March PPMs, Day 2: More Good News for AC and Country.

From July to November 2024, adult contemporary stations were number-one in either three or four of the 20 markets reporting on Days 1 and 2 of Nielsen’s PPM survey. Year-to-date, AC’s total wins have steadily risen with each book: from five markets in January to six in February, and now seven in March’s survey, covering March 6-April 2.

That puts AC far ahead of other formats claiming the top station in these markets, with news/talk coming in a distant second, taking the prize in three markets.

After Day 1 saw a noticeable boost for country, with top-five-ranked stations in the format collectively up five share points vs. February, the uptrends continued on Day 2. In the six markets with country stations in the top five, those stations showed growth from February in five of those six, with stations entering the top five in two markets — San Diego and Detroit — and up significantly in Baltimore, where iHeartMedia’s WPOC added 2.2 share points in its move from fifth- to second-ranked.

For Days 1 and 2, the leaderboard shows AC with seven crowns, news/talk with three, urban AC and classic hits with two each, and one each for classic rock, rock, soft AC, country, news and sports.

While American University news/talk WAMU continues its run at number-one, it’s now just a tenth of a point ahead of Hubbard Radio news WTOP. Top-five regulars iHeartMedia AC WASH, Howard University urban AC WHUR, and iHeart modern/alternative rock sister “DC101” WWDC-FM line up at 3-4-5.

Boston’s top three remain in the same order as in February’s book, as Audacy AC “Magic 106.7” WMJX widens its lead to a full share point over Beasley Media Group’s “98.5 The Sports Hub” WBZ-FM, while iHeart WBZ-AM holds at third. iHeart classic rock sister WZLX moves up to fourth, just ahead of Beasley Media Group classic hits WROR, which returns to the top five.

Cox Media Group urban AC “Hot 105” WHQT is three surveys away from a potential 30th consecutive win in Miami, now 1.2 points up on Univision Spanish AC “Amor 107.5” WAMR, moving from fifth to runner-up. CMG soft AC sister “Easy 93.1” WFEZ slips from second to third, while Audacy’s classic hits “102.7 The Beach” WMXJ and AC “101.5 Lite FM” WLYF tie for fourth.

News/talk pubcaster KUOW-FM wears the crown for a third straight survey, 1.6 share points ahead of iHeart classic rock KZOK. Meanwhile, Audacy “Rock 99.9” KISW leaps from a tie for eighth in February, to a tie for third with Hubbard AC “Warm 106.9” KRWM. Just below, Crista Media contemporary Christian “Spirit 105.3” KCMS makes a rare top five appearance, as it gains share for a third consecutive book.

iHeart AC “99.9 K-EZ” KESZ celebrates its 20th straight win in Phoenix by extending its lead to 2.5 over regular runner-up, Hubbard classic rock KSLX. iHeart adult hits sister “95.5 The Mountain” KYOT and Hubbard rocker KUPD finish third and fourth, while two new entries in the top five — Hubbard modern/alternative rock “93.3 Alt AZ” KDKB, and Audacy classic hits “Big 94.5” KOOL-FM — tie for fifth.

It’s five wins in a row for iHeart AC WNIC, although just 0.8 ahead of Audacy sports “97.1 The Ticket” WXYT-FM. Audacy claims four of the Motor City’s top five, with classic hits WOMC third, and news WWJ-AM and country WYCD tied for fourth.

iHeart’s “K-FAN” KFXN makes it three straight victories in the Twin Cities, widening its lead over classic hits sister “Kool 108” KQQL to 2.5 points. News/talk pubcaster KNOW, Hubbard hot AC “KS95” KSTP-FM, and University of Northwestern St. Paul contemporary Christian KTIS-FM finish third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

Make it three in a row for Audacy classic hits “Sunny 98.1” KXSN, which stays two share points ahead of news/talk pubcaster KPBS, while Comunicacion XERSA hot AC “Magic 92.5” XHRM hangs on in third place. Audacy takes over from there, with AC KYXY fourth and country KSON up from eighth to fifth.

CMG soft AC WDUV is again number-one in Tampa, notching a 45th consecutive survey at the top. Radio Training Network contemporary Christian “The Joy FM 91.5” WCIE, however, is up 1.8 share points, cutting down WDUV’s lead to just 1.2, vs. February’s 3.7. iHeart’s “98 Rock” WXTB places third, followed by CMG classic rock sister “The Eagle 107.3” WXGL and iHeart country sister “US 103.5” WFUS.

After two surveys out of the top spot, Bonneville AC KOSI returns to number-one, with just a 0.7 edge over January and February champ, KSE Radio Ventures classic hits “Kool 105” KXKL. Bonneville country KYGO, iHeart modern/alternative rock “Channel 93.3” KTCL, and Audacy hot AC “Alice 105.9” KALC come in at 3-4-5.

Urban One urban AC “Magic 95.9” WWIN-FM repeats at the top, but it’s iHeart country WPOC stealing its thunder, up 2.2 share points from February to jump from fifth to second, just 0.7 behind Magic. Audacy AC “Today’s 101.9” WLIF, Hearst’s “98 Rock” WIYY, and Urban One urban contemporary “92Q Jams” WERQ take third, fourth and fifth.

Hubbard rocker KSHE breaks into 10-share territory for the first time since June 2022, although second-place iHeart classic hits KLOU adds 1.1 share points to cut Sweetmeat’s lead to 1.7 vs. February’s 2.2. Hubbard’s adult hits “106.5 The Arch” WARH and country WIL-FM stick at third and fourth, while Audacy AC KEZK holds on at fifth.