AC, News/Talk, Urban AC Grab Most Wins On August PPM Days 1-2.

In terms of stations ranked first in the 20 non-embedded PPM markets reporting on Days 1 and 2 in Nielsen’s August survey (covering July 23-August 19), adult contemporary and news/talk lead in eight of these markets, with four number-ones apiece, while urban AC stations claim the top spot in three markets.

For AC, that total is actually its lowest since January and February of this year, when the format also topped four markets. More recently, AC stations ruled in six markets in June and seven in July.

News/talk’s four winning stations in August is one short of July’s five, the format’s best performance year-to-date. Include all-news stations in the total, and those six stations at number one for the two formats together come in just below their seven during January and February.

As for urban AC, its three toppers in August matches only February, for 2026-to-date.

For Days 1 and 2 in these 20 markets, the leaderboard shows four wins each for adult contemporary and news/talk, three for urban AC, two each for news, sports, classic rock and classic hits, and one each for hot AC, soft AC and rock.

Please note that rankings do not include stations owned by Cumulus Media, which is in the midst of a re-negotiation of its contract with Nielsen which expired Dec. 31, 2025.

With the exception of Nielsen’s holiday surveys, American University news/talk WAMU and Hubbard all-news WTOP have been DC’s top two stations since January 2024. August shows the former taking a slightly larger lead over the latter, up from 1.0 to 1.9. Howard University urban AC WHUR, ranking third, gains half a share point from July. 

Since June’s survey, Boston’s July-and-August leader, news/talk pubcaster WBUR, has added two full share points for a 34% lift. That puts it 1.6 points ahead of iHeartMedia CHR “Kiss 108” WXKS-FM, which itself has gained 1.1 since June for a 21% share boost. “Kiss” swaps places with June’s champ, Audacy AC “Magic 106.7” WMJX, now placing third.

Audacy holds onto number one in Miami, only with a different station: classic hits “102.7 The Beach” WMXJ, making a rare appearance on top as its share has jumped 23% since June. WMXJ has a very slim lead over Cox Media Group soft AC “Easy 93.1” WFEZ, while Audacy’s July leader, AC “101.5 Lite FM” WLYF, drops to third while still gaining half a share point.

For news/talk pubcaster KUOW-FM, it isn’t just an eighth straight survey on top. The station has also seen a 27% share increase since June, most of that since July with a 1.7-point gain. That ups its lead over Bonneville’s “Seattle Sports 710” KIRO-AM to 2.4, even as the Mariners flagship also sees a share increase. Coming in third and making a rare top-five showing is Audacy modern/alternative rock "107.7 The End" KNDD. 

Hubbard classic rock KSLX stays on top with just a 0.3 edge over iHeartMedia talk KFYI, while iHeartMedia AC sister “99.9 K-EZ” KESZ slips from a tie for first to third but still just 0.2 behind KFYI. News/talk pubcaster KJZZ holds at fourth, while iHeartMedia country KNIX ranks fifth.

Make it eight wins in a row for sports “97.1 The Ticket” WXYT-FM, one-third of a once-again all-Audacy top three, with country WYCD and classic hits WOMC ranked second and third. iHeartMedia again claims the rest of the top five with AC WNIC and urban AC “Mix 92.3” WMXD at fourth and fifth.

For the first time since December, iHeartMedia sports “K-FAN” KFXN posts a double-digit share, while up an impressive 53% in share since June. That puts the station 3.7 share points in front of iHeart Media classic hits sister “Kool 108” KQQL, which led in the Twin Cities in May and June. Below the top two, Minnesota Public Radio news/talk KNOW and iHeartMedia country “K102” KEEY switch places, now at third and fourth, respectively.

It’s a seventh consecutive victory for CMG soft AC “105.5 The Dove” WDUV, as it re-enters 10-share territory with a 3.3-point advantage over Radio Training Network contemporary Christian “The Joy FM” WCIE. CMG classic rock sister “The Eagle 107.3” WXGL takes third, with Beasley classic hits “Q105” WRBQ half a point behind in fourth.

Bonneville AC KOSI grabs its fourth win in a row, while adding 1.4 share points to take a 2.8 share lead over country sister KYGO and Audacy hot AC “Alice 105.9” KALC, which tie for second. Audacy classic rock “99.5 The Mountain” KQMT comes in fourth, followed by iHeartMedia adult alternative KBCO and KSE Radio Ventures classic hits “Kool 105” KXKL tied for fifth.

Audacy takes all of the top three here as well, with classic hits “Sunny 98.1” notching its fifth win, 2.2 points in front of AC sister KYXY, with sports and Padres flagship “97.3 The Fan” KWFN up a share point to land at third. News/talk KPBS and Univision Spanish regional Mexican “Que Buena 106.5” KLNV rank fourth and fifth.

Urban One urban AC “Magic 95.9” WWIN-FM rolls on with an eighth straight win, keeping a 1.4-point lead over Audacy AC “Today's 101.9” WLIF, the runner-up for the past six surveys. Now tied at third are iHeartMedia country WPOC and news/talk pubcaster WYPR, the latter with its first-ever top-three appearance.

While Hubbard heritage rocker KSHE takes the crown for a fourth consecutive survey, its share has been slipping since May, its 24% decline including two share points just in the past survey. Additionally, KSHE has just a 0.1 lead over Audacy news/talk and Cardinals flagship KMOX-FM, which moves from third-ranked to runner-up with a share story of its own: since February, the station has seen a 110% share gain, with growth in every survey.