Seattle Among a Slew of Fall Arbitron Markets

RADIOCRUNCH Pres. ANTHONY ACAMPORA provides a plethora of analysis from the FALL 2007 book including markets like SEATTLE, PORTLAND and PITTSBURGH among others -- as well as a completely dominating performance by CLEAR CHANNEL/JACKSONVILLE. With that said, let the races begin.

Seattle: 'Warm' Wins 25-54, Soars 18-49; KMPS In Control Of Country Race

SANDUSKY AC KRWM (WARM 106.9) rode SANTA's sleigh to the top spot 25-54 this fall -- as it has in years past. The station surged from 14th to 1st in that cell, as well as moving from 17th to 2nd 18-49. FISHER Hot AC KPLZ got mixed results. It climbed 18-34, was flat 18-49, but took a hit 25-54.

CBS Country KMPS has taken back control of that format battle, topping ENTERCOM's KKWF (THE WOLF). Here's the breakdown:

25-54: KMPS (#2), KKWF (#8)
18-49: KMPS (#3), KKWF (#7)
18-34: KMPS (#2), KKWF (#10)

SEATTLE continues to be the home to one of the Christian AC formats highest ranking stations. CRISTA MINISTRIES KCMS ranked 3rd 25-54 this book -- moving up from 4th in the summer. ENTERCOM saw Active Rock KISW move back into the top 5 25-54, climbing from 6th to 4th. CBS Classic Rock KZOK slipped from a tie for 1st to 5th. SANDUSKY Smooth Jazz moved from 5th to 6th. BONNEVILLE News/Talk KIRO-A vaulted from 18th to 7th. CLEAR CHANNEL Classic Hits KJR dropped from 6th to 8th, tying them with CLEAR CHANNEL Rhythmic KUBE, KKWF, and CBS Adult Hits KJAQ (JACK-FM).

While KRWM was #1 25-54 and #2 18-49, it was KUBE that was the winner with adults 18-34 and 18-49. Looking deeper into 18-49, KMPS slipped from 2nd to 3rd. KISW vaulted from 8th to 4th, with KCMS slipping from 4th to 5th. KZOK dropped from 5th to 6th and KKWF to 7th. A huge move for KJAQ (which vaults from 15th to 8th). SANDUSKY Rhythmic AC KQMV (MOVIN') slipped from 7th to 9th, tying them with CBS Top 40 KBKS.

In the 18-34 demo, KUBE dominated. KMPS moved up to 2nd place. KISW leaped from 8th to 3rd, knocking KBKS back to 4th -- although they did move ahead of KQMV -- which fell from 2nd to 5th. FISHER Hot AC KPLZ rose from 11th to 6th, with KRWM surging from 13th to 7th. KCMS and ENTERCOM Alternative KNDD tied for 8th, with KKWF rounding out the top 10.

One of the most notable drops in any market this book was that of ENTERCOM AAA KMTT (THE MOUNTAIN). KMTT dropped from 3rd to 16th 18-49 and a tie for #1 to #15 25-54. In reality, the summer rankings were a bit above KMTT's normal ranker -- and the fall was clearly below average.

Pittsburgh: 'DVE Dominates; Format Tweaks Help CBS As 'Star' Robs 'Bob'

CLEAR CHANNEL's domination of Rock shares in PITTSBURGH reminds us of CITADEL's control of the rock formats in MINNEAPOLIS. CC Classic Rock WDVE was a dominant #1 18-49 and 25-54 as one would come expect -- but they also ruled the 18-34 cell -- very rare for a Classic Rock station. Meanwhile, Alternative sister WXDX was 4th 18-34, 7th 18-49, and 8th 25-54.

At the start of the book, CBS brought back heritage top 40 "B94" under the new calls WBZW. B94 quadrupled their 18-34 ratings and captured the #6 spot in that cell. However, it only had a minor effect on CLEAR CHANNEL rival WKST, which still ranks 3rd 18-34 -- and was off only 5%. CBS also modified Hot AC WZPT (STAR 100.7) by reducing the currents and adding additional 80's and 90's music. WZPT saw growth across the board, vaulting from 9th to 4th 18-49 and 9th to 5th 25-54. That may have had an effect on STEEL CITY MEDIA Adult Hits WRRK (Bob-FM). WRRK remained #2 25-54, but slipped 25% in share from the summer and 33% from Fall 2006.

