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.
The 13th month on Nielsen’s calendar brings with it the annual Christmas music surges. As it makes month-to-month comparisons difficult, we’ll instead look at the year-to-year numbers for the Christmas music stations.
iHeartMedia AC “106.7 Lite-FM” WLTW New York’s Holiday numbers are down for the third straight year. WLTW led the market with an 11.2 share this year after a 12.8 in 2020 and 13.3 in 2019. Beasley’s suburban AC “Magic 98.3” WMGQ adds a 1.0 share and Pillar of Fire Christian AC “Star 99.1” WAWZ adds another 0.9 share of Christmas music.
iHeartMedia AC 103.5 KOST Los Angeles is down from the past two years. KOST held a 13.4 share this year after a 13.7 in 2019 and 13.9 in 2020.
iHeartMedia AC “93.9 Lite-FM” WLIT Chicago sets a market record for the second straight year. After a 13.7 in 2019 and 14.3 in 2020, WLIT hit a 14.4 share in 2021. Ratings Expert Chris Huff notes that that is the largest share for any station in Chicago in any ratings period since 1975.
Bonneville AC 96.5 KOIT San Francisco is down slightly year-to-year with an 11.1 after an 11.3 last year. Alpha Media’s 94.5 KBAY San Jose adds an additional 2.3 shares of Christmas listening.
iHeartMedia AC “Star 102.1” KDGE Dallas registers a 10.6 share this year, which is the third annual 10+ share for the station after stopping Audacy Classic Hits 98.7 KLUV from going all-Christmas. Huff notes it is the highest share for any station in the Dallas market since 1991.
Two stations with Christmas music set all-time highs in Houston. iHeartMedia AC 99.1 KODA registered a 12.8 share this year after a 12.1 in 2020 and 11.6 in 2019. Hope Media Group Christian AC 89.3 KSBJ sets its all-time high at a 6.9 (up from 6.3 in the December monthly).
Salem Christian AC “104.7 The Fish” leads Atlanta with an 8.8 share this year. That mark ties a station record set in June 2019 per Huff, but also a massive surge from the 5.6 share it had in Holiday 2020. iHeartMedia’s commercial-free “Christmas 96.7” WBZW stunt format registered a 1.0 share.
Audacy AC “B101.1” WBEB Philadelphia hits a 14.4 share this year up from the 13.2 it had in 2020, but way down from its all-time high of 18.6 in Holiday 2019.
Long Island sees over 18 shares of Christmas Music listening split between Connoisseur Media Hot AC 97.5 WALK’s 9.8 share and iHeartMedia’s “106.7 Lite-FM” WLTW’s 8.3.
103.5 KOST adds a 9.2 share in Riverside San Bernardino.
The aforementioned KOIT and KBAY combine for over a 20 share in San Jose with KOIT claiming a 12.1 share and KBAY an 8.4.
Three stations split the holiday music listening in Middlesex/Somerset/Union as WLTW holds a 9.2 share, WMGQ a 5.9 share, and WAWZ a 5.2.
In other formats of note:
While most stations not named WLTW were down month-to-month in New York, Audacy’s News combo of 1010 WINS (3.8 – 4.4) and 880 WCBS (2.2 to 2.6) were up.
The three Hip Hop stations in New York were hit hard. iHeartMedia’s “Power 105.1” WWPR-FM fell 3.4 to 2.5. MediaCo’s “Hot 97” WQHT set a record low for the second straight month as it dipped to a 2.1 share. Audacy’s new Classic Hip Hop “94.7 The Block” WXBK has yet to gain momentum as it slips down 1.4 – 1.3 – 1.1.
Adding the simulcast on 97.1 KNX-FM (formerly CHR “97.1 Now” KNOU) just before the start of the monthly did not yet bring a noticeable gain to Audacy News 1070 KNX Los Angeles as it rose just 2.6 to 2.8.
iHeartMedia Rock “97.1 The Eagle” KEGL Dallas trended down 2.5 – 2.1 – 1.5. Huff notes that share ties the low for the signal set in Summer 2004 in what was the first survey after its original flip from Rock to Soft AC “Sunny 97.1“.
