US

Day 3 of Nielsen Audio’s PPM releases are now available for Portland, Charlotte, San Antonio, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Orlando, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Columbus.All the numbers can be found at RadioInsight.com/Ratings.iHeartMedia Classic Rock “99.7 The Fox” WRFX moves up 5.2 – 6.0 – 7.0 to lead Charlotte. Co-owned Country “96.9 The Kat” WKKT moves up to second with a 6.3 – 6.0 slip. Beasley Hip Hop “Power 98” WPEG jumps up 4.2 – 5.9 to take third. Beasley’s Country 103.7 WSOC slides 6.2 to 5.7 and their Adult R&B “V101.9” WBAV rises 4.6 to 5.0.Beasley AC “K104.7” WKQC falls from first to sixth sliding 7.5 – 6.7 – 4.9. Radio One Hot AC “107.9 The Link” WLNK falls 4.6 to 3.1 prior to its relaunch as “Mix 107.9” on the final day of the survey after morning hosts Bob & Sheri announced their impending departure.Public News/Talk 91.5 KOPB-FM remains on top in Portland despite dropping 10.7 to 9.9. iHeartMedia Classic Hits “106.7 The Eagle” KLTH rises 5.9 to 6.5, while sister AC “K103” KKCW rises 6.2 to 6.4.Trending up in Portland are Alpha Media Country “98.7 The Bull” KUPL (4.2 – 4.4 – 5.1) and Audacy Hot AC “105.1 The Buzz” KRSK (2.1 – 3.6). Trending downward is Audacy Classic Rock 92.3 KGON (5.9 – 5.3 – 4.3).Cox Classic Hits 101.1 KONO-FM remains on top of San Antonio 9.6 to 9.4. Classic Rock “106.7 The Eagle” KTKX holds in second at a 6.2, while Hot AC “Magic 105.3” KSMG rises 5.3 to 5.6 to give Cox the top three spots in the market. Univision Regional Mexican “Que Buena 92.9” KROM and iHeartMedia AC “Q101.9” KQXT both slide 6.0 to 5.2 to tie for fourth.Univision Classic Hip Hop “107.5 The Vibe” KVBH trends up 3.5 – 4.0 – 4.6.iHeartMedia News/Talk 1530 KFBK/93.1 KFBK-FM (8.2 – 8.7) and Bonneville AC “Mix 96” KYMX (8.5 – 8.7) tie for the lead in Sacramento. Audacy Classic Rock “Eagle 96.9” KSEG trends up to third 7.2 – 7.4 – 8.2. Also on the upswing are Bonneville Country 105.1 KNCI (5.5 – 6.2 – 6.6) and iHeartMedia Soft AC “92.5 The Breeze” KBEB (5.0 – 5.3 – 6.5) which Ratings Expert Chris Huff notes is the highest share for the 92.5 frequency since Fall 1994.Also trending up in Sacramento are Audacy Alternative “Alt 94.7” KKDO (3.2 – 3.5 – 4.0) and iHeartMedia Conservative Talk 650 KSTE (1.9 – 2.1 – 3.7). Trending downward are Audacy’s “98 Rock” KRXQ (6.8 – 6.3 – 5.6) and Bonneville Hot AC “Now 100.5” KZZO (3.6 – 3.3 – 3.0).Bonneville takes the top three spots in Salt Lake City. News/Talk 1160 KSL/102.7 KSL-FM rises 6.8 to 8.3 to retake the market lead. Classic Rock “103.5 The Arrow” KRSP surges 5.5 – 6.4 – 7.1 for second tying AC “FM 100” KSFI as it falls 8.4 to 7.1. iHeartMedia Conservative Talk 570 KNRS/105.9 KNRS-FM slips 6.5 to 6.3 and Classic Hits 94.1 KODJ is down 6.9 to 5.8.The biggest gain of the month goes to Classical 89.1 KBYU-FM which jumps from a 1.8 to 4.3 share for what Huff notes is a record high for the station.iHeartMedia CHR “94.9 ZHT” KZHT trends down 4.2 – 3.4 – 3.1 for what Huff notes is a tie for its PPM low set in December 2009.Audacy Classic Hits “105.9 Sunny-FM” WOCL rebounds up 9.2 to 10.2 to continue to sit atop the Orlando market. iHeartMedia CHR “XL 106.7” WXXL rises 7.4 to 7.7 to hold onto second. Cox Adult R&B “Star 94.5” WCFB trends up 6.5 -7.3 – 7.4 for third.With its flip from Spanish Tropical to Christian AC midway through the monthly, 98.1 WNUE drops from a 2.5 to 1.4 share. That and HeartMedia’s “Rumba 100.3” WRUM drop from 5.2 to 4.7 helps Cox’ “Exitos 96.5” WOEX rise 2.2 to 3.1.Beasley Classic Hits 96.3 KKLZ regains the top spot in Las Vegas with a 6.4 to 7.0 gain. iHeartMedia AC “Sunny 106.5” KSNE slides to second down 8.1 – 7.2 – 6.4. Two stations surge up to a third