Specifically in demos, WRRK tied with CBS Country WDSY and RENDA AC WSHH for the #2 spot 25-54. WSHH dominated STEEL CITY MEDIA AC rival WLTJ in the upper demos. Here's a look:

25-54: WSHH (#2), WLTJ (#13)
18-49: WSHH (#5), WLTJ (#15)

Also in 25-54, CLEAR CHANNEL FM Talk WPGB tied sister Classic Hits WWSW for 6th place. WPGB finished well ahead of legendary CBS News/Talk KDKA -- which ranked 11th 25-54.

In the 18-49 cell, WDVE was first with WDSY #2. WKST actually moved up from 4th to 3rd despite the new direct competitor. WZPT rocketed to 4th. WRRK and WSHH tied for 5th. WXDX slipped from 6th to 7th, while SHERIDAN Urban WAMO-FM fell from 5th to 8th. WPGB took 9th and WBZW cracked the top 10 - moving all the way up from 17th.

Portland: Entercom Lands 3 Of Top 5 25-54; KKCW #1 18-49, 25-54

There were victories for a variety of groups in the FALL 2007 book. ENTERCOM landed three of the top five spots with adults 25-54, but it was CHRISTMAS-fueled CLEAR CHANNEL AC KKCW (K103) that took the #1 position with adults 18-49 and 25-54.

KKCW surged from 7th to 1st 25-54 -- and took its usual position atop the PORTLAND market in the fall book. ENTERCOM saw Classic Rock KGON go up in share but slip from 1st to 2nd in rank. CBS Triple A KINK held on to third place, but ENTERCOM grabbed the next two spots with Country KWJJ moving from 5th to 4th and Adult Hits KYCH surging from 9th to 5th.

The ongoing Country battle in Portland went ENTERCOM's way this time around as CBS outlet KUPL slipped this book. Here's a demo breakout on Country (trend is SUMMER to FALL):

25-54: KWJJ (5th to 4th), KUPL (2nd to 7th)
18-49: KWJJ (2nd-tie to 4th), KUPL (2nd-tie to 9th)
18-34: KWJJ (7th to 8th), KUPL (9th to 10th)

Also in the 25-54 cell, CLEAR CHANNEL Talk KEX surged from 11th to 5th, while ENTERCOM Alternative KNRK fell from 4th to 8th. However, the summer book was abnormally high for KNRK -- and it still tied them with CBS Rock 25-54 for the 8th spot. SALEM Regional Mexican KRYP climbed into the top 10.

Over in the 18-49 demo, KGON tied KKCW for the top spot. KGON moved up from 2nd, but KKCW surged from 13th in the summer. KUFO vaulted from 10th to 3rd -- and clearly captured younger demos. KWJJ ranked 4th. KRYP spent another book top 5. KNRK slipped from 1st to 6th, tying them with KYCH. KINK was 8th, KUPL fell to 9th, and ENTERCOM Hot AC KRSK slid from 5th to 10th (likely affected by the huge KKCW CHRISTMAS shares). KRSK was tied with ROSE CITY Rhythmic KXJM and SALEM Christian AC KFIS. This gave SALEM two stations in the top 10 18-49.

In 18-34 adults, the growing Hispanic audience has clearly found KRYP as it moved them into the top spot. KUFO leaped from 5th to 2nd, moving ahead of KXJM which now ranks 3rd. KGON vaulted from 16th to 4th, while heritage CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40 KKRZ (Z100) fell from 1st to 5th. KKRZ also dipped from 7th to 13th 18-49. KNRK slid to 7th 18-34 (from 3rd in the SUMMER) as the Rock shares clearly went to the other stations this book.

CBS Rhythmic AC KVMX (MOVIN') has not had the same success as SANDUSKY's SEATTLE namesake. KVMX slipped from 8th to 13th 18-34. It ranked 16th 18-49 and 17th 25-54.

CLEAR CHANNEL also didn't see much pop in its first book for CLEAR CHANNEL Classic Hits KQOL (KOOL 105.9) -- which is going against CBS's KLTH. KQOL was at the same 25-54 level as last fall, where the preceding Smooth Jazz format was at. However, it may have had some impact on KLTH. Here's a view (rankings are SUMMER to FALL):

25-54: KLTH (6th to 11th), KQOL (20th to 20th)
18-49: KLTH (10th to 13th), KQOL (23rd to 24th)

Columbus, OH: WNCI Surges To Demo Dominance; WLVQ, WSNY Strong 25-54

CLEAR CHANNEL heritage Top 40 WNCI had a phenomenal FALL 2007 book, scoring huge share gains across the board. This gave WNCI the leadership position among adults 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54 - moving up from the #2 position it held in the summer.

