Exclusive: Inside The PPM Commercialization Results

Exclusive PPM Analysis

ARBITRON'S decision to move up the commercialization of the PPM in eight markets by two days was the buzz yesterday (NET NEWS 10/6). The long-anticipated PPM is now a reality in eight markets with the AUGUST/SEPTEMBER results in. ALL ACCESS has enlisted RADIOCRUNCH principals ANTHONY ACAMPORA and KEVIN McCABE to take us through the AUGUST 21-SEPTEMBER 17 survey month in four of the eight markets (NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES, CHICAGO, and SAN FRANCISCO).

ACAMPORA commented, "This is perhaps the most significant methodological change to affect the radio industry since monitored airplay emerged over 15 years ago. PPM technology is enabling the industry with real listening patterns that are evident in the SEPTEMBER results. One thing we're seeing with this group of markets is the obvious success of mass appeal, hit-driven formats. Could it be possible that the PPM would result in multiple Top 40 stations emerging again in markets -- something we haven't seen in two decades? Meanwhile, the results for Regional-Mexican stations in America's largest markets are strong as is the resurgence of Oldies/Classic Hits."

Could it be possible that the PPM would result in multiple Top 40 stations emerging again in markets -- something we haven't seen in two decades?

McCABE added, "This is an exciting new era for measuring radio audiences, and clearly, there are changes. It's interesting to note the impressive numbers -- both 6+ as well as in target demos for stations that program current-driven music. On first look, this will certainly be a welcome sign to the recorded music industry which provides the artists and music that audiences desire. For this segment of the industry, it's going to be a win-win."

With that said, here's a market-by-market overview of the SEPTEMBER currency:

NEW YORK: Clean Sweep For Z100; CLEAR CHANNEL Cluster Still Dominates 

CLEAR CHANNEL continues to post gigantic numbers in NEW YORK -- led by Top 40 WHTZ (Z100), which leads the market 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54. Z100 beat the #2 station by 7% 25-54, 36% 18-49, and a staggering 52% with adults 25-54. Four of the top 10 stations 25-54, five of the top 10 18-49, and five of the top 10 18-34 have large ethnic compositions. They are as follows (with the ethnic composition in parentheses):

INNER CITY Urban AC WBLS (95%)
SBS Spanish Contemporary WPAT (94%)
EMMIS Urban AC WRKS (94%)
SBS Tropical WSKQ (93%)
EMMIS Rhythmic WQHT (81%)
CLEAR CHANNEL Urban WWPR (78%)

Each one of the aforementioned stations is in the top 10 in at least one and many times all three key target demos.

25-54: CLEAR CHANNEL grabs the top four spots with Z100 followed by Classic Rock WAXQ (Q104.3), AC WLTW, and Rhythmic AC WKTU. Tied for 5th place are CBS Classic Hits WCBS-F and SBS Tropical WSKQ. EMMIS Urban AC WRKS ranks 7th (but just a tenth out of the top 5) and just slightly ahead of INNER CITY rival WBLS, which is now 8th (and up 22% from July). CBS AC WWFS stays competitive, ranking 9th, with CITADEL Hot AC WPLJ tying with CLEAR CHANNEL Urban WWPR (POWER 105) for 10th. Four of the top 10 stations in the 25-54 cell were ethnic stations -- including all three African American targeted outlets.

CBS News WINS was 12th, just slightly ahead of EMMIS Rhythmic WQHT (HOT 97). CBS scores the next three: Sports WFAN was 14th, News WCBS-A 15th, and Rock WXRK 16th. SBS Spanish Contemporary WPAT is 17th (and is one station that has dropped out of the top 10 from the diary). CITADEL Talk WABC and UNIVISION Tropical WCAA tie for 18th. Rounding out the top 20 is EMMIS AAA WRXP -- which has yet to make any significant inroads in the market.

18-49: Z100 wins here by a significant margin and CLEAR CHANNEL also claims the top four spots here. WLTW ranks 2nd, followed by WKTU and WWPR. WSKQ is the top non-CC station, and it ranks a solid 5th. WAXQ slides back from 4th in AUGUST to 6th in SEPTEMBER, but CC does grab five of the top six stations. WQHT is 7th, followed by WBLS, WPLJ, and WWFS -- the only CBS station to appear in the top 10 18-49.

WRKS slides out of the top 10 and ranks 11th. CBS grabs the 12th through 14th spots with WCBS-F, WINS and WXRK in descending order. WPAT is 15th, WFAN 16th, and tie for 17th between UNIVISION Tropical WCAA and WCBS-A. WABC and WRXP round out the top 20.

