RADIO RATINGS ROUNDUP, June 2024, Part IV

July 12, 2024

The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – in a committed relationship with the data wunderkinds from XTRENDS – have noticed a pattern, so far, in the JUNE ratings. For the most part, market cume is down and, when you look a bit closer, you’ll invariably see that PUMM has also decreased. This makes sense as during the span of this survey, school children were released from the bondage of education and families across the continent went on vacation. We also had two federal holidays. This book covered MAY 23^RD through JUNE 19^TH.  It unfolded thusly … (wait, an entire opening graph without any snark or strange tangents? We must be off our game.)

TAMPA ST. PETERSBURG-CLEARWATER: When Doves Don’t Cry

COX MEDIA Soft AC WDUV (105.5 THE DOVE) continued to dominate the 6+ landscape. The station extended its long string of #1 books and shattered the double-digit ceiling for the fifth straight survey (10.8-12.1). iHEARTMEDIA Country WFUS (US 103.5) had its best outing since AUGUST (5.3-6.6) as it rose from #6 to #2. BEASLEY Country WQYK landed its largest share since OCTOBER to rise from #5 to #3 (5.5-6.2). COX MEDIA Urban AC WTBV (101.5 THE VIBE) repeated at #4 (5.6-5.8) but picked up an extra 0.5 share from its stream. iHEARTMEDIA AC WMTX (MIX 100.7) slipped from #2 to #5 (6.3-5.7), while COX MEDIA Classic Hits WXGL (107.3 THE EAGLE) dropped to #6 (6.1-5.6). WDUV was still in cume control with a 1.0% decline (640,500-634,000). The market shrank by 3.3%.

Last month WMTX roared to #1 25-54 with its best book in over a year and held a better than a two-share lead over the rest of the field. The station was #1 again but with a much smaller share. As a result, its lead diminished to under a half-share. WDUV remained at #2 with its fifth up book in a row. It had a new partner as WFUS advanced from #5. iHEARTMEDIA Active Rock WXTB dropped from the tie at #2 to #4, while WTBV ended a three-book slide to move up to #5. COX MEDIA Talk WHPT (102.5 THE BONE) slid to #6 with its smallest share since the place was lousy with leaping lords.

So how dominant was WDUV with the 18-34 crowd? The station was #1 for the seventh straight survey and hit double figures for the fifth book in a row. It also had a larger share than the next two stations – combined! WFUS leapt from a tie at #8 to #2 with a huge share increase, while WMTX dipped to #3 with a modest share loss. WQYK was down but repeated at #4, while three stations were massed together at #5. WTBV remained in place with a slight decrease, while WXTB dropped down from #3 with a large share loss. BEASLEY Rhythmic CHR WLLD (WiLD 94.1) advanced from a tie at #8 with its best book since FEBRUARY. WXGL dropped from a tie at #5 into a four-way knot at #8. Meanwhile, WHPT also fell from a tie at #5 and also fell into a four-way tie but farther down the chart at #16.

WDUV was #1 18-49 for the third book in a row and made it back-to-back double-digit performances. WFUS leapt from #5 to #2 with another huge share increase. Still, it was about four shares off the lead. WXTB dipped to #3 with a small share loss, while WMTX stepped down to #4 and WQYK slipped to #5.

SAN DIEGO: Wait, Wait – Don’t Tell Me

There was a new 6+ sheriff in town as SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY N/T KPBS moved up to #1 with its best book in over a year (6.6-7.4). This ended the three-book winning streak for AUDACY Classic Hits KXSN (SUNNY 98.1), which stepped down to #2 (7.2-7.1). LOCAL MEDIA Rhythmic AC XHRM (MAGIC 92.5) repeated at #3 but with its lowest mark since Mom was two-timing Dad with a huge elf (6.4-5.4). AUDACY AC KYXK had its best Frosty-free share in over a year (4.6-5.1) as it moved up to #4. iHEARTMEDIA Hot AC KMYI (STAR 94.1) was back at #5 (5.3-5.0), while AUDACY Country KSON slipped to #6 as it returned most of last month’s share increase (5.7-4.9). KXSN still had the most listeners (531,100-498,100) – a 6.2% decrease. The market was off by 3.3%.

Though it was off slightly, KXSN captured the 25-54 flag for the fourth straight survey and held a two-share advantage over XHRM, which repeated at #2 with a small share gain. Last month iHEARTMEDIA Active Rock KIOZ and AUDACY Sports KWFN (97.3FM THE FAN) were tied at #6. Both stations had solid share gains and moved up to #3 and #4, respectively. TELEVISAUNIVISION Mexican Regional KLNV (QUÉ BUENA 106.5) dipped to #5, while KMYI moved down into a tie at #6 with iHEARTMEDIA Pop CHR KHTS (CHANNEL 933). KSON gave back the lion’s share of last month’s huge share increase and dropped from #2 into a tie at #8 with LOCAL MEDIA Pop CHR XHTZ (Z90.3).