Other key notes:

* RADIO ONE Rhythmic WCKX posted a 2nd place showing with adults 18-34 and 18-49 -- sliding out of the top spot it held this past summer.

* SAGA AC WSNY - thanks to some help from SANTA CLAUS -- moved back into the top 5 in the 25-54 cell, moving from 8th to 4th. WSNY also moved from 7th to 5th 18-49.

* WILKS Rock WLVQ moved into 2nd place 25-54 -- with a sharp increase.

* CLEAR CHANNEL Country WCOL was solid across all cells -- finishing 3rd across the 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54 demos -- and beating the combined shares of its two Country competitors.

Top 10 18-34 (in descending order): WNCI, WCKX, WCOL, WBZX (NORTH AMERICAN-Active Rock), WLVQ, WSNY, WBNS (RADIOHIO-Hot AC), WCVO (CRISTA MINISTRIES-Christian AC), and a tie between WXMG (RADIO ONE-Urban AC), WWCD (INGLESIDE-Alternative)

Top 10 18-49 (in descending order): WNCI, WCKX, WCOL, WLVQ, WSNY, WBNS, WBZX, WCVO, WXMG, and WLZT (CLEAR CHANNEL-AC).

Top 10 25-54 (in descending order): WNCI, WLVQ, WCOL, WSNY, WBNS, WCKX, WTVN (CLEAR CHANNEL-News/Talk) and WCVO are tied, WXMG, and a tie between WBZX and WLZT.

San Antonio: Alamo City Gets 'Kissed'; Cox Scores 3 of Top 5 25-54

COX heritage Active Rock KISS scored was the #1 station across the 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54 cells - although the legendary station did share the top spot 18-34 with UNIVISION Rhythmic KBBT.

In the 25-54 demo, COX grabbed three of the top five positions. Classic Hits KONO moved from 3rd to 2nd, while Country KCYY dipped from 2nd to 5th. The battle for Country supremacy remains tight though with KCYY competing with CLEAR CHANNEL's KAJA. Here's the Country breakdown (SUMMER to FALL rankings)

25-54: KAJA (1st to 3rd), KCYY (2nd to 5th)
18-49: KCYY (tie for 3rd to 3rd), KAJA (tie for 3rd to 4th)
18-34: KCYY (6th to 5th), KAJA (4th to 7th).

KAJA took the upper demo, but KCYY was the winner 18-34 and 18-49.

A big leap in the 25-54 cell was no surprise as CLEAR CHANNEL AC KQXT vaulted from 14th to 3rd with the CHRISTMAS music help. There were actually six stations that were top five, as BORDER MEDIA PARTNERS Adult Hits KJXK tied KCYY for the #5 position. LOTUS Classic Rock KZEP dipped from 5th to 7th. CLEAR CHANNEL News/Talk KOAI inched up from 9th to 8th. Two UNIVISION stations tied for 9th: Regional Mexican KROM and KBBT.

COX launched a rival to KBBT in fall 2006 flipping Top 40 KELZ to Rhythmic KPWT. Here's how it shakes down right now:

18-34: KBBT (#1-tie), KPWT (#6)
18-49: KBBT (#2), KPWT (#14)

Taking a deeper look into the 18-49 cell, we find KISS, KBBT, KCYY, and KAJA with the top four positions. CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40 KXXM moves up to 5th place (despite going down in share). KJXK slides back to 6th place. KROM and KZEP tied for 7th, with KONO falling from 7th to 9th. KQXT surges from 16th to 10th.

Finally, with adults 18-34, KISS and KBBT tied for the top spot. KROM vaulted from 8th to 3rd. KXXM was off from 3rd to 4th, with KCYY finishing fifth.

COX Hot AC KSMG did not appear anywhere in the top 10 and ranked 13th in all three cells.

KBBT is actually up in share year-to-year 18-34 and 18-49, while KPWT is down in both demos. Also off this book was BORDER MEDIA PARTNERS Rhythmic AC KTFM which 16th 18-49 and 14th 25-54.

