Research Director Inc., Exclusive June 2021 PPM Analysis For Houston-Galveston, Washington DC, Atlanta, Philadelphia & Boston 

Exclusive PPM Analysis June 2021

The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. along with the numbers nerds from XTRENDS are back for some ratings spelunking. Yes, we get our hands dirty so you don’t have to. This particular trip focuses on the JUNE survey which ran from MAY 27th through JUNE 23rd. One of the things that we pay attention to is how holidays can affect listening. A long weekend can have a dramatic effect on a station’s weekend numbers as there are only four weekends per book. In our last report we mentioned that this survey had a lone federally mandated three-day weekend. That was for Memorial Day. We neglected to mention that there was a second national holiday weekend during this survey. That was JUNETEENTH. So, it is possible that half of all weekend listening could have been impacted as your fans hit the road. Thank you for coming to our TED talk. Now, this…

HOUSTON: The Forecast Is Sunny

Over the last 14 surveys iHEARTMEDIA AC KODA (SUNNY 99.1) has been #1 6+ in 11 of them. This round the station made back-to-back wins (6.9-7.5). Meanwhile, COX MEDIA Classic Rock KGLK (THE EAGLE 106.9 & 107.5) stepped up to #2 with its best performance since SEPTEMBER (6.3-6.5). This pushed KSBJ EDUCATIONAL Christian Contemporary KSBJ (GOD LISTENS) down to #3 (6.6-6.3). UNIVISION Regional Mexican KLTN (QUÉ BUENA 102.9) repeated at #4 (6.2-5.9) while AUDACY Adult Hits KKHH (95.7 THE SPOT) gave an encore performance at #5 with its highest share since DECEMBER (5.3-5.6). Nipping at its proverbial heels was URBAN ONE Urban AC KMJQ (MAJIC 102.1) which moved up to #6 with its best book in exactly a year (4.9-5.5). KODA continued as the cume leader with a dip of 0.4% (1,750,500-1,743,600. The market grew by 0.9%.

For the first time in over a year – while airing its regular format – KODA rose to #1 25-54. The station was up from #3 with its best Frosty-free share in, well, more than a year. KLTN repeated at #2 with a slight loss and was about a share off the lead. This also signaled an end to the five-book winning streak for iHEARTMEDIA Alternative KTBZ (94.5 FM THE BUZZ). It dipped to #3 with its smallest share in over a year. KSBJ remained at #4 but with its lowest score since DECEMBER. It forged an alliance with KGLK which moved up from #6 with a slight increase. Very close behind at #6 was AUDACY Spanish Contemporary KLOL (MEGA 101FM) which posted its largest share in over a year. It was inches ahead of KKHH which slipped to #7 with a small loss.

Back in JANUARY KLOL was ranked #10 18-34. The station has been on the upswing since then. It has now officially doubled that JANUARY share and landed in first place this survey. KODA again had its best Frosty-free share in over a year yet still slipped to #2, a half share off the lead. KTBZ dipped to #3 with its third straight down book. CUMULUS Top 40/M KRBE stepped up to #4 with its fifth straight up book. URBAN ONE Top 40/R KBXX (97.9 THE BOX) ended a three-book slide as it rose from a tie at #8 to #5. It was just a couple of clicks ahead of KLTN which repeated at #6 with a small loss. COX MEDIA Country KKBQ (THE NEW 93Q) returned all of last month’s massive increase and fell from #4 to #11.

KODA once again had its best Frosty-free book in over a year. This time it was with 18-49 and it also helped the station win the demo. KLTN dropped to #2 as its two-book winning streak ground to a halt. In the previous book these two stations were separated by the slimmest of margins. This time the gap was a full share. KLOL leapt from #6 to #3 with its best outing in over a year. KTBZ dipped to #4 with a small loss. KKHH repeated at #5 with a slight loss and was joined in that spot by KBXX which rose from #9 as it rebounded from a down book. KRBE was breathing down their collective necks at #7 thanks to a slight increase. KSBJ dropped from #4 to #8.

WASHINGTON, DC: Enough Talk

Traditionally, the ratings charts in this market are dominated by stations that refuse to play songs. The only time we see a music station leading the way is when Santa is hauling his butt around town. Well, traditions are made to be broken and HOWARD UNIVERSITY Urban AC WHUR shattered this one into a million pieces. The station posted its best 6+ share in over a year (7.6-9.0) while claiming the #1 spot. This ended the five-book winning streak of AMERICAN UNIVERSITY N/T WAMU as it dipped to #2 (9.5-7.9). HUBBARD News WTOP slipped to #3 with its lowest share since JULY (8.1-7.7). URBAN ONE Urban AC WMMJ (MAJIC 102.3 & 92.7) remained in fourth place with its fourth straight up book (6.2-6.5). iHEARTMEDIA AC WASH – the last music station to be #1 because, you know, elves – repeated at #5 (5.9-6.0). It also continued as the leading cume station with a 4.4% increase (842,100-879,200). The market was essentially flat. iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock WBIG (BIG 100) landed its largest share in over a year (4.8-5.4) as it stepped up to #6.