place tie as Audacy Hot AC “Mix 94.1” KMXB rises 5.0 – 6.7 – 6.1 and Christian AC 90.5 KSOS jumps 4.9 – 5.1 – 6.1 for what Huff notes is the highest share in the station’s history. Lotus Regional Mexican “La Buena 101.9” KWID falls to fifth with a 7.3 – 6.8 – 5.3 trend.iHeartMedia’s duo of Classic Hits “94.5 3WS” WWSW (9.5 – 10.5) and Rock 102.5 WDVE (9.7 – 9.6) continue to hold the top two spots in Pittsburgh. Steel City Media Variety Hits “96.9 Bob-FM” WRRK holds in third 8.5 to 8.4.iHeartMedia Alternative “105.9 The X” WXDX rises 4.9 to 5.8 for what Huff notes is its best month since April 2012. Trending downward is Audacy News/Talk 1020/100.1 KDKA (5.3 – 4.7 – 4.2).The return of Reds baseball helps iHeartMedia News/Talk 700 WLW surge 9.1 to 12.7 to retake the Cincinnati lead. Cumulus Classic Hits 103.5 WGRR trends up 8.7 – 9.4 – 9.8 but falls to second. Hubbard CHR “Q102” WKRQ is up 5.5 to 6.2, while their Country “B105” WUBE (7.6 to 6.1) and AC “Mix 94.9” WREW (5.6 to 5.1) both slip.Audacy Classic Rock 98.5 WNCX remains on top in Cleveland up 10.6 to 10.7. Audacy Classic Hits 105.7 WMJI rises 9.5 to 9.7, while News/Talk 1100/106.9 WTAM has an Indians related boost 6.9 to 8.6.iHeartMedia Variety Hits “106.5 The Lake” WHLK trends up 4.9 – 5.8 – 6.4, but sister Country 99.5 WGAR falls 8.3 – 6.8 – 6.6.Cumulus Media’s duo of Classic Hits 94.9 KCMO-FM (8.8 – 9.1) and Classic Rock “101 The Fox” KCFX (7.0 – 7.4) remain on top in Kansas City. Audacy News/Talk 98.1 KMBZ-FM rises 5.6 to 6.0 for third.Audacy’s “610 Sports” KCSP gets a Royals based boost from a 1.5 to 3.5 share, but co-owned Country “106.5 The Wolf” WDAF-FM tumbles 6.3 – 5.4 – 3.8.iHeartMedia Country 92.3 WCOL holds a sizeable lead in Columbus with an 11.3 to 10.6 drop. Saga Classic Rock “QFM 96” WLVQ (up 6.6 to 7.6) and iHeartMedia CHR 97.9 WNCI (falling 9.2 to 7.6) tie for second.Trending upwards in Columbus are iHeartMedia’s Variety Hits “93.3 The Bus” WODC (2.7 – 3.2 – 4.0) and “Columbus Alternative 105.7” WXZX (1.2 – 1.3 – 2.0) which marks the highest share for the signal since September 2016. […]

Every Saturday at noon, author Tom Nichols live-tweets the vintage American Top 40 countdown on Sirius XM 70s on 7. In the first hour, you can pretty much count on these things happening. If the year is 1974 or before, somebody in the thread will suggest that Nichols make good on his longstanding threat to live-tweet an ‘80s countdown episode instead. Somebody, often Nichols, will tweet something like, “I’ve never heard this. What is this piece of garbage?” When that happens, there are decent odds of it being a song I love. But it might be a song that I didn’t like on first listen either.Another listener will be unfamiliar with a song, and ask, as @MecCoffee did last week, “How does this happen when I listened to the radio for hours every day back then?”That last question seems easy to answer. It makes sense that any song peaking in the chart’s bottom third could be missed by somebody at the time. Last week’s countdown was May 8, 1976. In the mid-‘70s, major-market Top 40s averaged 25-30 current songs per week. Music enterprise and regional differences meant those 25-30 songs were different across the country. If it was important to you to know about the hits beyond your market, you were one of the people who sought out AT40.I was definitely one of those people. By then, I was following the charts, and had multiple radio sources to hear different types of hits — three local Top 40s, an adventurous AOR, small-market ACs, out-of-town AMs at night. But I was a few months away from having access to AT40 every week or being able to buy Billboard regularly. I didn’t yet know every song. I also had no access