Norfolk: WVKL Remains Adult Leader; 'Bob' Back In Top 5

ENTERCOM Urban AC WVKL -- led by the STEVE HARVEY MORNING SHOW, continues their domination of the upper demos in Norfolk. CLEAR CHANNEL Urban WOWI took the top spot 18-34 and finished 2nd to WVKL among 18-49s.

MAX MEDIA Country WGH-FM ranked 2nd 25-54 -- although that may change with the recent flip of SINCLAIR TELECABLE Hot AC WNRJ to Country as WUSH. WVKL's direct competitor -- CLEAR CHANNEL's WKUS held on to the 3rd position. Tied for 4th were WOWI and SINCLAIR TELECABLE Adult Hits WPYA (BOB-FM) -- which surged from 7th.

SAGA saw growth for their two rock properties 25-54. Classic Rock WAFX moved up from 7th to 6th and Rock WNOR vaulted from 14th to 8th.

The hotly contested AC battle went to MAX MEDIA's WVBW -- which climbed from 11th to 6th, while legendary ENTERCOM outlet WWDE held in 9th place. WWDE (#8) did top WVBW (11th) 18-49.

Austin: Huge Regional Mexican Book As KLQB Sweeps Demos

It was a strong book for Spanish-language stations in AUSTIN -- and UNIVISION's 2007 launch of KLQB (QUE BUENA) has clearly paid off. The station was #1 across all three of the demos we research: adults 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54. KLQB moved up from 5th 18-34, 7th 18-49, 12th 25-54. Meanwhile, BORDER MEDIA Regional Mexican rival KHHL also was solid -- ranking 2nd among 18-34 and 18-49 adults.

The success of the Regional Mexican stations may have put a damper on the markets two Rhythmic facilities. EMMIS outlet KDHT slipped from 3rd to 7th 18-34, while BORDER MEDIA rival KXBT dropped from 4th to 8th. CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40 KHFI was the most listened to English language station 18-34 -- and tied the combined shares of KXBT and KDHT in the cell this book. KHFI was also the #1 English station 18-49 this time around.

EMMIS Adult Hits KBPA (BOB-FM) -- which has been a market leader since its inception - slid from 1st to 6th 18-49, but was still a solid 3rd 25-54 -- behind KLQB and CLEAR CHANNEL Country KASE.

ENTERCOM saw solid growth for Hot AC KAMX -- which vaulted from 9th to 5th 18-49 12th to 5th 25-54. It is up 41% year-to-year among adults 25-54.

Top 10 18-34 (in descending order): KLQB, KHHL, KHFI, KASE, KROX (EMMIS-Alternative), KAMX, KDHT, KXBT, and a tie between KLBJ (EMMIS-Rock) and KXXS (BORDER MEDIA-Spanish Contemporary).

Top 10 18-49 (in descending order): KLQB, KHHL, KHFI, KASE, KAMX, KBPA, KKMJ (ENTERCOM-AC), KLBJ, KROX, and KVET (CLEAR CHANNEL-Country).

Top 10 25-54 (in descending order): KLQB, KASE, a tie between KBPA and KKMJ, KAMX, KLBJ-AM (EMMIS-News/Talk), a tie between KHFI and KHHL, and a tie between KLBJ-FM and KVET.

Hartford: WHCN Upsets WRCH To Take 25-54 Crown; WZMX Vaults After WPHH Flip

CBS AC WRCH is traditionally the 25-54 leader in HARTFORD. The station also shifted to holiday music during the fall book -- making a win seem like a no brainer. That's what make the move to the top spot 25-54 for CLEAR CHANNEL Adult Hits WHCN an even bigger shocker. WHCN inched past WRCH -- which was still a solid 2nd. WHCN also placed 2nd 18-49, ahead of WRCH which finished 4th.

CBS Rhythmic WZMX moved back to the top spot among 18-34 adults, following the flip of CLEAR CHANNEL Urban rival WPHH to Alternative WURH at mid-book. WZMX also leaped from 5th to 1st 18-49 and 6th to 5th 25-54.

WURH grew 18-34 and knocked MARLIN Active Rock WCCC from the top spot in that cell -- and with disenfranchised listeners apparently moving to WZMX. CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40 WKSS also moved from 3rd to 2nd in the cell. The full effect of the WPHH/WURH flip won't be seen until after the winter book, although, WCCC also slid from 1st to 6th 18-49 and 3rd to 6th 25-54.

