Exclusive: Inside The PPM Commercialization Results

N.Y., L.A., Chicago And S.F. Under The Microscope

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 21st-SEPTEMBER 17th 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."

One thing we're seeing is the obvious success of mass-appeal, hit-driven formats. Could it be possible that the PPM would result in multiple Top 40s 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 continued 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 ranked 7th (but just a tenth out of the top 5) and just slightly ahead of INNER CITY rival WBLS, which was 8th (and up 22% from JULY). CBS AC WWFS stayed 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 scored the next three: Sports WFAN was 14th, News WCBS-A 15th and Rock WXRK 16th. SBS Spanish Contemporary WPAT was 17th (and is one station that has dropped out of the top 10 from the diary). CITADEL Talk WABC and UNIVISION Tropical WCAA tied for 18th. Rounding out the top 20 was EMMIS AAA WRXP, which has yet to make any significant inroads in the market.

18-49: Z100 won here by a significant margin and CLEAR CHANNEL also claimed the top-four spots here. WLTW ranked 2nd, followed by WKTU and WWPR. WSKQ was 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 grabbed the 12th through 14th spots with WCBS-F, WINS and WXRK in descending order. WPAT was 15th, WFAN 16th, and tied for 17th between UNIVISION Tropical WCAA and WCBS-AM. WABC and WRXP rounded out the top 20.

18-34: Z100 won this one by a landslide and was well into double digits. HOT 97 rebounded from an off AUGUST to move back into a tie with POWER 105 for 2nd. WSKQ was a solid 4th and WKTU was 5th. WLTW was a strong 6th, with WBLS and WXRK tied for 7th. WWFS was 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/NEW YORK, CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40 KIIS grabbed 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 was one of the shining stars of the format, ranking 2nd 18-34 and 18-49, and tied for 3rd 25-54. Meanwhile, LOS ANGELES results show positive news for Spanish-language stations, which took four of the top-10 positions in all demos, and 5 of the top 11 stations in the 25-54 cell.

25-54: KIIS won this one by a decent margin. UNIVISION Spanish Contemporary KLVE moved into 2nd, just ahead of a three-way tie for third between SBS Regional Mexican KLAX, CLEAR CHANNEL AC KOST, and KROQ. CBS watched Adult Hits KCBS-F (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 tied for 9th.

CBS saw a nice growth for Smooth AC KTWV, following a shift from three stopsets per hour to two. KTWV was the one bright spot for a format that appears endangered (more on that later in CHICAGO and SAN FRANCISCO). CBS Classic Hits KRTH was 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) was 14th. It was a struggle for News and Talk formats in Southern California with CLEAR CHANNEL News/Talk KFI-A the highest rated 25-54 --and only ranking 15th. Sister Rhythmic AC KHHT (Hot 92-3) was 16th. ENTRAVISION saw respectable PPM results for Spanish Adult Hits KLYY (JOSE), which was up to 17th. Sister Spanish Contemporary KSSE (SUPER ESTRELLA) was 18th. SBS Latin Urban KXOL finished 19th. KROQ was 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) was #22. FM Talk didn't fare 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-A and KFWB-A) ranked 23rd and 31st. CITADEL saw Talk KABC-A 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 ranked 26th 25-54 five months into its format. ENTRAVISION Alternative KDLD (INDIE 103.1) ranked 40th.

18-49: KIIS had a two-share advantage over KLVE and KROQ, which tied for 2nd. KLAX moved past KSCA as the two Regional Mexican rivals ranked 4th and 5th. This actually gave Spanish-language stations 4 of the top 5 positions. CLEAR CHANNEL saw AC/Hot AC sisters KOST and KBIG captured 6th and 7th (CC had three of the top-7 stations overall). KCBS-F, KBUE, and KPWR tie for 8th.

KRCD moved into 11th place. A nice jump for KTWV. which moved from 17th in AUGUST to 12th in SEPTEMBER. A slight slide for KLOS, which ranked 13th. KRTH was 14th, as KHHT tied KXOL for 15th. KLYY was 17th. KYSR dropped from 14th in AUGUST to 18th in SEPTEMBER. KFI and KSSE tied for 19th.

