With the exception of one of the eight non-embedded markets reporting on Day 1 of Nielsen's Holiday 2022 PPMs – covering the measurement period from Dec. 8 through Jan. 4 – every other station having flipped to all-holiday music, whether adult contemporary or soft AC the other 11 months of the year, held onto its crown (or Santa hat, if you prefer) from December's measurement period.
Collectively, these seven stations led the runner-ups by 54.9 share points, with Santa-casters in Chicago, San Francisco and Houston posting their best Holiday book shares dating back to 2015.
As for that other market, while Atlanta's contemporary-Christian-turned-all-Christmas won the last book, this time around it finished a very close second to new champ, Urban One urban AC “Majic 107.5/97.5” WAMJ.
NEW YORK
The top two remain the same as in December's measurement, the only difference being iHeartMedia AC “106.7 Lite FM” WLTW's larger, Santa-powered 4.5-share-point lead over Mediaco urban AC WBLS, vs. its 1.2-point advantage in the last book. Spanish Broadcasting System Spanish tropical “Mega 97.9” WSKQ steps up to third from fourth-ranked in December, flipping places with iHeart classic rock sister “Q104.3” WAXQ. Audacy news WINS-AM-FM returns to the top five for the first time since the addition of its FM simulcast this past October, and since last year's Holiday book.
LOS ANGELES
iHeart's KOST's additional share point from the December period gives the AC-turned-Christmas an 8.4-share lead over Audacy classic hits “K-Earth 101” KRTH. Close behind are iHeart news/talk sister KFI, Univision Spanish contemporary “K-Love 107.5” KLVE and iHeart hot AC sister “104.3 MyFM” KBIG.
CHICAGO
iHeart soft AC “93.9 Lite FM” WLIT's big Christmas-format win, with its best Holiday book 6+ share dating back to 2015, puts it 9.8 points ahead of Hubbard Radio classic rock “The Drive” WDRV/WWDV and iHeart urban AC sister “V103” WVAZ, which tie for second. Audacy news WBBM/WCFS, just 0.2 behind those two, stays ranked fourth, while Hubbard Radio hot AC “101.9 The Mix” WTMX returns to the top five for the first time since December 2021.
SAN FRANCISCO
Also celebrating its best Holiday book share going back to 2015 is Bonneville AC KOIT, its seasonal switch giving it an 8.8-share-point lead over Audacy news KCBS/KFRC, compared to the 3.1-point edge it had in December's measurement period. Meanwhile, news/talk pubcaster KQED moves from a tie for second with KCBS to third, iHeart soft AC “The Breeze” KISQ sticks at fourth, and urban contemporary sister KMEL returns to the top five for the first time since October 2021.
DALLAS
With Santa on its side, iHeart AC “Star 102.1” KDGE widens its lead over classic rock sister “Lone Star 92.5” KZPS from December's 0.6 to 4.2. As is usual in Dallas, the rest of the top five and below are bunched up, with KZPS half a share point up on Audacy classic hits KLUV, which is 0.3 ahead of iHeart CHR sister “106.1 Kiss FM” KHKS, itself just 0.2 in front of Service Broadcasting urban AC “Smooth R&B 105.7” KRNB.
HOUSTON
iHeart AC “Sunny 99.1” KODA's 22nd consecutive win, with its best Holiday share delivery going back to 2015, gives it an 8.9-point over the market's other Santa-caster, Hope Media Group contemporary Christian KSBJ. With a close third place showing, just 0.2 behind, is Audacy adult hits “95.7 the spot” KKHH, which has a 0.4 lead over iHeart modern/alternative rock “94.5 The Buzz” KTBZ, itself just a tenth of a point ahead of Cox Media Group classic rock “The Eagle 106.9/107.5” KGLK/KHPT.
ATLANTA
After having led in December's book, even if by just 0.6, Salem Media Group contemporary Christian-gone-all-Christmas “104.7 The Fish” WFSH settles for second in a close three-way race. It finishes just 0.2 behind Urban One urban AC “Majic 107.5/97.5” WAMJ, which notches its first win over the past two years, while the leader for most of 2022, CMG classic hits “The River” WSRV, is just a tenth of a point behind WFSH. CMG AC sister “B98.5” WSB-FM hangs onto fourth, while Audacy urban contemporary “V103” WVEE returns to the top five for the first time since last July.
PHILADELPHIA
Not only is Audacy AC “B101.1” WBEB's Santa-sized share in the double digits, so is its lead over iHeart urban AC WDAS-FM, with a 10.3-share-point gap between the two vs. December's 4.4-point difference. They're packed in tight from second to fifth, with Audacy news KYW/WPHI, bounding from sixth to third, 0.3 behind WDAS, Beasley Media Group classic rock WMGK 0.2 behind KYW, and Audacy sports WIP-FM a tenth of a point in back of 'MGK.
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