Classic hits stations WCBS-FM New York and KRTH Los Angeles have a lot in common. Both are owned by Audacy, both sit at 101.1 on the FM dial, both began as oldies-formatted stations in 1972, and both feature market and radio business veterans, with Broadway Bill Lee on the east coast and Gary Bryan on the west.
Both CBS-FM and “K-Earth 101” have also been competitive forces in their markets, especially K-Earth, which has finished first or second in every Nielsen PPM survey since October 2022.
Not surprisingly, the two stations rank first and second in Inside Radio's TOP 10 ranking of classic hits stations in PPM markets, based on cume delivery of persons 6+ during Nielsen's summer and fall 2024 waves. CBS-FM leads with a 2.5 million cume, followed by K-Earth's 2.0 million.
For Audacy, CBS-FM and K-Earth represent just two of the company's six stations in classic hits' top 10. Half of those are in the upper five, with “98.7 The Spot” KSPF Dallas finishing fourth, while “Big 98.1” WOGL Philadelphia, WOMC (104.3) Detroit, and “94.7 The Drive” WIAD Washington, D.C. place seventh, eighth, and 10th, respectively.
In addition to Audacy's top two, one other station in the classic hits top 10 hits the million-cume mark. That's Cumulus Media's WLS-FM (94.7) Chicago, ranking third at 1.1 million.
Audacy is the only owner to claim more than one station in the top 10, with one each for Cumulus, iHeartMedia, Cox Media Group, and Beasley Media Group. Landing at fifth is CMG's rock-leaning “97.1 The River” WSRV Atlanta, where 33-year Atlanta radio veteran Axel Lowe handles AM drive. Ranked sixth is iHeart's “Kool 108” KQQL Minneapolis, where mornings are hosted by longtime Twin Cities voice and Minnesota Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame inductee Lee Valsvik.
While eight of these 10 stations had an oldies format before transitioning to classic hits, only three were oldies in the format's infancy. Aside from CBS-FM and K-Earth, Beasley's WROR (105.7) Boston, coming in ninth, flipped to oldies in 1973 when those call letters were on a different frequency (98.5) and the station was owned by RKO General, along with WROR's sister K-Earth in L.A.