Nielsen begins its monthly release of PPM ratings with today’s Day 1 update including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston/Galveston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Long Island, Riverside/San Bernardino, San Jose, and Middlesex/Somerset/Union.
All the numbers can be found at RadioInsight.com/Ratings.
Texas was one of the first states to drop all of its COVID-19 related restrictions as of March 10. With the reopening of the state came the rise of CUME to pre-pandemic levels for stations Dallas and Houston.
iHeartMedia CHR “106.1 Kiss-FM” KHKS Dallas’s CUME rose from 1.08 million in February to 1.26 million in March, placing it just shy of the 1.35 million listeners it had in March 2020 according to Ratings Expert Chris Huff. AC “Sunny 99.1” KODA Houston rose from 1.58 million to 1.84 million bringing it ahead of March 2020’s 1.81 million listeners. The month-to-month gains were significant for additional stations such as “Now 102.9” KDMX Dallas was up from 967,000 to 1.31 million listeners.
Most of the other markets across the country released today also saw gains. iHeartMedia’s “106.7 Lite-FM” WLTW New York rebounded over the 3 million listener mark for the first time since the start of the pandemic rising from 2,961,100 to 3,174,800 listeners. “103.5 Kiss-FM” WKSC Chicago has trended up 923K – 1.02 million – 1.21 million, while Beasley Classic Rock 102.9 WMGK Philadelphia surged 600K – 645K – 750K the past three months.
Note: New York City revised with addition of WBLS and WAXQ which were first missing from Nielsen’s data release.
WLTW continues to lead New York as it rises 6.8 to 7.1. Audacy Classic Hits 101.1 WCBS-FM jumps a full share point to second 4.8 to 5.8. MediaCo Adult R&B 107.5 WBLS slips to third 6.4 to 5.8. SBS Spanish Tropical “Mega 97.9” WSKQ drops to fourth 6.1 to 5.6. iHeartMedia Classic Rock “Q104.3” WAXQ rises 4.5 to 4.8.
Audacy News 1010 WINS trends downwards 4.0 – 3.6 – 3.4.
Audacy Classic Hits “K-Earth 101.1” KRTH continue to lead Los Angeles with a 5.6 – 5.9 – 6.1 trend. iHeartMedia News/Talk 640 KFI jumps 5.0 to 5.7 for what ratings expert Chris Huff notes is their highest share since 1973. iHeartMedia AC 103.5 KOST is third down 5.6 to 5.3, while Audacy’s duo of Rhythmic AC “94.7 The Wave” KTWV (4.4 – 4.5) and Variety Hits “93.1 Jack-FM” KCBS-FM (steady at 4.0) round out the top five.
In its final monthly prior to last week’s rebranding as “97.1 Now“, Audacy’s “Amp 97.1” KAMP-FM holds steady at a 1.2 share.
Since the death of Rush Limbaugh, iHeartMedia Conservative Talk “1150 The Patriot” KEIB has lost half of its audience share dropping from a 1.2 in January to 0.6 in March.
iHeartMedia Adult R&B “V103” WVAZ rises 6.0 to 6.3 to regain the Chicago market lead. Audacy News 780 WBBM/105.9 WCFS falls 7.3 – 7.1 – 6.2 to fall to second. iHeartMedia AC “93.9 Lite-FM” WLIT trends up 5.1 – 5.3 – 5.7 to move up to third. Public News/Talk 91.5 WBEZ plummets 6.4 to 4.7 to tie for fourth with Hubbard Classic Rock “97.1 The Drive” WDRV, which rises 4.0 to 4.7.
Trending up in Chicago are Weigel Soft Oldies “87.7 MeTV-FM” WRME-LP (2.1 to 3.2), iHeartMedia CHR “103.5 Kiss-FM” WKSC (2.6 – 3.0 – 3.1), Audacy Classic Hip Hop “104.3 Jams” WBMX (2.1 – 2.5 – 2.9) and Country “US 99” WUSN (2.0 to 2.6).