to R&B radio at the time. No. 24 was the Blackbyrds’ “Happy Music,” an R&B hit I didn’t hear until years later. When I started studying the charts soon afterwards, I would discover a top-10 song from just a few years earlier that was new to me and many other near-hits.The weekly AT40 comments made me wonder about the typical frame of reference for those listeners who loved music but didn’t live and breathe music growing up. And how did that frame of reference intersect with the Lost Factor, our formula for determining the difference between songs’ prominence as currents and their airplay now? Were there any new insights to be gained by combining the two?We chose Billboard’s top 40 songs for the week of May 14, 1983 — a moment when CHR’s comeback was exploding. A year after our initial calculations, we recalculated Lost Factor for those songs — year-end chart points divided by the last seven days of monitored airplay according to BDSRadio — to produce fresh airplay data, but also to have consistent spin counts with those previously unmeasured songs that didn’t make the Top 100 of 1983. Only 10 songs on that week’s AT40 did not make the year-end chart.Then we took the additional step of asking approximately a handful of Ross On Radio readers to look at the May 14, 1983, chart and try to recall which songs they were aware of as then-current radio hits, vs. which they did not learn until later, if at all. We specifically looked for readers who were not yet in the business or following it closely yet; only one person was a regular AT40 listener, and his recollections were based on what he remembered hearing on local radio.These are the 40 biggest hits in the land on May 14, 1983, along with their chart peak, year-end number (if any), and recently calculated Lost Factor. We did not attempt to calculate a Lost Factor for those songs that did not make the year-end chart, but you’ll see that they offer insight of their own.TWTITLEARTISTPEAKYR ENDSPINSLF1BEAT ITMICHAEL JACKSON1514440.072LET’S DANCEDAVID BOWIE1189110.093JEOPARDYGREG KIHN BAND2217214OVERKILLMEN AT WORK3542025SHE BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCETHOMAS DOLBY5231430.556COME ON EILEENDEXY’S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS11312160.077FLASHDANCE…WHAT A FEELINGIRENE CARA1312000.088LITTLE RED CORVETTEPRINCE62511990.069SOLITAIRELAURA BRANIGAN7596710DER KOMMISSARAFTER THE FIRE5301540.5011I WON’T HOLD YOU BACKTOTO10698412MY LOVELIONEL RICHIE573430.7013PHOTOGRAPHDEF LEPPARD129016070.0114RIODURAN DURAN14NA555NA15STRAIGHT FROM THE HEARTBRYAN ADAMS10712090.1416MR. ROBOTOSTYX32868117TIME (CLOCK OF THE HEART)CULTURE CLUB23452118EVEN NOWBOB SEGER12NA4NA19AFFAIR OF THE HEARTRICK SPRINGFIELD95731520FAITHFULLYJOURNEY128115440.0121MORNIN’JARREAU21NA26NA22ALWAYS SOMETHING THERE TO REMIND MENAKED EYES84618970.0323DON’T LET IT ENDSTYX6606724BILLIE JEANMICHAEL JACKSON1220220.0525STRANGER IN MY HOUSERONNIE MILSAP23NA55NA26FAMILY MANDARYL HALL & JOHN OATES6677527SHE’S A BEAUTYTUBES10583420.1328IT MIGHT BE YOUSTEPHEN BISHOP2595510.1229SEPARATE WAYS (WORLDS APART)JOURNEY83817340.0430TRY AGAINCHAMPAIGN23859231WELCOME TO HEARTLIGHTKENNY LOGGINS24NA0NA32SOME KIND OF FRIENDBARRY MANILOW26NA0NA33I COULDN’T SAY NOROBERT ELLIS ORRAL32NA0NA34SO WRONGPATRICK SIMMONS30NA0NA35NEVER GONNA LET YOU GOSERGIO MENDES41686136ONE ON ONEDARYL HALL & JOHN OATES73936237DO YOU REALLY WANT TO HURT MECULTURE CLUB2115430.1738GIMME ALL YOUR LOVIN’ZZ TOP37NA1006NA39I’M STILL STANDINGELTON JOHN12745300.0540THE ONE THINGINXS30NA45NAOverall Lost Factor scores were relatively low in 1983 — in our original calculations, the highest LF was a 21; in some other years during the ‘80s, it’s around a 60. (In the early ‘60s, there is