News, Talk And Sports Take The Lead On Day 1 Of January PPMs.

After adult contemporary’s two seasonal surveys of domination in the eight non-embedded markets reporting on Day 1 of Nielsen's PPMs, it’s a different story in January’s book (covering Jan. 8-Feb. 4), with spoken-word stations claiming the big prize in five of these markets.

In one of those five, New York, Audacy’s WINS-AM-FM breaks the 41-survey winning streak posted by iHeartMedia AC “106.7 Lite FM” WLTW. Elsewhere, all-news, news/talk or sports stations either return to the top or extend an ongoing win streak, the latter the case for Cox Media Group’s WSB-AM/WSBB-FM Atlanta.

An important note about the January 2026 PPMs: the 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.

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

For the first time since the November 2022 survey, iHeartMedia AC “106.7 Lite FM” WLTW is not New York’s top-ranked station. That honor goes to Audacy all-news WINS-AM-FM, winning by just a half a share point. This follows seven straight books at No. 2, and all but two over the past year, for WINS. Share-wise, the pair are well ahead of the rest of the top five, with Spanish Broadcasting System Spanish tropical “Mega 97.9” WSKQ 1.6 points behind “Lite,” followed by Audacy classic hits WCBS-FM and, tied for fifth, iHeartMedia CHR sister “Z100” WHTZ and news/talk pubcaster WNYC-FM, the latter making its first top-five showing since January 2025.

The lights are packed away and the tree’s outside waiting for pickup, but iHeartMedia AC KOST holds its lead in L.A. after its annual all-Christmas switch, retaining 47% of its Holiday survey share. KOST keeps a 0.6 edge over Audacy classic hits “K-Earth 101” KRTH, with iHeart hot AC “104.3 MyFM” KBIG still placing third. Audacy adult hits “93.1 Jack FM” KCBS-FM makes a rare top five appearance, coming in fourth.

Audacy all-news WBBM-AM/WCFS returns to the top for the first time since March 2025, just 0.4 ahead of Hubbard hot AC “101.9 The Mix” WTMX. Audacy adult alternative WXRT ranks third, followed by holiday leader iHeartMedia AC “93.9 Lite FM” WLIT and Nexstar talker WGN.

Audacy hot AC “Mix 102.9” KDMX, last on top in September, moves from a tie for fourth to No. 1, just a tenth of a point up on iHeartMedia AC “Star 102.1” KDGE, with a 44% retention of its Holiday book share. iHeart CHR “106.1 Kiss FM” KHKS moves up from sixth to third, while Audacy modern/alternative rock “Alt 103.7” KVIL is up from a tie for eighth to fourth, with Audacy adult hits “100.3 Jack-FM” KJKK up from a tie for 10th to fifth.

Post-Santa, iHeartMedia AC “Sunny 99.1” KODA holds firm with a sixth straight survey at the top, with an impressive 73% retention of its Holiday book share. KODA’s 2.8 points ahead of Urban One urban AC “Majic 102.1” KMJQ, while Urban One’s country sister “93Q” KKBQ steps up to third.

News/talk pubcaster KQED, which has ranked first or second since November 2023, is back at No. 1 after Bonneville AC and Santacaster KOIT’s turn at the summit during the Holiday survey. Audacy news KCBS-AM/KFRC places second, followed by USC classical KDFC at third and KOIT fourth.

CMG news/talk WSB-AM/WSBB-FM notches a sixth consecutive survey at No. 1, widening its lead to 1.1 points over urban AC sister “Kiss 104.1” WALR. Sitting in between two Urban ACs, with Urban One’s “Majic 107.5/97.5” WAMJ fourth, is Cox Media Group classic hits “97.1 The River” WSRV, up from sixth.

Audacy sports WIP-FM runs from fourth all the way back to No. 1 for a 3-share-point gain, while Beasley Media Group’s heritage rock WMMR stays at second while adding 1.2 share points from the Holiday book. Audacy news KYW leaps from ninth to third, also gaining three share points.