Hot AC, Modern/Alt Rock, Adult Hits Formats See Share Gains.

With five Nielsen PPM surveys in the books for 2026-to-date, there are clear indications of which radio formats are growing among key demographics, based on Inside Radio’s analysis of average-quarter-hour share data in these markets, covering Monday-Sunday 6am-midnight for persons 6+, 18-34 and 25-54.

For all three demos, the format with the most notable year-over-year growth is hot AC, with shares up steadily since January-May 2024: +18% 6+, where it ranks seventh; +8% 18-34, where it’s fourth-ranked; and +16% 25-54, where it’s also fourth.

One reason hot AC may be so hot is its strong roster of core artists year-to-date, including Taylor Swift, Olivia Dean, Bruno Mars and Sabrina Carpenter, and dependable recurrents such as Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” and Huntr/X’s “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters.”

Another growing format is modern/alternative rock, where for 25-54s — where it ties for seventh — share has steadily increased since 2022, up 22% from a then-3.5 share to 4.5 for 2026-to-date. Shares are also up 21% 6+, where the format ties for 12th, from Jan.-May 2022, and 5% for 18-34, where it’s tied for eighth.

While not ranked in the top 10 for either demo, adult hits has also seen share gains, up 8% 6+, 7% 18-34 and 15% 25-54.

Contemporary Christian continues to see notable and mostly steady growth over the past four years, although its share is off slightly year-over-year (3.5-3.4) for 18-34, where the format ranks 11th. Overall, though, it’s up an impressive 41% 6+, where it ranks ninth, 48% 18-34 and 44% 25-54, where it comes in 13th.

For the top three formats in each demographic, the trends are mixed. While shares for adult contemporary, the only format ranked in each demo’s top three, have generally declined over the past two years, the numbers are slightly up or flat year-to-date. News/talk’s shares are down a bit year-over-year for 6+ and 25-54, while they’re up steadily for the past two years among 18-34s. 

Country, while slightly down year-over-year for all demos, is at the same time up a bit from January to May of this year. For CHR, which ranks second 18-34 and third 25-54, numbers are down year-over-year and year-to-date for both demos.