one song with a perfect Lost Factor score of 100.) Only a third of the Top 100 of 1983 had a Lost Factor above a 1.0 — our baseline for a song not getting airplay proportionate to its popularity at the time — when we measured last year.In this spring of pop-music rebirth, the stats are even more impressive. The highest Lost Factor for any song in our new calculations is 15. Only 12 songs out of 40 have LF 1.0 or higher. Out of the 10 songs that didn’t make the year-end countdown, two of those songs are now getting significant airplay. In other words, half the songs on that week’s countdown can be said to have endured in some way. But you can definitely see a pattern to those songs that do not endure. We asked a handful of readers to take a look at the May 14 chart and name all the songs that they did not know at the time (one listener who was following the charts named the songs he heard only on AT40). The 18 songs with a Lost Factor below a 1.0 had negligible mentions. There were indeed a few listeners (mostly those just turning on the radio around that time) who didn’t know even “Come On Eileen” or “Little Red Corvette.” But the combined “did not know” mentions among our 11 readers averaged 0.7 per song.The 12 songs that had a Lost Factor of 1.0 or higher averaged 2.9 “did not know” mentions among them. In that group, eight out of 11 readers did not think they heard Champaign’s “Try Again” on the Top 40 stations they listened to. Four each did not remember our Lost Factor leaders — Laura Branigan’s “Solitaire” and Rick Springfield’s “Affair of the Heart.”The 10 songs that didn’t even make the year-end list had an average 5.6 “did not know” mentions among them. Two songs, Patrick Simmons’ “So Wrong” and Robert Ellis Orrall & Carlene Carter’s “I Couldn’t Say No,” were unknown to 10 out of 11 respondents. Ronnie Milsap’s “Stranger in My House” and Kenny Loggins’ “Welcome to Heartlight” were unknown to seven of 11 at the time.Over the last 13 months, we’ve noticed that many of the songs with high Lost Factors now are songs that were never quite real hits to begin with. Like “Affair of the Heart” or “Solitaire,” they were songs propelled by an artist’s career momentum — Springfield was coming off two big LP projects; Branigan was following up her “Gloria” breakthrough — but not power-rotation songs for the whole country. (Another song running on follow-up fumes, Bob Seger’s “Even Now,” missed the Top 100 and is a song that nearly half our respondents don’t remember as a current.)The correlation between the songs heard on the radio now and the songs people remember hearing in the first place becomes even more obvious if songs missed the year-end chart. Songs such as “So Wrong” or “Some Kind of Friend,” Barry Manilow’s attempt to contemporize, are remembered by radio people and chart fans. But they weren’t even known by average listeners. The pejorative “turntable hit” meant a song that had airplay with no sales. That term is often applied to any song that didn’t make it to power rotation, but these are the true turntable hits.If you were listening to the actual AT40 broadcast this week, Casey Kasem had interesting factoids for several of the least-remembered songs:Simmons was serving as this year’s chairman of “Bikers Fight Against Muscular Dystrophy.”Manilow had been certified by the Guinness Book of World Records for highest one-day gross sales for his recent Broadway engagement.The most unlikely front-sell was Kasem quoting from a Cash Box story, by current Billboard Country Update writer Tom Roland, about the Country-radio resistance to the pop-leaning “Stranger in My House,” including a quote in favor of the song from then-KLAC Los Angeles MD Cathy Hahn.There are