The latest Nielsen PPM ratings reveal a continued dominance of AC and news/talk stations across various markets. AC stations lead in six of the 20 non-embedded PPM markets, with news/talk in four. This trend is consistent with the quarterly performance, where AC stations have claimed 16 wins over the past three surveys, compared to 11 for news/talk. The competition is tight, with sports and classic hits stations winning eight times each in the second quarter. However, AC stations have a slight edge, especially in the Seattle-Tacoma market, where news/talk pubcaster KUOW and Mariners flagship KIRO-AM are neck and neck, separated by a mere tenth of a share point. The top-rated station in Phoenix is iHeartMedia talker KFYI, which has only made it up as high as third in the past, but now leads with a 0.1-point edge over AC sister KESZ. In Detroit, Audacy ties up the top three, with sports station WXYT-FM in the lead, followed by classic hits WOMC and country WYCD. The competition is fierce, with iHeartMedia claiming the rest of the top five with urban AC WMXD and AC WNIC. In Minneapolis-St. Paul, only one of the three iHeartMedia stations which tied for first in May’s survey remains on top in June. Classic hits KQQL keeps a 0.7-point lead over country sister KEEY, while sports sister KFXN settles for third. The soft AC station WDUV has led in Tampa since February, with an 11-share point advantage over iHeart AC WMTX. In San Diego, Audacy classic hits KXSN-FM has a full-share-point lead over news/talk pubcaster KPBS, with Audacy AC KYXY and Comunicacion XERSA hot AC XHRM tied at third. The top five in Baltimore stay in the same order from May’s survey, with Urban One urban AC WWIN-FM in the lead, staying 1.5 ahead of Audacy AC WLIF. In St. Louis, Hubbard heritage rocker KSHE is on top for a second straight survey, with the two stations separated by just 0.6. The competition is intense, with news/talk KMOX-FM and contemporary Christian KLJY switching places from May. Overall, AC and news/talk stations continue to dominate the airwaves, with a slight edge for AC in most markets.