CBS still wound up with three of the top five stations 25-54 with WRCH (#2), Hot AC WTIC-FM (#4), and WZMX (#5).

Jacksonville: Clear Channel Cluster Scores Near Domination

In our research of the top 50 markets in AMERICA, the success of CLEAR CHANNEL's JACKSONVILLE cluster may be the closest thing to ratings dominance in any market we've seen. CLEAR CHANNEL landed the top 5 spots 18-49, as well as four of the top five spots 18-34 and 25-54.

COX did land the #1 position among adults 25-54 with simulcast Talk WOKV-A/F. However, CLEAR CHANNEL owned positions two through five with Urban AC WSOL (#2), Alternative WPLA (#3), Country WQIK (#4), and Urban WJBT (#5).

Among adults 18-49, CLEAR CHANNEL ranked as follows: WPLA (#1), WJBT (#2), WQIK (#3), WSOL (#4), and Top 40 WFKS (#5).

With adults 18-34, CLEAR CHANNEL had WJBT (#1), WPLA (#2), WFKS (#3), and WQIK (#5). COX Top 40 WAPE did rank 4th.

In the heated top 40 battle between WFKS and WAPE, WFKS finished ahead of WAPE 18-34 and 18-49, while WAPE won 25-54.

In the 25-54 cell, the two stations knocked out of the top 5 from the summer were COX Classic Hits WJGL (3rd to 6th) and RENDA AC WEJZ -- which fell from 2nd to 7th.

While RENDA has seen improvement over last year with WMUV (MOVIN') -- the station still ranks 13th 18-49 and 16th 25-54.

Memphis: Urban Stations Score 4 of 5 Top Slots; WRVR Moves Up With Santa

African American targeted stations continue to rule in MEMPHIS -- grabbing four of the top five positions among adults 25-54. CLEAR CHANNEL Urban AC KJMS (V101) moved from 4th to 1st. Gospel sister WHAL slipped from 1st to 2nd. CITADEL Urban AC WRBO moved up from 5th to 3rd, and CLEAR CHANNEL Urban WHRK dropped from 3rd to 5th. The only non-Urban station among the top 5 was ENTERCOM AC WRVR -- which moved from 7th to 4th.

Other news in the 25-54 cell had CITADEL Country WGKX drop from 2nd to 6th in the fall. CLEAR CHANNEL legendary Urban AC hybrid WDIA-AM vaulted from 12th to 7th, while sister Talk WREC moved into the 8th spot, thus giving CLEAR CHANNEL four of the top eight positions 25-54.

Falling out of the top 10 25-54 was ENTERCOM Hot AC WMC-FM - which slipped to #11. WMC may be affected by the rise of CITADEL AC WKIM -- who moved from 15th to 13th -- but more than doubled their shares.

CLEAR CHANNEL owned the top three positions 18-49 with KJMS, WHRK, and WHAL respectively. WGKX and WRBO tied for 4th.

Among 18-34 adults, WHRK remained the dominant player -- owning a huge lead over WGKX and KJMS, which tied for 2nd. FLINN Urban KXHT dipped from 2nd to 4th, although sister Top 40 WHBQ moved into the top 5 -- tied with WHAL.

The battle for the markets limited rock shares went to CITADEL's WXMX -- which beat CLEAR CHANNEL Classic Rock rival WEGR and ENTERCOM Alternative WMFS. The race between WXMX and WEGR is very tight. Here's a look:

18-34: WXMX (#9), WEGR (#10), WMFS (#11)
18-49: WXMX (#7), WEGR (#9), WMFS (#16)
25-54: WXMX (#9), WEGR (#10), WMFS (#19)

Speaking of 18-49 adults, WVKL and WOWI took the top two spots. WGH came in third. WPYA climbed here from 7th to 4th as well. WKUS rounded out the top 5. ENTERCOM Rhythmic WNVZ slipped from 4th to 6th -- tying them with WNOR. WWDE rose from 11th to 8th, while sister Hot AC WPTE slipped from 6th to 9th. WAFX finished in 10th place. It was a rough book for WPTE, which slid from 4th to 12th 25-54 -- although much of it appeared to on the younger end.

Later this week: OKLAHOMA CITY, NASHVILLE, WEST PALM BEACH, GREENSBORO, PROVIDENCE, RALEIGH, SALT LAKE CITY, and more!