Radio Research Consortium’s ongoing analysis of news and talk stations in 45 PPM markets, based on Nielsen persons 6+ shares and weekly cume, shows that for November’s survey (Oct. 10-Nov. 6), there’s been respectable if not outstanding growth compared to earlier books in this election cycle.
According to RRC’s report, which combines commercial and noncommercial average quarter-hour shares for news and/or talk-formatted stations in each market, shares across all markets total 565.3, up just 3% since August’s 547.1. Weekly cume tells a better story, with 1.2 million listeners added in these markets since August, for a 5% lift.
“During the 2024 election cycle, the RRC is monitoring the news/talk stations in PPM markets, as listeners are hopefully seeking the format for important information,” the report says. “The November Nielsen Audio month included Election Day, and while that did not provide the news/talk format a big boost in listening, it certainly added some weekly cume listeners.”
Share-wise, the top five markets for the November survey are Washington, D.C. (25.6 share points), Milwaukee (23.3), Boston (19.4), San Francisco (19.3), and Cincinnati and Sacramento, tying for fifth (18.2 each). Filling out the rest of the top 10 are New York (17.5), Minneapolis (17.0), Atlanta (16.8), and Portland, OR (16.3).
In three of these 10 markets and 20 of the 45, public radio claims the number one news station, its second-best performance over the last four months. Those top 10 markets where that’s the case include D.C. — where WAMU-FM accounts for 46% of total share points — along with San Francisco (KQED-FM, 53%) and Minneapolis (KNOW-FM, also 53%).
In second-ranked Milwaukee, iHeartMedia talk WISN-AM, which has seen its 6+ share move up steadily during the past three surveys, grabs the largest share of any top 10 market’s total news and talk share points, at 74%. Other standout performers in these 45 markets include Nashville pubcaster WPLN-FM (77% of total share points), Audacy news KYW-AM Philadelphia and Cox Media Group news/talk WOKV-FM Jacksonville, FL (64% each), and Urban One news/talk WIBC-FM Indianapolis (63%).
Comments