August 2021 (7/22 – 8/18) Nielsen Audio PPM Ratings Day 1: AC Retakes The Lead In New York, Los Angeles & Long Island

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.


After MediaCo Adult R&B 107.5 WBLS broke forty year record highs last month, iHeartMedia AC “106.7 Lite-FM” WLTW regains the New York market lead with a 6.6 to 7.4 gain, while WBLS slips 6.9 to 6.3. SBS Spanish Tropical “Mega 97.9” WSKQ dips 5.7 – 5.4 – 5.1 for third. Audacy Classic Hits 101.1 WCBS-FM rebounds 4.7 to 4.9 for fourth, while iHeartMedia CHR “Z100” rises 4.4 to 4.6 for fifth.

iHeartMedia AC 103.5 KOST jumps up 4.8 to 5.3 to tie Audacy Classic Hits “K-Earth 101” KRTH (down 5.9 to 5.3) atop Los Angeles. Univision Spanish AC “107.5 K-Love” KLVE places third down 4.8 to 4.7. Audacy Rhythmic AC “94.7 The Wave” KTWV trends up 3.9 – 4.3 – 4.6. iHeartMedia Hot AC “104.3 My-FM” KBIG rises 4.0 to 4.4.

As host Larry Elder runs for Governor in the upcoming recall election, Salem Conservative Talk “870 The Answer” KRLA trends up 1.4 – 2.0 – 2.4 for what Ratings Expert Chris Huff notes is a record for the frequency.

iHeartMedia Adult R&B “V103” WVAZ retakes the lead in Chicago up 5.8 to 6.3, while Audacy News 780 WBBM/105.9 WCFS falls 6.7 to 5.7. iHeart AC “93.9 Lite-FM” WLIT places third 5.2 to 5.4. Cumulus Classic Hits 94.7 WLS-FM trends up 3.5 – 4.1 – 4.5, while Hubbard Classic Rock “97.1 The Drive” WDRV falls 5.2 to 4.3.

Hubbard AC “She 100.3” WSHE trends down 2.8 – 2.1 – 1.9, while Good Karma Sports “ESPN 1000” WMVP rises 1.2 – 1.3 – 1.8 and EMF’s “K-Love” 97.9 WCKL is up 1.1 – 1.2 – 1.7.

Public News/Talk 88.5 KQED-FM remains on top in San Francisco despite trending down 8.7 – 7.9 – 7.6. Cumulus Sports 680 KNBR/104.5 KNBR-FM rebounds 5.1 to 6.0. Audacy News 740 KCBS/106.9 KFRC dips to third 6.0 to 5.7. iHeartMedia Soft AC “98.1 The Breeze” KISQ (4.7 to 4.9) and Bonneville AC 96.5 KOIT (3.9 to 4.0) round out the top five.

iHeartMedia CHR “Wild 94.9” KYLD (2.4 – 2.8 – 3.2) and Audacy Hot AC “Alice 97.3” KLLC (2.8 – 3.0 – 3.2) trend up to a sixth place tie. Bonneville CHR “99.7 Now” KMVQ falls 4.1 – 3.5 – 3.0.

iHeartMedia CHR “106.1 Kiss-FM” KHKS surges up 3.9 – 4.3 – 5.2 to reclaim the Dallas market lead. iHeart Classic Rock “Lonestar 92.5” KZPS places second 4.6 to 4.7. Audacy Classic Hits 98.7 KLUV slips from first to third down 5.1 to 4.6. Cumulus’ Country combo of “New Country 96.3” KSCS (4.1 to 4.4) and “99.5 The Wolf” KPLX (4.0 to 4.1) round out the top five.

Cumulus Sports “96.7/1310 The Ticket” KTCK/KTCK-FM jumps up 2.4 to 3.6.

The lead in Houston has narrowed considerably as iHeartMedia AC “Sunny 99.1” KODA dives 7.5 – 7.3 – 6.3. Hope Media Group Christian AC 89.3 KSBJ rises 5.8 to 6.2 to move up to second. Univision Regional Mexican “Que Buena 102.9” KLTN rises 5.9 to 6.1. Audacy Variety Hits “95.7 The Spot” KKHH is up 5.6 to 5.7. Cox Classic Rock “107.5/106.9 The Eagle” KGLK/KHPT slides to fifth 6.5 – 5.6 – 5.4.

Audacy Spanish CHR “Mega 101” KLOL trends down 4.1 – 3.2 – 3.1.

Cox continue to hold four of the top five spots in Atlanta, but the fifth station changes. News/Talk 750 WSB/95.5 WSBB rises 8.3 to 9.0 to extend its lead to two share points. Adult R&B “Kiss 104.1” WALR is up 6.6 to 7.0. Classic Rock “97.1 The River” WSRV places third down 6.9 to 6.7. Salem Christian AC “104.7 The Fish” WFSH trends up to fourth 3.9 – 4.7 – 5.2. Cox AC “B98.5” WSB-FM places fifth up 5.0 to 5.1.

Audacy Hip Hop/R&B “V103” WVEE trends down 5.7 – 5.1 – 4.4 for what Huff notes is its lowest share since Fall 1977. iHeartMedia Hip Hop “96.7 The Beat” WRDG trends up 0.8 – 1.0 – 1.7.

iHeartMedia Adult R&B 105.3 WDAS-FM continues to dominate Philadelphia down 8.6 to 8.3. Beasley’s duo of Rock 93.3 WMMR (6.7 to 6.6) and Classic Rock 102.9 WMGK (up 5.6 to 6.6) tie for second. Audacy Sports 94.1 WIP places fourth down 5.8 to 5.6 (with its stream adding an additional 1.0), while AC “B101.1” WBEB is fifth down 5.6 to 5.3.

Trending downward in Philadelphia are Beasley Country 92.5 WXTU (5.4 – 4.7 – 4.4) and iHeartMedia Hip Hop “Power 99” WUSL (2.9 – 2.6 – 2.2).

Connoisseur Media Soft AC “98.3 K-Joy” takes a share of the Long Island market lead for what Huff notes is the first time in its station history with a 4.7 to 5.1 gain. That places it in a tie with Audacy Classic Hits 101.1 WCBS-FM (5.0 to 5.1). Audacy Sports 660 WFAN/101.9 WFAN-FM is third (4.8 to 4.9). A pair of CHRs tie for fourth with both Cox’s 106.1 WBLI and iHeartMedia’s “Z100” WHTZ rising 4.4 to 4.5.

Anaheim Broadcasting Classic Hits 99.9 KOLA-FM surges 7.7 to 9.5 in Riverside/San Bernardino, with Huff noting it just missing a station record by one tenth of a point. Entravision Spanish Adult Hits “Jose 97.5” KLYY jumps up 5.8 – 6.1 – 7.5 for second. iHeartMedia AC “104.3 My-FM” KBIG holds in third at a 5.1. Univision Spanish AC “107.5 K-Love” KLVE slips 5.2 to 4.8. Good News Radio Christian AC 89.7 KSGN jumps 3.3 to 4.1 to place fifth.

This story first appeared on radioinsight.com