‘Classic’ Stations Have Their Best PPM Day 1 Since May 2024.

During January and February 2025 PPM survey periods, no classic hits or classic rock formatted stations led in any of the eight non-embedded markets reported by Nielsen on Day 1. Big difference in Day 1 for June 2025 (covering May 29-June 25), where stations in those formats took the prize in four of those eight markets.

The last time four stations representing those two formats claimed half of Day 1’s crowns was during the May 2024 book, when the same four stations were the leaders as in this just-released survey: Audacy’s “K-Earth 101” KRTH Los Angeles and Cox Media Group’s “97.1 The River” WSRV Atlanta, both classic hits, and Hubbard Radio’s “The Drive” WDRV Chicago and Beasley Media Group’s WMGK Philadelphia, both classic rock.

For Day 1, the leaderboard shows two crowns each for AC, classic hits, and classic rock, and one each for news/talk and country.

iHeartMedia AC “Lite FM” WLTW marks its 34th consecutive win, with a 1.3-share-point lead over Spanish Broadcasting System Spanish tropical “Mega 97.9” WSKQ, now alone in second place. Audacy’s all-news WINS-AM-FM and classic hits sister WCBS-FM come in third and fifth, respectively, while iHeart CHR sister “Z100” WHTZ remains fourth-ranked in the Apple.

With a few exceptions, Audacy classic hits “K-Earth 101” KRTH and iHeart AC KOST have either been L.A.’s No. 1, or both have tied for No. 1, since December 2023. This time, K-Earth has the top spot to itself for the first time since November 2024, posting its highest share since August 2024, with a full share point lead over KOST. Once again, iHeart and Audacy divvy up the top five, with iHeart CHR KIIS-FM third, and hot AC sister KBIG tied for fourth with Audacy’s all news KNX-AM-FM and urban AC “94.7 The Wave” KTWV — the latter making its first top-five showing since July 2024.

Hubbard classic rock “The Drive” WDRV takes exit number 1, if you will, for the first time since last November. It’s 0.8 ahead of Audacy country “US99” WUSN, making its second top-three showing this year so far, having tied for third in January’s survey. iHeart soft AC “93.9 Lite FM” WLIT, April and May’s champ, now sits in third, while Cumulus Media classic hits WLS-FM moves up from a tie for eighth to fourth-ranked, with Audacy all-news sister WBBM-AM/WCFS and Hubbard hot AC “101.9 The Mix” WTMX tied for fifth.

Public news/talk station KQED racks up a rare 11 share, distancing itself from the usual runner-up, Audacy all-news KCBS-AM/KFRC-FM, by 4.1 share points. While still third, Bonneville AC KOIT adds a full share point from May, while classical pubcaster KDFC and iHeart soft AC “98.1 The Breeze” KISQ stay at fourth and fifth.

As it did in April’s Nielsen survey, Cumulus Media again takes positions 1-2-3, with country “99.5 The Wolf” KPLX up from fourth to the top spot, just 0.2 ahead of sports “The Ticket” KTCK-AM-FM which led in April and May, and “New Country 96.3” KSCS slipping from second to third. Audacy hot AC “Mix 102.9” KDMX moves from ninth to bounce back into the top five, while adult hits sister “100.3 Jack-FM” KJKK again places fifth.

For iHeart AC “Sunny 99.1” KODA, it’s an 11th straight win in a squeaker over Hope Media Group contemporary Christian KSBJ, which gains 1.7 share points as it moves back to the runner-up spot. Urban One claims the remainder of the top five, with urban AC “Majic 102.1” KMJQ, classic rock “The Eagle 106.9/107.5” KGLK/KHPT, and country “93Q” KKBQ lining up at 3-4-5.

CMG classic hits “97.1 The River” WSRV widens its lead over news/talk sister WSB-AM/WSBB-FM, from May’s 0.2 to 1.1. The market’s two urban ACs, CMG’s “Kiss 104.1” WALR and Urban One’s “Majic 107.5/97.5” WAMJ, tie for third, while Audacy urban contemporary “V103” WVEE remains at fifth for a third straight survey.

Since February, Beasley has claimed the top two, with classic rock WMGK digging in for a fourth straight survey on top, and rock WMMR right behind. Audacy sports WIP-FM, flagship of the red-hot Phillies, moves from fourth to third, swapping spots with iHeart urban AC WDAS-FM, while Audacy AC “B101” WBEB returns to the top five.