Top 10 Medium-Market Radio Standouts.

Three stations serving Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, in Nielsen’s McAllen-Brownsville-Harlingen DMA, land in Inside Radio’s TOP 10 stations in markets ranked at No. 50 or higher, based on cume delivery of persons 12+ during Nielsen’s Q3 2026 wave for most stations, and Spring 2026 for those in some diary-measured markets.

Leading the pack is one of those RGV stations, iHeartMedia’s bilingual rhythmic CHR “Wild 104” KBFM, where Jayz “Jay Z” Olivarez has accompanied Vallucos on their drive home since the format’s first days in 2004.

Also representing Nielsen market 56 are Entravision hot AC “107.9 RGV” KVLY and iHeartMedia country KTEX (100.3), ranking sixth and eighth respectively. KTEX has been in the format since 1990, with JoJo Cerda hosting mornings since 2002, and won for Small Market Radio Station of the Year at the 2026 Texas Regional Radio and Music Awards.

Memphis, market 55, lands two in the top five. Coming in second is Audacy adult contemporary “The River 104.5” WRVR, a Memphis mainstay since 1987 and the home of 2026 Marconi Medium Market Personality of the Year winners, morning hosts Ron Olson and Karen Perrin. Placing fourth is iHeartMedia’s 30-year urban AC “V101” KJMS, with 35-year market veteran Stan Bell in PM drive.

The Hartford-New Britain-Middletown, CT market, Nielsen’s No. 57, places two in the 50+ top 10. Ranked third is Audacy soft AC “Lite 100.5” WRCH, where Mike Stacy and Mary Scanlon have hosted mornings since 2013, and at ninth, the winner of the 2025 Connecticut Broadcasters Association Award for Radio Station of the Year, Audacy hot AC WTIC-FM (96.5), where Christine Lee has co-hosted mornings since 1996.

New Orleans, market 50, also claims two of the top 10. Representing the Crescent City at Nos. 5 and 7 are iHeartMedia’s 34-year urban contemporary “Q93.3” WQUE and 33-year urban AC WYLD-FM (98.5). At No. 10 with a pineapple is iHeartMedia AC KSSK-FM (92.3) Honolulu (market 65), where Michael W. Perry has hosted AM drive since 1983.