July PPMs Day 1: Hot AC Breaks Through With KBIG L.A.’s Rare Win.

While adult contemporary and news/talk-formatted stations can pull off two or more wins just-like-that in the eight non-embedded markets reporting on Day 1 of Nielsen’s PPM ratings, that’s never been easy for hot AC to do. 

For Day 1 of July 2026’s survey (covering June 25-July 22), however, it’s a different story, one which reflects hot AC’s strong year-to-date performance in PPM markets. While Hubbard’s “101.9 The Mix” WTMX Chicago repeats at the top, iHeartMedia’s “104.3 MyFM” KBIG makes its first appearance at the top of L.A.’s ratings since November 2022, when it tied for first with both AC sister KOST and Audacy classic hits “K-Earth 101” KRTH.

For Day 1, the leaderboard shows four wins for AC, two each for news/talk and hot AC, and one for urban contemporary.

Please note that rankings do not include stations owned by Cumulus Media, which is in the midst of a re-negotiation of its contract with Nielsen which expired Dec. 31, 2025. 

For a third straight survey, the order of New York’s top five remains unchanged, with iHeartMedia AC “106.7 Lite FM” WLTW still on top, a half-point up on Audacy all-news WINS-AM-FM. Audacy also takes third again with classic hits WCBS-FM, followed by iHeartMedia’s CHR “Z100” WHTZ and classic rock “Q104.3” WAXQ, respectively.

For the first time since Nielsen’s November 2022 survey, iHeartMedia hot AC “104.3 MyFM” KBIG is L.A.’s number-one station. There’s just one little difference this time: KBIG has the top spot all to itself. That November, KBIG tied for first with the only other two stations to rule L.A.’s ratings since: Audacy classic hits “K-Earth 101” KRTH, which now ranks second, 0.3 behind KBIG; and iHeartMedia AC sister KOST, which moves from first to third-ranked. Audacy claims the rest of the top five, with urban AC “94.7 The Wave” KTWV and adult hits “93.1 Jack FM” KCBS-FM at fourth and fifth.

It’s a third win in a row for Hubbard hot AC “101.9 The Mix” WTMX, staying just 0.2 in front of Audacy all-news sister WBBM-AM/WCFS. iHeartMedia urban AC “V103” WVAZ moves from a tie for sixth to rank third, marking its first top five showing since April 2025. Once again, Audacy claims three in the region, with adult alternative WXRT fourth and country “US99” WUSN tied for fifth with iHeartMedia soft AC “93.9 Lite FM” WLIT.

iHeartMedia AC “Star 102.1” KDGE makes it a third consecutive victory in Big D, ahead of hot AC sister “Mix 102.9” KDMX by 1.2 points, while iHeartMedia takes the trifecta with CHR “106.1 Kiss FM” KHKS finishing third, as it returns to the top five. Also back in the region is Univision Spanish regional Mexican “Que Buena 94.1” KLNO, placing fourth.

It’s a 12th straight win for iHeartMedia AC “Sunny 99.1” KODA, as it takes a comfortable 2.8-share-point lead over Urban One classic rock “The Eagle 106.9/107.5” KGLK/KHPT. As was the case in June, iHeartMedia and Urban One claim the entire top five, with iHeartMedia modern/alternative rock “94.5 The Buzz” KTBZ ranked fourth, and Urban One’s urban AC “Majic 102.1” KMJQ and country “93Q” KKBQ at third and fifth. 

For the fourth consecutive survey, news/talk pubcaster KQED sees a share gain, for an overall 20% boost since March. Even so, it’s still a close race between KQED and Audacy all-news KCBS-AM/KFRC, which is just 1.4 share points behind. Connoisseur Media AC KOIT and iHeartMedia’s soft AC “98.1 The Breeze” KISQ and hot AC sister “Star 101.3” KIOI line up at 3-4-5. 

Cox Media Group news/talk WSB-AM/WSBB-FM is still on top, although now tied with Audacy urban contemporary “V103” WVEE, which makes a 1.1-share-point gain, up from sixth. Tied for third, just a tenth of a point behind those two, are Urban One urban AC “Majic 107.5/97.5” WAMJ and CMG classic hits sister “97.1 The River” WSRV, while news/talk pubcaster WABE makes its first appearance in the top five since 2023.

For each of the last seven surveys Audacy AC “B101” WBEB led Philly’s ratings, Santa was along for the ride. Not this time, though, as the station notches a rare summertime victory, 0.3 ahead of Beasley Media Group classic rock WMGK. Both are up 1.1 share points from June. iHeartMedia urban AC WDAS-FM places third, while both stations that tied for first in June – Audacy sports WIP-FM and Beasley heritage rock WMMR – now tie for fourth.