With Nielsen’s January 2025 PPM survey period — covering Jan. 9-Feb. 5 — the first where three credited minutes vs. five are needed for an entire quarter-hour to receive credit, there are indications of how that change might impact certain formats from the eight non-embedded markets reporting on Day 1.
Comparing share delivery during the November survey, the last without an all-Christmas-station effect, adult contemporary seems to be benefiting from the change based on just this small sample, with notable gains for AC stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, and Houston. News/talk or all-news station shares were up in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Philadelphia, although this could be due to a busy news cycle, driven by the devastating L.A. fires and President Trump’s first weeks in office.
Both Day 2’s report, and Nielsen’s format trends for all 48 PPM markets, are likely to shed more light on any clear trends.
For Day 1, the leaderboard shows three crowns for AC, two each for news/talk and sports, and one for all news.
iHeartMedia AC WLTW marks its 29th straight victory with a 7.7 share, consistent with its pre-holiday 7.8 November survey delivery. Audacy news WINS-AM/FM now has the runner-up spot to itself, having gained steadily from November’s 4.5 for a 29% share lift. Audacy classic hits sister WCBS-FM rebounds from eighth to third, its share even with November’s, while iHeart classic rock sister WAXQ also returns to the top five, although off 13% from November’s 6.0. News/talk pubcaster WNYC-FM re-enters the region for the first time since February 2024, up 30% from November. Below the top five, iHeart CHR sister “Z100” WHTZ shows a notable steady decline since October, off 19% and now tied for ninth.
After two surveys on top during its all-Christmas format, iHeart AC KOST not only keeps the crown but does it with a 30% share lift from where it was prior to the flip. But shed no tears for Audacy classic hits KRTH, which led for 10 consecutive books, because it’s also up from November’s book and just 0.3 behind KOST. The big story is Audacy news KNX-AM/FM, making its first top-five appearance since the FM simulcast began in December 2021, as it shows a 24% boost from November.
Back on top for the first time since October is Audacy news WBBM-AM/WCFS, even as it’s steadily slipped from November, off by half a share point. iHeart urban AC WVAZ is just 0.7 behind, placing second for the first time since last August. Hubbard Radio classic rock WDRV, Audacy’s adult alternative WXRT, and country WUSN all tie for third, the latter two back in the top five for the first time since September and June, respectively. WDRV has been shifting into lower gear since November’s book, down 26%, while WXRT and WUSN are up 26% and 14%. There’s a notable drop for the December and Holiday champ, iHeart soft AC WLIT, which has been a fixture in the top five for the past three years, yet now ranks eighth.
News/talk pubcaster KQED returns to the top, following Bonneville AC KOIT’s having ended its six-survey reign during the Holiday book. While KOIT drops to third behind Audacy news KCBS-AM/KFRC-FM, it's still up 13% from pre-Christmas-format November. Classical pubcaster KDFC remains fourth-ranked, while Audacy hot AC sister KLLC moves from ninth to a tie for fifth with Bonneville CHR sister KMVQ.
Big D’s top two switch places from the Holiday survey, as Cumulus Media sports “The Ticket” KTCK-AM/FM takes back the crown from iHeart AC KDGE. While there’s a 1.9-point distance between the two, both are up from November’s book, as is Audacy adult hits KJKK, which ties for third with Univision Spanish regional Mexican KLNO.
Not only does iHeart AC KODA repeat at number one for a sixth consecutive survey, its share is up 16% from the pre-Christmas November book. Urban One country KKBQ returns to the top five, placing second, up 23% from November, while third-ranked Hope Media Group contemporary Christian KSBJ’s share stays steady. Just below, Urban One’s urban AC KMJQ and classic rock KGLK/KHPT finish fourth and fifth.
Cox Media Group news/talk WSB-AM/WSBB-FM notches an eighth straight win, although down 13% from November’s 10.3 share. Just a share point behind is CMG classic hits sister WSRV, moving back up to second and up 14% from November, while Urban One urban AC WAMJ stays at third, up 13% from before the holidays. Audacy urban contemporary WVEE returns to the top five, up 11% from November, while CMG urban AC WALR holds at fifth.
Audacy sports WIP-FM flew on the wings of Eagles in January’s survey, up 2.5 share points from both December and the Holiday book, as the NFL team’s flagship was the one stop for all the action from the playoffs to its Super Bowl victory. Beasley Media Group’s classic rock WMGK and rocker WMMR finished second and third, the former up 11% and the latter off 8% from November’s book, while iHeart urban AC WDAS-FM saw a 21% drop from November, for its first non-top-three showing since November 2022. Audacy news KYW returned to the top five, with a 25% lift from November.
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