18-34: Z100 wins this one by a landslide and is well into double digits. HOT 97 rebounds from an off AUGUST to move back into a tie with POWER 105 for 2nd. WSKQ is a solid 4th and WKTU is 5th. WLTW is a strong 6th, with WBLS and WXRK tying for 7th. WWFS is 9th, with WCBS-F and WPAT tied for 10th.

Big Apple Cluster Overview: This market still belongs to CLEAR CHANNEL. CBS has made some inroads with the rebirth of WCBS-F, and WWFS has definitely become a player, but CLEAR CHANNEL having the top 4 stations 18-34 and 18-49 speaks volumes. CBS only has two stations in the top 10 25-54 and one in the 18-49 cell. EMMIS has seen Hot 97 and WRKS remain strong, but WRXP has not been able to muster much since its move from Smooth AC.

LOS ANGELES: KIIS Sweeps Right Through; KROQ, UNIVISION Also Solid 

In similar fashion to sister Z100, CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40 KIIS grabs the #1 position across all three key demos in the L.A. currency. KIIS actually beat its closest rival by more than Z100 did -- with a win by 14% 25-54, 41% 18-49, and a staggering 53% 18-34. CBS Alternative KROQ -- is one of the shining stars of the format -- ranking 2nd 18-34 and 18-49, and tying for 3rd 25-54. Meanwhile, LOS ANGELES results show positive news for Spanish language stations taking four of the top 10 positions in all demos, and 5 of the top 11 stations in the 25-54 cell.

25-54: KIIS wins this one by a decent margin. UNIVISION Spanish Contemporary KLVE moves into 2nd, just ahead of a three-way tie for third between SBS Regional Mexican KLAX, CLEAR CHANNEL AC KOST, and KROQ. CBS watches Adult Hits KCBS-FM (JACK-FM) slide from 2nd in AUGUST to 6th in SEPTEMBER. UNIVISION Regional Mexican KSCA was 7th just ahead of LIBERMAN rival KBUE. CLEAR CHANNEL Hot AC KBIG, CITADEL Classic Rock KLOS, and UNIVISION Spanish Adult Hits KRCD all tie for 9th.

CBS sees a nice growth for Smooth AC KTWV -- following a shift from three stop sets per hour to two. KTWV is the one bright spot for a format that appears endangered (more on that later in CHICAGO and SAN FRANCISCO). CBS Classic Hits KRTH is 13th -- although not as strong as sister WCBS-F/NEW YORK. Keep in mind, KRTH's music also skews older -- with an average year according to MEDIABASE of 1970.3 while WCBS-F is at 1973.7. EMMIS Rhythmic KPWR (POWER 106) is 14th. It's a struggle for News and Talk formats in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA with CLEAR CHANNEL News/Talk KFI the highest rated 25-54 -- and only ranking 15th. Sister Rhythmic AC KHHT (HOT 92-3) is 16th. ENTRAVISION is seeing respectable PPM results for Spanish Adult Hits KLYY (JOSE) -- which is up to 17th. Sister Spanish Contemporary KSSE (Super Estrella) is 18th. SBS Latin Urban KXOL finishes 19th. KROQ is fairly dominant on the Alternative side, with CLEAR CHANNEL's KYSR (98-7) ranking 20th.

Other stations of note 25-54: MT. WILSON Country KKGO (GO COUNTRY 105) is #22. FM Talk is not fairing well with CBS's KLSX 24th, tied with EMMIS Rhythmic AC KMVN (MOViN'). Urban stations remain non-competitive with Magic Urban KDAY 37th and TAXI Urban AC KJLH 43rd.

Speaking of Talk, the second highest rated Talk station is non-commercial KPCC -- ranking 21st. The two CBS news stations (KNX and KFWB) rank 23rd and 31st. CITADEL sees Talk KABC grow 44% from AUGUST to SEPTEMBER -- thanks to huge gains at night with NL WESTERN DIVISION Champs the LOS ANGELES DODGERS leading the way.

BONNEVILLE has yet to see any kind of significant movement for AAA KSWD (THE SOUND). The station ranks 26th 25-54 five months into its format. ENTRAVISION Alternative KDLD (INDIE 103.1) ranks 40th.