XHRM made it two 18-34 wins in a row and had about a share lead over a pair of stations residing at #2. KHTS moved up from #3 with a slight increase, while LOCAL MEDIA Alternative XTRA (91X) advanced from #4 as it bounced back from a down book. KXSN slipped to #4 with its lowest score since FEBRUARY, while XHTZ dipped to #5. KMYI had its best book since Santa was cruising the boulevard as it rose from #14 into a tie at #6 with KIOZ.

KIOZ ended a four-book slide as it leapt from #4 to #1 18-49. It had a very slim lead over the two stations sitting at #2. KXSN ended its three-book winning streak with its smallest share since FEBRUARY, while XHRM remained in place with a slight increase. KLNV slipped from a tie at #2 to #4 and was tied with KMYI, which advanced from #9 with its best showing since JULY. XHTZ, KHTS and KSON were tied at #5 last month. XHTZ and KHTS had up books but dropped to #6 and #7, respectively. KSON fell to #12.

DENVER-BOULDER: Cozy, Not Koozie

For the second book in a row, BONNEVILLE AC KOSI (KOSI 101.1) was #1 6+. The station landed its best Frosty-free share in over a year (6.4-7.3). Moving up to #2 with its highest score since FEBRUARY was iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock KRFX (103.5 THE FOX) (6.1-7.0). KSE VENTURES Classic Hits KXKL (KOOL 105) dipped to #3 (6.3-6.3), while BONNEVILLE Country KYGO moved up to #4 (5.8-5.7). iHEARTMEDIA AAA KBCO stepped up to #5 with its third straight up book (5.4-5.6), while iHEARTMEDIA Alternative KTCL (CHANNEL 93.3) slid to #7 with its smallest share since JANUARY (5.9-5.0). KOSI still led the cume parade with a 1.1% increase (589,100-595,400). The market was off 1.4%.

The top three 25-54 stations were separated by a half-share. KOSI moved up to #1 as it bounced back from a down book, which pushed KTCL down to #2 as its five-book winning streak ground to a halt. KXKL repeated at #3 but with its highest mark in over a year. KRFX was up two places to #4, also with its best showing in over a year. As recently as MARCH, KBCO was languishing at #15.  The station dipped to #5 this time, despite landing its best book in over a year. ENTRAVISION Mexican Regional KXPK (LA TRICOLOR 96.5) fell from #5 into a tie at #8 with AUDACY Modern AC KALC (ALICE 105.9).

Last month KRFX and KOSI were huddled together at #3. KRFX hit double digits as it rose to #1, while KOSI landed at #2 with its best Frosty-free share in over a year. This ended the five-book winning streak for KTCL, which dropped to #3 with its lowest total since JANUARY. KXKL stepped up to #4 and was tied with KYGO, which advanced from #10 as it bounced back from a down book. Also coming in at #4 was AUDACY Rhythmic CHR KQKS (KS 107.5), which arrived from #7 with a solid share increase. AUDACY Classic Rock KQMT (99.5 THE MOUNTAIN) fell from #2 to #7 as it returned most of last month’s massive share increase. KBCO slipped three places to #8 and was paired with KSE VENTURES Hot AC KIMN (MIX 100).

Despite a somewhat large share loss, KTCL was #1 18-49 for the sixth straight survey. KOSI stepped up to #2 and was less than a half share off the pace. KXKL stood alone at #3 with a solid share gain, while KRFX was up two places to #4 with its fourth up book in a row. A flat KBCO dropped from #2 to #5, while KXPK fell to #9 with its smallest share since JANUARY.

NASSAU-SUFFOLK (LONG ISLAND): BAB Is Fab

COX MEDIA Classic Rock WBAB has been on quite the 6+ roll of late. It just captured its sixth win in a row with its highest share in over a year (8.9-9.1). The station was also up for the fourth straight survey. AUDACY News WINS (1010 WINS) moved up to #2 (5.2-5.2) and picked up a 0.5 share from its stream. There was a threesome at #3. iHEARTMEDIA Pop CHR WHTZ (Z100) moved up a slot (4.7-4.9), while CONNOISSEUR AC WKJY (K-JOY 98.3) arrived from #5 (4.2-4.9). iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock WAXQ (Q104.3) advanced from #7 with its best book since JULY (3.8-4.9). CONNOISSEUR Hot AC WALK (WALK FM) took a stroll from #2 to #6 as it returned all of last month’s share increase (5.6-4.5). AUDACY Classic Hits WCBS slid to #7 (4.2-4.1). WBAB maintained its cume lead despite a 5.1% decline (505,400-479,600). The market was down 1.6%.

