remained over two shares behind the leader. WKLB slipped to #3 with a modest loss while ENTERCOM Hot AC WWBX (MIX 104.1) moved up to #4 with its highest share in over a year. WMJX fell back to #5 as it returned most of last month’s huge increase. WZLX stepped down to a tie at #6 with its smallest share since BURL IVES was in rotation. 

WXKS had its best 18-49 book in over a year, which allowed the station to win the demo for the fourth straight survey. WBZ-F repeated at #2 with a strong increase but was about a share off the pace. WKLB stepped up to #3 with a slight gain while WWBX advanced from #10 to #4 with its third straight up book. WMJX slipped to #5 as it surrendered most of last month’s huge increase. WZLX dipped to a tie at #6 with a noticeable loss of share.

Two down, one to go. The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. are busily preparing the next round of ratings brouhaha, which will focus on MIAMI, SEATTLE, DETROIT, PHOENIX, and MINNEAPOLIS.  Be advised …

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