Following a long period of flatlining or declining, is CHR “Hot to Go”?
Chappell Roan's song with that title, one of her three hits currently played by CHR radio, may be one factor in the format's growth in four key demographics, based on Inside Radio’s monthly analysis of Nielsen PPM cross-market average quarter-hour share data, covering Monday-to-Sunday 6am-midnight.
Since January, CHR's up not only in persons 6+, but also 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54 – most notably the latter two, with 6% (6.4-6.8) and 8% (5.9-6.4) lifts respectably. For both 18-34 and 18-49, CHR has become a stronger runner-up to the first-place adult contemporary format.
Among the stations seeing significant 6+ share increases from the September to October survey are Broadway Media's “Mix 105.1” KUDD Salt Lake City (up 41%), iHeartMedia's “96.7 Kiss FM” KHFI Austin 3.8-5.3 (+39%), and iHeart's WNCI Columbus, OH (+34%).
It's no surprise that in this election year like no other, news/talk is another across-the-board gainer, with shares up a point or more since June for 6+ (9.3-10.6), 18-34 (3.2-4.2), 18-49 (4.4-5.7) and 25-54 (5.3-6.8). For the latter demo, news/talk breaks September's tie with CHR to own second place. Star-performing stations in the format include Bonneville's KSL-AM Salt Lake City (up 36% 6+, Sept.-Oct.), Cox Media Group's WOKV Jacksonville, FL (+32%), and Nashville Public Radio's WPLN (+30%).
Like CHR, Urban AC is also seeing share growth since the first of the year, up 0.4-0.5 in all four demos examined. For the sports format, while its share-point-or-greater growth since July across-the-board is business as usual – given the start of the NFL season and baseball's pennant races and postseason – 18-34 is the only demo where share is up noticeably vs. October 2023 (3.3-3.9).
While less obvious in the 6+ trends, Spanish regional Mexican, which had been declining in the other three demos, has rebounded since hitting a low in July, up 0.5-0.6 since.
The highest-ranking format with across-the-board declines is country, which finishes third in three of these four demos. Since July, country is off by half a point among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s, and by 0.3 for 6+.
Two formats which have seen share growth from Jan.-Oct. 2022 to year-to-date 2024, yet have been steadily declining since this year's halfway mark, are classic rock and contemporary Christian. With the exception of 6+, classic rock's shares have tumbled from 5-share territory to under-5 from July to October. For contemporary Christian, shares in the mid-to-high 3s have fallen to 3.0 or under in Nielsen's October survey.
Other formats with shares moving in the wrong direction are urban contemporary, down 0.4-0.6 since July in all demos except 6+, and classic hits, with shares off 0.3-0.5 with the exception of 18-34.
Then there's adult contemporary, While the top-ranked format for 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54 shows shares down year-over-year and/or year-to-date for the latter two as well, as for 6+, share is up significantly since last October and this past July for 18-34s, where AC breaks into 9-share territory in the current survey.
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