News, News/Talk Stations Rule In Day 1 Of February PPMs.

It was another news-packed four weeks during Nielsen’s February 2026 survey (covering Feb. 5-March 4), as reflected in the eight non-embedded markets reporting on Day 1 of PPMs. 

While all-news and news/talk stations led in three of these eight markets – New York, Chicago and San Francisco – total stations in both formats ranked in the top five moved from eight in January’s survey to nine in February, with the addition of news/talk pubcaster KERA in Dallas. 

Looking at all stations in either format across these markets Jan.-Feb., total persons 6+ share points increased by 0.8, from 103.1 to 103.9.

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

Rankings exclude stations owned by Cumulus Media, which is in the midst of a re-negotiation of its contract with Nielsen, which expired Dec. 31, 2025.

Audacy all-news WINS-AM/FM holds onto the lead for a second straight survey, four-tenths of a share point ahead of iHeartMedia adult contemporary “106.7 Lite FM” WLTW. As in January’s book, both stations are well ahead the rest of New York’s top five, share-wise, with Audacy classic hits sister WCBS-FM ranked a distant third, and iHeartMedia CHR sister “Z100” WHTZ, news/talk pubcaster WNYC-AM/FM and Spanish Broadcasting System Spanish tropical “Mega 97.9” WSKQ in a three-way tie for fourth.

iHeartMedia AC KOST makes it a fourth win in a row, with a slim 0.4 lead over Audacy classic hits “K-Earth 101” KRTH. iHeartMedia hot AC sister “104.3 MyFM” KBIG remains in third for a sixth consecutive survey, while Audacy’s adult hits “93.1 Jack FM” KCBS-FM and all-news KNX-AM/FM tie for fifth.

Audacy claims the Windy City’s top two, as all-news WBBM-AM/WCFS digs in for a second consecutive survey at the top, followed by Audacy adult alternative WXRT, just 0.3 behind. After placing second in January, Hubbard hot AC “101.9 The Mix” WTMX comes in a close third, with iHeartMedia AC “93.9 Lite FM” WLIT fourth and Audacy country “US99” WUSN re-entering the top five at fifth.

Audacy hot AC “Mix 102.9” KDMX repeats at No. 1, 0.8 ahead of iHeartMedia CHR “106.1 Kiss FM” KHKS and Salem Media Group contemporary Christian KLTY, which tie for second. iHeartMedia AC “Star 102.1” KDGE places fourth, followed by news/talk pubcaster KERA and Audacy adult hits “100.3 Jack-FM” KJKK, tied for fifth.

Space City’s top five stay in the same order as in January’s survey, with iHeartMedia AC “Sunny 99.1” KODA marking a seventh straight victory, 2.3 share points ahead of Urban One urban AC “Majic 102.1” KMJQ, while Urban One country sister “93Q” KKBQ again finishes third. Hope Media Group contemporary Christian KSBJ and Audacy hot AC "Mix 96.5" KHMX still rank fourth and fifth.

News/talk pubcaster KQED stays on top, with a 1.1-share point lead over Audacy all-news KCBS-AM/KFRC. Bonneville AC KOIT takes third, followed by iHeart hot AC “Star 101.3” KIOI, gaining a full share point to make its first top-five showing since March 2024.

For the first time since the 2022 Holiday survey, Urban One “Majic 107.5/97.5” WAMJ is Atlanta’s top-ranked station, although it’s a close race with Cox Media Group classic hits “97.1 The River” WSRV just 0.4 behind in second, and its news/talk sister WSB-AM/WSBB-FM – which led for the past six books – 0.6 back at third. Audacy urban contemporary “V103” WVEE and CMG AC “B98.5” WSB-FM, ranked fourth and fifth, aren’t that far behind, either.

Beasley Media Group’s classic rock WMGK and heritage rock WMMR tie for first, giving the former its first win since a six-survey streak from March-August 2025, with the latter last on top last November. Tied for third are Audacy’s sports WIP-FM and AC “B101” WBEB, both just 0.6 in back, while Audacy all-news KYW finishes fifth.