For the last five surveys WAMU was #1 25-54. The station even cracked double digits last month. That all came to a crashing halt this time as iHEARTMEDIA Alternative WWDC (DC101) moved up to #1 just by being flat. WAMU stepped down to #2 with its lowest mark since the weather outside was frightful. WHUR had its best outing since SEPTEMBER as it advanced two squares to #3. WMMJ was up slightly to repeat at #4 and trailed its arch nemesis by about a share. WTOP slipped to #5 with a small loss of share. The next closest station to this quintet was WASH which stayed at #6 and was about a share outside the top five.

On the surface it would appear that WHUR had an unusual 18-34 book. The station not only stepped up to #1 but had a double-digit share. However, the station accomplished a similar feat in FEBRUARY. WAMU ended its two-book stay at #1 and in double-digit land as it dipped to #2. It was almost two shares behind WHUR. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WIHT (HOT 99.5) stood alone at #3 with a rather large share increase. WBIG moved up to #4 with its highest score in over a year. WWDC remained at #5 but got back some of last month’s big share loss. WASH slid from a tie at #3 to #6 with its lowest mark in over a year. It was tied with a flat AUDACY Classic Hits WIAD (94.7 THE DRIVE).

WWDC had its best 18-49 book since FEBRUARY as it returned to the #1 position after a two-book hiatus. WHUR had – again – its best book in over a year as it moved up to #2. WAMU slipped to #3 with its lowest share since OCTOBER. WTOP remained at #4 with a small loss while WBIG advanced five spaces to #5 with its best performance in over a year. WIHT inched up to #6 as it ended a two-book slide while WIAD slid to #7 with a small loss.

ATLANTA: The Q-spiracy

Normally, the big story here would be the fact that the top seven stations 6+ did not change their positions from the last book. However, there’s a lot more bubbling under…and we’ll get to that in a moment. First, COX MEDIA Talk WSB-A was again the market leader but with its lowest share in over a year (8.6-8.1). COX MEDIA Classic Hits WSRV (97.1 THE RIVER) repeated at #2 (7.1-6.7) while COX MEDIA Urban AC WALR (KISS 104.1 FM) held steady at #3 (6.0-6.4). AUDACY Urban WVEE (V-103) rebounded nicely from a down book (4.8-5.7) as it remained at #4. COX MEDIA AC WSB-F (B98.5) was at #5 again (4.5-4.8) while CUMULUS Top 40/M WWWQ (Q99.7) was at #6 again with its best book in over a year (4.4-4.6). Finally, URBAN ONE Urban AC WAMJ (MAJIC 107.5/97.5) stayed at #7 (4.3-4.5). WSRV became the new cume leader despite a 6.1% decline (863,000-810,700). The market shrank by 1.3%.

This is where things start to heat up. WWWQ had its best 25-54 book in over a year as it rose to #1. As recently as JANUARY it was sitting in a tie at #9. WSRV saw its two-book winning streak broken as it dipped to #2 with a small share loss. WSB-A inched up to #3 with a slight loss while WVEE fell to #4 with its lowest share in over a year. WALR repeated at #5 with its best outing since ruminant creatures were expressing gleeful emotions. However, the station had company as AUDACY Sports WZGC (92.5 THE GAME) moved up from #9 to forge the tie thanks to its highest offensive output in over a year.

That WWWQ was #1 18-34 came as no surprise as the station hit that mark last month. However, the station posted a number that was dangerously close to hitting double digits. WVEE remained #2 with a solid increase but trailed the leader by over two shares. iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WWPW (POWER 96.1) was at #3 again with its fifth straight up book. WALR leapt three places to #4 with a huge increase. WSB-F slipped to #5 with its smallest share since SEPTEMBER. It was tied with SALEM Christian Contemporary WFSH (104.7 THE FISH) which remained stationary with a small loss. AUDACY Rhythmic AC WSTR (STAR 94) fell to a tie at #8 as it ended a strong two-book surge.

Last survey WWWQ and WSRV were tied atop the 18-49 leaderboard. That alliance was dissolved this time as WWWQ retained control thanks to a small increase while WSRV ebbed to #2 with a small loss. WSB-A repeated at #3 with a slight gain while WWPW stepped up to #4, also with a slight gain. A flat WVEE dipped to #5 where it was just ahead of #6 WALR which, in turn, was just ahead of #7 WSB-F.