Public News/Talk 88.5 KQED-FM holds onto the San Francisco market lead down 10.9 – 10.6 – 9.8. Audacy News 740 KCBS/106.9 KFRC slides 8.5 – 7.5 – 6.8. Bonneville AC 96.5 KOIT is down 5.1 to 4.6 to hold into third. Three stations land in a tie for fourth with a 3.8 share. Univision Spanish AC “Amor 100.3” KBRG trends up 3.2 – 3.5 – 3.8, iHeartMedia Soft AC “98.1 The Breeze” KISQ slips 4.5 to 3.8, while Bonneville CHR “99.7 Now” KMVQ falls 4.0 to 3.8.
iHeartMedia AC “Star 102.1” KDGE leads Dallas for the second straight month with a 5.2 to 5.3 gain. Univision Regional Mexican “Que Buena 94.1” KLNO jumps 4.6 to 5.2 to move into second. Salem Christian AC 94.9 KLTY rebounds 4.8 to 5.0 to place third. Both of Cumulus’ Country stations round out the top five. “New Country 96.3” KSCS rises 4.3 to 4.9, while “99.5 The Wolf” KPLX is up 4.3 to 4.7. iHeartMedia CHR “106.1 Kiss-FM” KHKS falls out of the top five moving from second to sixth with just a 4.8 to 4.6 drop.
Cumulus News/Talk 820 WBAP drops 4.0 to 3.0. After rising 2.7 to 3.7 following the death of afternoon host Russ Martin, iHeartMedia Rock “97.1 The Eagle” KEGL falls back to a 2.7 share. Cumulus Sports “96.7/1310 The Ticket” KTCK/KTCK-FM falls 4.1 to 2.6.
iHeartMedia AC “Sunny 99.1” KODA holds onto its significant lead in Houston with a 7.5 to 7.7 gain. Univision Regional Mexican “Que Buena 102.9” KLTN jumps 5.8 to 6.3. Hope Media Christian AC 89.3 KSBJ places third 6.1 to 5.9. iHeartMedia News/Talk 740 KTRH falls 7.5 – 6.5 – 5.8 for fourth, while Cox Classic Rock “107.5/106.9 The Eagle” KGLK/KHPT slips 5.9 to 5.7.
Cox Country “93Q” KKBQ-FM trends up 3.2 – 4.0 – 4.4, while Audacy Hot AC “Mix 96.5” KHMX rises 3.4 – 4.0 – 4.3. iHeartMedia Hip Hop “93.7 The Beat” KQBT jumps 2.6 – 3.2 – 3.4.
Cox Media Group continues to hold four of the top five stations in Atlanta. News/Talk 750 WSB/95.5 WSBB slips 11.8 – 10.5 – 9.2 to hold the market lead. Classic Rock “97.1 The River” WSRV rises to second 6.1 to 6.2. Adult R&B “Kiss 104.1” WALR holds at a 6.2, but Audacy Hip Hop/R&B “V103” WVEE trends up 4.8 – 5.1 – 6.2 to tie for third. Cox AC “B98.5” WSB-FM rises 4.9 to 5.3
Both CHRs trend up in Atlanta. Cumulus Media’s “Q99.7” WWWQ rises 3.1 – 3.4 – 4.0, while iHeartMedia’s “Power 96.1” WWPW is up 1.8 – 2.3 – 2.4. Trending downward is Public News/Talk 90.1 WABE-FM (4.3 – 3.5 – 3.2).
iHeartMedia Adult R&B 105.3 WDAS-FM continues to lead Philadelphia up 8.0 to 8.1. Beasley Rock 93.3 WMMR slips 7.6 to 7.0 to hold onto second. Beasley Classic Rock 102.9 WMGK rises 5.9 to 6.0 to tie for third with Audacy News 1060 KYW/103.9 WPHI (6.5 to 6.0). Audacy Sports 94.1 WIP holds at a 5.3 to place fifth.
Surging up in Philadelphia is Beasley Country 92.5 WXTU (3.6 – 4.0 – 5.0), while iHeartMedia CHR “Q102” WIOQ jumps up 3.6 to 4.4. Public News/Talk 90.9 WHYY-FM slides down (6.3 – 5.2 – 4.6), while Audacy Conservative Talk 1210 WPHT trends down 2.2 – 1.8 – 1.5.
Cox Classic Rock 102.3 WBAB/95.3 WHFM surges up to the Long Island market lead 4.3 – 5.2 – 6.1. iHeartMedia Classic Rock “Q104.3” WAXQ New York falls to second despite rising 5.6 to 5.7. Audacy Classic Hits 101.1 WCBS-FM rises 4.9 to 5.1. Cox CHR 106.1 WBLI places fourth 4.4 to 4.5. Connoisseur Media Classic Hits “103.1 Max-FM” WBZO jumps up to fifth 3.3 to 4.1.