18-49: KIIS has a two-share advantage over KLVE and KROQ -- who tie for 2nd. KLAX moves past KSCA as the two Regional Mexican rivals rank 4th and 5th. This actually gives Spanish-language stations 4 of the top 5 positions. CLEAR CHANNEL sees AC/Hot AC sisters KOST and KBIG capture 6th and 7th (CC has three of the top 7 stations overall). KCBS-F, KBUE, and KPWR tie for 8th.

KRCD moves into 11th place. A nice jump for KTWV -- who moves from 17th in AUGUST to 12th in SEPTEMBER. A slight slide for KLOS, which ranks 13th. KRTH is 14th, with KHHT tying with KXOL for 15th. KLYY is 17th. KYSR drops from 14th in AUGUST to 18th in SEPTEMBER. KFI and KSSE tie for 19th.

18-34: KIIS wins here by a mile -- scoring its highest shares yet. KROQ holds the #2 spot, but KPWR has a solid SEPTEMBER and ranks 3rd. Spanish-language stations take the next three spots with KLVE, KLAX, and KSCA taking the 4th through 6th positions. KBIG is strong across all demos -- and ranks 7th 18-34. KXOL drops to 8th in SEPTEMBER, while KBUE and KOST are tied for 9th. We'd also note that SBS and UNIVISION, two PPM objectors see ALL of their stations among the top 11 18-34 (five total).

CHICAGO: BONNEVILLE Still On Top; Regional Mexican Hot; AC Battle Tight 

BONNEVILLE remains in the driver's seat so to speak as Classic Rock WDRV (THE DRIVE) retains the top spot 25-54 in SEPTEMBER, although it was off over 10% this month. It was also a good month for both Regional Mexican outlets. Here's what happened in the WINDY CITY:

25-54: WDRV retains the #1 position, but BONNEVILLE Hot AC sister WTMX (THE MIX), which had been #2 in the pre-currency, slides to #3, as UNIVISION Regional Mexican WOJO leaps into 2nd place. CBS sees a huge jump for News WBBM-AM, which now ranks 4th. CITADEL Classic Hits WLS-FM (TRUE OLDIES 94.7) ranks 5th - a similar ranking to WCBS-FM/NEW YORK. SBS Regional Mexican WLEY moves into 6th place - as Spanish-language stations take 2 of the top 6 stations 25-54. EMMIS Rock WLUP is 7th. Despite the CUBS run to the NL CENTRAL title, TRIBUNE News/Talk WGN ranked 8th (down from 4th in AUGUST), tying them with CLEAR CHANNEL Urban AC WVAZ. CBS Country WUSN (US99) rounds out the top 10.

An off month for CBS AAA WXRT -- which was 6th in AUGUST, but dipped to 11th in SEPTEMBER. The AC battle is extremely tight. CBS AC WWFS (FRESH) ties with CLEAR CHANNEL's WLIT for 12th, just one tenth ahead of BONNEVILLE gold-based AC WILV (LOVE-FM), which was 14th. CLEAR CHANNEL Urban WGCI has definitely taken a hit in the meter, and ranks 15th 25-54. CITADEL Talk WLS-AM ties with CBS Sports WSCR for 16th. CBS Adult Hits WJMK (JACK-FM) is 18th, with growth in the music dayparts. CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40 WKSC was 19th, and WBEZ ALLIANCE non-commercial News/Talk WBEZ rounds out the top 20, tied with UNIVISION Spanish Oldies WPPN.

EMMIS Alternative WKQX (Q101.1) ties with ESPN Sports WMVP for 22nd. CBS Rhythmic WBBM-FM (B96) was 24th, tied with CLEAR CHANNEL Smooth AC WNUA -- which hits a new rank low in the meter. WNUA is off 28% from JULY to SEPTEMBER.

18-49: WOJO replaces WTMX at the top as the latter slides into a second place tie with sister WDRV. WUSN remains in 4th place, with WLEY 5th. This gives Spanish-language stations two of the top five spots in the important 18-49 cell. A nice uptrend for CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40 WKSC - which leaps from 9th in AUGUST to 6th in SEPTEMBER. WBBM-AM rises from 14th in AUGUST to 7th in SEPTEMBER. WGCI rebounds and is back in the top 10 at #8, tied with WLS-FM and WLUP.

WCFS slides from 6th to 11th, WVAZ from 9th to 12th, and WGN from 11th to 13th - tying them with WLIT. WILV and WXRT tie for 15th. WKQX, WPPN, WBBM-FM, and WJMK round out the top 20.