PHILADELPHIA: Six Straight

This marked the sixth straight time that iHEARTMEDIA Urban AC WDAS was the 6+ leader. The station also got back some of last month’s share loss (7.2-7.8) to open up a more comfortable lead over BEASLEY Active Rock WMMR which remained at #2 (6.9-6.6). BEASLEY Classic Rock WMGK repeated at #3 (6.2-6.3) while BEASLEY Country WXTU stepped up to #4 (5.4-5.4). AUDACY Sports WIP-F slipped to #5 with its lowest score since SEPTEMBER (5.8-5.2). It was just ahead of AUDACY News KYW-A which remained at #6 (5.0-5.1). AUDACY AC WBEB (B101.1) continued to have the most cume (970,200-975,000) – an increase of 0.5%. The market was down by 1.0%.

When it comes to 25-54 you cannot stop WMMR, you can only hope to contain them. The station was #1 for the sixth book in a row, the last five of which have been in double digits. WMGK finished in second again with a small loss and nearly five shares shy of its younger cluster bruh. WDAS moved up two slots to #3 as it regained a small portion of last month’s big share loss. It was joined in that space by WBEB which advanced from #7 as it got back all of last month’s modest share loss. WXTU and WIP-F slid down the chart a bit and landed together at #5. BEASLEY Adult Hits WBEN (95.7 BEN FM) had been in a tie at #5 but with its first down book since FEBRUARY it had to step down to #7.

Over the last five surveys the same two stations have occupied the top two spots 18-34. This time WBEB ended up at #1. It bounced back from a down book and narrowly defeated WMMR which slipped to #2 with its smallest share since JANUARY. WXTU rocketed from #9 to #3 with its best outing in exactly a year. BEASLEY Sports WPEN (97.5 THE FANATIC) dipped to #4 with a slight increase while WMGK slipped to #5, also with a slight share loss. It was just ahead of iHEARTMEDIA Urban WUSL (POWER 99 FM) which stepped up to #6 as it regained all of last month’s large share loss. WIP-F slid three places to tie at #8 as it ended a three-book surge.

In the 18-49 arena the race was for second place. WMMR continued to dominate as it won the demo for the fifth straight survey. The next four competitors were within a share of each other and trailed the leader by more than two shares. WXTU again posted its largest share in over a year as it moved up to #2 while WDAS got back a portion of last month’s huge loss to advance three spaces to #3. WMGK slipped to #4 with its first down book since JANUARY while WBEB repeated at #5 with a modest increase. Like the PHILLIES bullpen, WIP-F faded from #4 to #6. 

BOSTON: Back On Top

For the third time in the last five surveys BEASLEY Classic Hits WROR was the #1 6+ station. It also posted its largest share in over a year (7.6-8.2). iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/M WXKS-F (KISS 108) was forced back to #2 after a two-book winning streak (7.7-7.3). BEASLEY Sports WBZ-F (98.5 THE SPORTS HUB) remained at #3 but with its first down book since we were walking in a winter wonderland (7.0-6.4). iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock WZLX repeated at #4 (6.1-6.3) while two stations were locked in mortal combat at #5. iHEARTMEDIA News WBZ-A was there before as it landed its lowest share in over a year (5.9-5.7). BEASLEY Country WKLB stepped up from #7 with its highest share in exactly a year. WXKS-F was the cume leader again despite a 1.3% decline (931,900-920,200). The market was up by 1.5%.

WBZ-F was the undisputed 25-54 leader over the last five surveys. Four of those were in double digits. Alas, the streak came to an end as the station slipped to #2 with its first single-digit share since JANUARY. WXKS-F moved into the top spot – just barely – with its highest score in over a year. Remaining a somewhat distant #3 was WROR which was down slightly. WKLB moved up to #4 with its fourth up book in a row while WZLX slipped to #5 with a slight loss. No other station was within a share and a half of the top five.

Though WXKS-F lost a noticeable amount of share the station was still in double digits and still #1 18-34. WKLB moved up to #2 with a huge share increase yet still trailed the leader by better than two shares. WBZ-F dipped to #3 with its lowest score since AUGUST while WROR slipped to #4 despite a solid increase. Last month three stations were bound together at #5. This time only one remained. That was iHEARTMEDIA Top 40/R WJMN (JAM’N 94.5) which had a solid increase. BEASLEY Rhythmic AC WBQT (HOT 96.9) stepped down to #6 despite being up for the third straight survey. AUDACY Hot AC WWBX (MIX 104.1) ended up at #7 and was tied with WZLX.

There was quite the battle waging 18-49. WXKS-F moved up to #1 for the first time since SEPTEMBER with its second consecutive double-digit performance. WBZ-F had been #1 and in double digits for the last five books. The station remained in double-digit territory but had to step down to #2. WROR repeated at #3 with a slight loss but was more than two shares behind the leaders. WKLB moved up to #4 with its best book in over a year. The station had more than doubled the share it posted in FEBRUARY. WZLX slipped to #5 with a slight loss while WBQT was up three places to #6 with its best book since AUGUST.

Time for our union mandated break. Fear not. The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. will be back before you can say embedded metro. Our next feature will focus on MIAMI, SEATTLE, DETROIT, PHOENIX, and MINNEAPOLIS. Don’t miss it!

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