November PPMs, Day 1: Christmas Flippers In Good Shape Vs. A Year Ago.

‘Tis the season for all-Christmas music on adult contemporary, soft AC, hot AC or classic hits stations in the eight non-embedded markets reporting on Day 1 of Nielsen’s November PPMs, covering Oct. 16-Nov. 12.

While it’s too early to tell whether these stations will be rockin’ around the Christmas tree or having a blue Christmas, depending on the ratings, one helpful indication is looking at their November survey 6+ share delivery vs. a year ago. Based on that comparison, there’s good news: the key Christmas-flipping stations in each of these markets are up a collective 9% on a year-over-year basis. Of course, the December survey results will tell the real story.

For Day 1, the leaderboard shows two crowns each for AC and news/talk, and one each for classic hits, soft AC, sports and rock.

iHeart AC “Lite FM” WLTW racks up its 39th consecutive victory with its slimmest lead of the year, just 0.6 ahead of Audacy all-news WINS-AM-FM, which has ranked second in every 2025 survey except for February and June. iHeart CHR sister “Z100” WHTZ finishes third for a fourth straight book, while Audacy classic hits sister WCBS-FM takes fourth. Tied for fifth are Spanish Broadcasting System Spanish tropical “Mega 97.9” WSKQ and Red Apple Media talk WABC, the latter making an extremely rare top five appearance.

The win streak continues for Audacy classic hits “K-Earth 101” KRTH, marking its seventh straight survey on top, although its lead over iHeart AC KOST shrinks from October’s 2.6 to just half a share point. Overall, L.A.’s top five stations remain in the same order as in October, with iHeart hot AC sister “104.3 MyFM” KBIG, Audacy urban AC “94.7 The Wave” KTWV, and iHeart CHR KIIS-FM at 3-4-5.

iHeart soft AC “93.9 Lite FM” WLIT holds onto the top spot, likely helped by a week of all-holiday music after its switch on Nov. 4. Still, it’s a close race as WLIT is up by just 0.9, ahead of three stations tied for second: Audacy’s all-news WBBM-AM/WCFS and adult alternative WXRT, and Hubbard Radio hot AC “101.9 The Mix” WTMX. Audacy claims three of the top five as country “US99” WUSN ranks fifth.

News/talk pubcaster KQED has now been San Francisco’s No. 1 station for 11 consecutive surveys, covering all of 2025, and for all but one survey since July 2024. Its lead over Audacy all-news KCBS-AM/KFRC-FM, the runner-up for all this year to date, is currently at 1.2 share points, up from October’s very-close 0.1. The entire top five stays the same as in October, with USC classical KDFC third, Bonneville AC KOIT fourth, and iHeart soft AC “98.1 The Breeze” KISQ fifth.

For the fifth time this year, Cumulus Media sports “The Ticket” KTCK-AM-FM leads in Big D, as the company once again controls the top three, with country stations “99.5 The Wolf” KPLX and “New Country 96.3” KSCS placing second and third, respectively. iHeart AC “Star 102.1” KDGE, which flipped to all-Christmas Nov. 7, takes fourth, while Audacy hot AC “Mix 102.9” KDMX and Univision Spanish regional Mexican “Que Buena 94.1” KLNO tie for fifth, the latter making its first top five showing since February.

It’s a third win in a row for iHeart AC “Sunny 99.1” KODA, which ranked second just once this year to date, in August. The station winning that survey, Urban One urban AC “Majic 102.1” KMJQ, comes in a close second, just 0.6 behind “Sunny.” Urban One again has three stations in the top five, with country “93Q” KKBQ third and classic rock “The Eagle 106.9/107.5” KGLK/KHPT fifth, while Cumulus CHR KRBE moves up to fourth.

It’s a third straight win for CMG news/talk WSB-AM/WSBB-FM, with a comfortable 1.7 lead over AC sister “B98.5” WSB-FM. CMG continues to rule Atlanta’s top three as its urban AC “Kiss 104.1” WALR comes in third, with a 0.3 edge over Urban One’s urban AC “Majic 107.5/97.5” WAMJ. Tied for fifth are CMG classic hits “97.1 The River” WSRV and Audacy urban contemporary “V103” WVEE.

As the City of Brotherly Love mourned one of its radio brethren, Beasley Media Group rocker WMMR’s 44-year midday mainstay Pierre Robert, the station returned to the top of Philly’s ratings for the first time since February, a share point in front of Beasley classic rock sister WMGK. Audacy’s sports station WIP-FM, the champ for the prior two surveys, and AC sister “B101” WBEB place third and fifth, with iHeart urban AC WDAS-FM in fourth.