18-34: WOJO grows dramatically and has a stranglehold on the #1 position. A nice jump in SEPTEMBER for WKSC - which soars from 5th to 2nd. They also put some distance between themselves and Rhythmic rival WBBM-FM, beating them by 64% 18-34 and 60% 18-49. WLEY ranks 3rd, followed by WUSN, WTMX, WGCI, WKQX, B96 and WLS-FM (tied for 8th), and WCFS.

Urban is definitely struggling in CHICAGO. CRAWFORD Urban WPWX ranks only 14th 18-34 and 25th 18-49.

SAN FRANCISCO: KMEL, KOIT Share Demo Crowns; CUMULUS Strong 25-54 

CLEAR CHANNEL Urban-leaning Rhythmic KMEL and ENTERCOM AC KOIT shared the demo crowns, while the two Regional Mexican stations remain solid across the board.

25-54: For SEPTEMBER, KOIT moves back to the top spot it held back in July. It opens up a fairly decent lead on CLEAR CHANNEL Hot AC KIOI, which slips into a 2nd place tie with non-commercial NORTHERN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RADIO News/Talk KQED. Tied for 4th are CUMULUS Triple A KFOG and KMEL. CUMULUS Rock KSAN - who was 3rd in AUGUST, slides back to 6th in SEPTEMBER. CBS News KCBS-AM ranked 7th. UNIVISION Regional Mexican KSOL ranks 8th, CUMULUS Sports KNBR is 9th, while SBS Regional Mexican KRZZ moves into the top 10.

INNER CITY Urban AC KBLX dips from 8th to 11th, tying them with CLEAR CHANNEL Rhythmic KYLD. CLEAR CHANNEL Rhythmic AC KISQ is 13th, just ahead of venerable CITADEL Talk KGO - which ranked 14th. CBS continues to have their challenges on the upper end with their FM's. Alternative KITS was their highest rated FM outlet in 15th place. Rhythmic AC KMVQ - after a good PPM start - has dropped to 16th 25-54 - and is off 22% since July. ENTERCOM Country KBWF is pretty steady in 17th place. CBS Hot AC KLLC inches up to 18th (and improvement from the 21st place ranking in AUGUST). NEXTMEDIA sees both of their SAN JOSE properties show up in the top 20 25-54 in the SAN FRANCISCO metro with AC KBAY 19th and Hot AC KEZR 20th. Also tied for 20th - and definitely cause for concern - is CLEAR CHANNEL Smooth AC KKSF. The station slides from 16th in AUGUST. Smooth AC did not look good in either CHICAGO or SAN FRANCISCO in SEPTEMBER.

Other 25-54 notes: CBS Classic Hits KFRC has still not been able to gain ground. It slides all the way to 31st in the demo. PPM has not been kind to ENTERCOM Classical KDFC - as it ranks 24th in the cell.

18-49: KMEL is the winner here - holding off a rising KOIT. KSOL remains in 3rd place, while KYLD and KIOI rank 4th and 5th - giving CLEAR CHANNEL three of the top five stations in this important cell. KRZZ ranks 6th, as KQED rises from 10th in AUGUST to 7th in SEPTEMBER. KCBS-AM ties with KFOG for 8th place, with KSAN rounding out the top 10.

KISQ drops out of the top 10 and moves from 8th in AUGUST to 11th in SEPTEMBER,tying them with KITS. KNBR was 13th, with KMVQ sliding back to 14th place - off 20% from July. KBLX and KLLC tie for 15th. UNIVISION Spanish Adult Hits KBRG (RECUERDO) ties KEZR for 17th place, with KBAY 19th, and KBWF tying two CLEAR CHANNEL stations from SAN JOSE: Classic Rock KUFX and Mexican Oldies KSJO (LA PRECIOSA). KGO is out of the top 20 in this cell - ranking 24th.

18-34: KMEL is #1 by a mile here - beating KSOL 48%. It's lead over sister KYLD (Wild 94-9) is a staggering 71% - although Wild does still rank 3rd. KRZZ is 4th (two Regional Mexican stations among the top 4). KITS is 5th, just ahead of KOIT and KSAN (which rises from 11th to 7th). KIOI slides back to 8th (from 7th in AUGUST). KQED and KEZR round out the top 10.

KBRG moves from 13th to 11th, and moves past KMVQ, which slips from 8th to 12th. KCBS-AM, CLEAR CHANNEL Alternative KCNL (SAN JOSE), and UNIVISION Latin Urban KVVF round out the top 15.

We'll have more data as the week progresses.

You can reach ANTHONY at anthony@radiocrunch.com and KEVIN at musicrunch@rocketmail.com and check out www.radiocrunch.com.

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