The 25-54 contest was a two-team race. WHTZ was #1 for the sixth straight survey, while WBAB moved up to #2 with a small share gain. The stations were separated by less than a half-share. As with the previous demo, there was a three-way tie at #3. WALK dipped from #2 as it gave back a good portion of last month’s large share increase. WINS moved up from #5 with a slight gain, while WAXQ advanced from #7 with its highest score since FEBRUARY.  WCBS fell from #4 to #7 with its smallest share in over a year.

WBAB was up 18-34 for the sixth straight survey and extended its demo winning streak to three. CONNOISSEUR Country WWWF (103.1 THE WOLF) hunted down its best book since the format change to move up two slots to #2. It was still a share and a half off the lead. Last month COX MEDIA Pop CHR WBLI and WHTZ were tied at #1. Both stations were down this survey as they moved down to #3 and #4, respectively. WINS repeated at #5 with its best performance in over a year.

What’s the old saying – ‘act like you’ve been there before’? WBAB was back at #1 18-49 for the first time since JULY. It held less than a half-share advantage over a flat WHTZ, which repeated at #2. WALK went from first to third as it surrendered a good portion of last month’s share increase. It was partnered with WINS, which remained in place with a small decrease. WAXQ was up two places to #5 with its best book in over a year. WBLI and iHEARTMEDIA Hot AC WKTU had been tied at #5. Both stations had down books and ended up at #6 and #7, respectively.

CHARLOTTE-GASTONIA-ROCK HILL: We Have Both Country And Western

The top two 6+ stations were from the same format group. BEASLEY Country WSOC was #1 for the fifth book in a row (8.4-8.6), while iHEARTMEDIA Country WKKT (96.9 THE KAT) clawed its way up to #2 with its highest share in over a year (6.1-7.4). iHEARTMEDIA Adult Hits WLKO (102.9 THE LAKE) ebbed to #3 with its first down book since JANUARY (7.4-7.3). BEASLEY Urban AC WBAV (V101.9) stepped down to #4 (6.5-6.6), while URBAN ONE N/T WBT-A moved up to #5 with its best showing since NOVEMBER (4.7-5.0). URBAN ONE Urban Oldies WOSF (105.3 RnB) landed its lowest number in over a year (5.3-4.3) as it fell from #5 to #8. WLKO saw its cume dip by 1.4%, but it still led all stations in that category (423,300-417,300). The market fell by 2.0%.

Last month BEASLEY Urban WPEG (POWER 98) and WSOC were tied at #1 25-54. They apparently liked the arrangement enough to carry it forward to this survey as well. WBAV was back at #3 with a small share loss, while WKKT again landed its largest share in over a year to pounce from #8 to #4. URBAN ONE Sports WFNZ dipped to #5 with its smallest share since FEBRUARY. It was paired with WLKO, which stepped up from #6 with a slight increase. WOSF dropped three places to #8.

On our last visit, we saw WPEG and WFNZ tied atop the 18-34 leaderboard. WPEG was flat but stood alone at #1 (more on WFNZ in a bit). WPEG had a better than a two-share lead over WBAV, which rose from #5 to #2 with its best book since we were playing reindeer games. WKKT remained at #3 but with its least productive outing since JANUARY. WLKO moved up to #4 with its best Frosty-free share since OCTOBER. It was tied with WFNZ and iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock WRFX (99.7 THE FOX), which arrived from #7 with its highest score in over a year. WSOC fell three places to #7 and was tied with WOSF.

WPEG had its best 18-49 book since NOVEMBER as it jumped from #3 to #1. This forced WSOC – which had a small share loss – to step down to #2. WBAV dipped to #3 as it ended a strong two-book surge. WLKO went from a tie at #4 into one at #5 with WKKT, which advanced from #7. WFNZ fell four slots from that #4 tie to #8.

Thank you for playing along. We’ll be back in about 28 days to pick apart the JULY survey.

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-Steve Allan, Programming Research Consultant

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About Research Director, Inc.: Research Director, Inc. is based in Annapolis, Maryland. We help radio stations’ programming and sales departments maximize the value of their research. For more information, visit www.ResearchDirectorInc.com, call 410-295-6619, or e-mail info@ResearchDirectorInc.com or sallan@ResearchDirectorInc.com.

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