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

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

BONNEVILLE remained in the driver's seat, so to speak, as Classic Rock WDRV (THE DRIVE) retained 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 retained the #1 position, but BONNEVILLE Hot AC sister WTMX (THE MIX), which had been #2 in the pre-currency, slid to #3, as UNIVISION Regional Mexican WOJO leapt into 2nd place. CBS saw a huge jump for News WBBM-A, which ranked 4th. CITADEL Classic Hits WLS-F (TRUE OLDIES 94.7) ranked 5th, a similar ranking to WCBS-F/NEW YORK. SBS Regional Mexican WLEY moved into 6th place, as Spanish-language stations took 2 of the top-6 stations 25-54. EMMIS Rock WLUP was 7th. Despite the CUBS run to the NL CENTRAL title, TRIBUNE News/Talk WGN-A ranked 8th (down from 4th in AUGUST), tying CLEAR CHANNEL Urban AC WVAZ. CBS Country WUSN (US99) rounded 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) tied 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 definitely took a hit in the meter, and ranked 15th 25-54. CITADEL Talk WLS-A tied with CBS Sports WSCR for 16th. CBS Adult Hits WJMK (JACK-FM) was 18th, with growth in the music dayparts. CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40 WKSC was 19th, and WBEZ ALLIANCE non-commercial News/Talk WBEZ rounded out the top 20, tied with UNIVISION Spanish Oldies WPPN.

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

18-49: WOJO replaced WTMX at the top as the latter slid into a second place tie with sister WDRV. WUSN remained in 4th place, with WLEY 5th. This gave 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 leapt from 9th in AUGUST to 6th in SEPTEMBER. WBBM-A rose from 14th in AUGUST to 7th in SEPTEMBER. WGCI rebounded and was back in the top 10 at #8, tied with WLS-FM and WLUP.

WCFS slid from 6th to 11th, WVAZ from 9th to 12th, and WGN from 11th to 13th,  tying WLIT. WILV and WXRT tied for 15th. WKQX, WPPN, WBBM-FM and WJMK rounded out the top 20.

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

Urban was definitely struggling in CHICAGO. CRAWFORD Urban WPWX ranked 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 remained solid across the board.

25-54: For SEPTEMBER, KOIT moved back to the top spot it held back in JULY. It opened up a fairly decent lead on CLEAR CHANNEL Hot AC KIOI, which slipped into a 2nd place tie with non-commercial NORTHERN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RADIO News/Talk KQED. Tied for 4th were CUMULUS AAA KFOG and CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40/Rhythmic KMEL. CUMULUS Rock KSAN, which was 3rd in AUGUST, slid back to 6th in SEPTEMBER. CBS News KCBS-A ranked 7th. UNIVISION Regional Mexican KSOL ranked 8th, CUMULUS Sports KNBR was 9th, while SBS Regional Mexican KRZZ moved into the top 10.

INNER CITY Urban AC KBLX dipped from 8th to 11th, tying KYLD. CLEAR CHANNEL Rhythmic AC KISQ was 13th, just ahead of venerable CITADEL Talk KGO-A, which ranked 14th. CBS continued to have challenges on the upper end with its FMs. Alternative KITS was its highest rated FM outlet in 15th place. Rhythmic AC KMVQ -- after a good PPM start -- dropped to 16th 25-54 and is off 22% since JULY. ENTERCOM Country KBWF was pretty steady in 17th place. CBS Hot AC KLLC inched up to 18th (and improvement from the 21st place ranking in AUGUST). NEXTMEDIA saw both of its 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 -- was CLEAR CHANNEL Smooth AC KKSF. The station slid 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 yet to gain any ground. It slid all the way to 31st in the demo. PPM has not been kind to ENTERCOM Classical KDFC, as it ranked 24th in the cell.

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

KISQ dropped out of the top 10 and moved from 8th in AUGUST to 11th in SEPTEMBER, tying KITS. KNBR was 13th, with KMVQ sliding back to 14th place -- off 20% from JULY. KBLX and KLLC tied for 15th. UNIVISION Spanish Adult Hits KBRG (RECUERDO) tied 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 was out of the top 20 in this cell, ranking 24th.

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

KBRG moved from 13th to 11th, and moved past KMVQ, which slipped from 8th to 12th. KCBS-A, CLEAR CHANNEL Alternative KCNL (SAN JOSE) and UNIVISION Latin Urban KVVF rounded 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.

« see more Net News