two songs that didn’t make the year-end Top 100 in 1983 that receive significant airplay in 2021. Duran Duran’s “Rio,” the subject of a new book this week, got 555 spins last week. None of our readers cited it as a song they didn’t hear when it was new. ZZ Top’s “Gimme All Your Lovin’” got 1,006 spins last week. Notably, there are three readers who say they didn’t hear it at the time. (An AOR smash, “Gimme All Your Lovin’” began ZZ Top’s CHR crossover, but not every station played it until after their biggest hit, “Legs,” a year later.)If you’re wondering why we made good on Nichols’s threat to choose an ‘80s countdown, it’s because we asked readers to help choose the year to spotlight. By a few votes, the largest number asked for 1988-89, with strong support for 1973-74 as well. Ultimately, we went for the middle in part because those songs are better remembered and less polarizing than 1973-74 or the likewise-polarizing late ‘80s. But if you enjoyed pitting the Lost Factor vs, AT40, let us know. The countdown might just roll on.     […]

iHeartMedia Alternative “105.9 The X” WXDX Pittsburgh has promoted APD/morning host Abby Krizner to Program Director.Krizner began her career at the station as a part-timer in 2008 before quickly rising to afternoon show producer and evening host, then MD/morning host and APD. She also is Music Director for iHeart’s Custom Alternative format.Krizner takes the reigns of WXDX from John Moschitta, who has programmed WXDX since 1997 and is also PD of Classic Rock 102.5 WDVE.iHeartMedia announced today that Abby Krizner has been named Program Director for 105.9 The X, Radio Home of the Pittsburgh Penguins, effective immediately. iHeartMedia Pittsburgh has a strong cross-platform presence and includes a number of iconic brands and franchises — both broadcast and digital — encompassing more than six stations comprised of music and sports formats.iHeartMedia has the leading consumer reach and influence across multiple platforms and delivers more live programming than any other media company. As Program Director, Krizner will be responsible for overseeing the programming, research, talent coaching and promotions strategy for the station. She will report to David Edgar, Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Pittsburgh.“Abby is the perfect fit to lead 105.9 The X programming department,” said Edgar. “She will bring her strategic thinking, music and lifestyle knowledge and creative promotional ideas to the station. Plus, she is an actual rock star, performing with her local band Tiny Wars.”Krizner began her career with 105.9 The X in 2008, where she most recently served as an Assistant Program Director and Morning Show Host. She has also served as the Music Director and an on-air personality for iHeartRadio’s Custom Alternative station. She received her master’s degree in Multimedia Technology from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.“I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve as Program Director for my hometown station, 105.9 The X,” said Krizner. “My thirteen years have been so much more than the creative expression heard on the air. I’ve had incredible leadership with mentors providing apt challenges along the way that will serve me well as I take on this role.” […]

98.9 The Beat Debuts In Flint – RadioInsight The Estate of Michael Shumpert’s Adult R&B “98.9 Jamz” WOWE Vassar/Flint MI has flipped to Hip Hop “98.9 The Beat“. The move comes with an LMA of […]

Gold Debuts in Myrtle Beach & Wilmington – RadioInsight Maryland Media One has launched its third “Gold” branded Oldies station. “Carolina Gold” is has launched on 93.9 WMIR-FM Conway/Myrtle Beach SC and 106.3 WYAY Bolivia/Wilmington […]