Four Different AC Formats Top Markets On August PPMs Day 1.

While stations in the traditional adult contemporary format tend to dominate in several of the eight non-embedded markets reporting on Day 1 of Nielsen's PPMs, things are slightly different according to August's survey, covering July 24-August 20.

The only straight-ahead AC leading its market is iHeartMedia's “Lite FM” WLTW New York, which hasn't budged from the top rung since December 2022. While other iHeart ACs settle for second place in Los Angeles and Houston, it's AC variants such as iHeart’s soft AC WLIT Chicago, hot AC “Mix 102.9” KDMX Dallas, and Urban One urban AC “Majic 102.1” KMJQ Houston that are ahead of the pack.

Classic hits and classic rock claim three crowns on Day 1, as stations in either format in L.A., Atlanta and Philadelphia repeat at the top.

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

Not only does iHeart AC “Lite FM” WLTW continue its reign at number-one – now in its 36th consecutive survey on top – its share has grown steadily since June, up 15%. Lite's lead over again-second-ranked Audacy all-news WINS-AM-FM holds still at 2.6 points. Audacy classic hits sister WCBS-FM and iHeart CHR sister “Z100” WHTZ tie for third, while Spanish Broadcasting System Spanish tropical “Mega 97.9” WSKQ moves from third to fifth.

Audacy's classic hits “K-Earth 101” KRTH continues to set the pace in L.A., leading for a fourth consecutive book and staying a share point ahead of iHeart AC KOST. The wider view again shows Audacy and iHeart taking up all the real estate in the top five, with iHeart's hot AC KBIG third and CHR KIIS-FM fifth, while Audacy urban AC “94.7 The Wave” KTWV ranks fourth.

iHeart soft AC “93.9 Lite FM” WLIT stands alone at the top, just 0.2 ahead of the station it tied with in July, Hubbard classic rock “The Drive” WDRV. The entire top five is packed in tight, with third-ranked Audacy adult alternative WXRT a tenth of a point behind “The Drive” and a tenth in front of Hubbard hot AC sister “101.9 The Mix” WTMX, itself 0.1 ahead of Audacy all-news sister WBBM-AM/WCFS.

News/talk pubcaster KQED makes it eight straight wins in a photo finish ahead of Audacy all-news KCBS-AM/KFRC-FM, up by just a tenth of a point. The rest of the top five stay where they were in July, with Bonneville AC KOIT, USC classical KDFC and iHeart soft AC “98.1 The Breeze” KISQ third, fourth and fifth.

iHeartMedia hot AC “Mix 102.9” KDMX makes a 2.3-share-point leap from sixth to the top spot, ousting Cumulus Media country “99.5 The Wolf” KPLX, which led for the prior two surveys. Cumulus and Audacy claim the entire top five, with Cumulus' sports “The Ticket” KTCK-AM-FM third and “New Country 96.3” KSCS fourth, followed by Audacy adult hits “100.3 Jack-FM” KJKK.

For the first time since October 2023, Urban One urban AC “Majic 102.1” KMJQ is Houston's top-ranked station, knocking out “Sunny 99.1” KODA after the iHeart AC posted an even dozen consecutive surveys on top. Hope Media Group contemporary Christian KSBJ places third, while Urban One's country “93Q” KKBQ and classic rock “The Eagle 106.9/107.5” KGLK/KHPT take fourth and fifth.

Only half a share point separates the top four stations, led for a sixth straight survey by CMG classic hits “97.1 The River” WSRV with just a 0.2 edge over CMG urban AC sister “Kiss 104.1” WALR. Kiss, meanwhile, is 0.2 ahead of its urban AC competitor, Urban One's “Majic 107.5/97.5” WAMJ, itself just a tenth of a point in front of CMG news/talk WSB-AM/WSBB-FM. Cox claims four of Atlanta’s top five, as AC “B98.5” WSB-FM returns to the region after a four-book absence.

Also marking a sixth consecutive win is Beasley Media Group classic rock WMGK, now with a one-share-point lead over Audacy sports WIP-FM, flagship of the very-likely-postseason-bound Phillies and Super Bowl champion Eagles. iHeart urban AC WDAS-FM, Beasley rock sister WMMR and Audacy AC “B101” WBEB finish at 3-4-5, with MMR losing 1.5 from July after six surveys ranked in Philly's top two.