"Eric in the Morning" cast (from left): Melissa McGurren, Eric Ferguson, Brian "Whip" Paruch and Violeta Podrumedic
"Eric in the Morning" cruised to another easy victory in the latest Chicago radio ratings.
The long-running morning show on Hubbard Radio hot adult-contemporary WTMX 101.9-FM, starring Eric Ferguson with co-hosts Melissa McGurren and Brian "Whip" Paruch (along with recently added traffic reporter Violeta Podrumedic), again led the market in the Nielsen Audio survey for March released Monday.
Entercom's all-news combo of WBBM 780-AM and WCFS 105.9-FM retained the top spot overall, followed by 101.9 The Mix 101.9 and a third-place tie for Hubbard Radio classic rock WDRV 97.1-FM and iHeartMedia urban adult contemporary WVAZ 102.7-FM.
The Drive's Bob Stroud led in middays, and V103's Joe Soto and Chris Michaels led in afternoons and evenings, respectively.
Among Chicago's news/talk stations, Chicago Public Media WBEZ 91.5-FM posted a record-high share, while Tribune Broadcasting WGN 720-AM declined and Cumulus Media WLS 890-AM was flat.
WBMX 104.3-FM, the Entercom classic hip hop station, leapt into the top 10, while iHeartMedia adult contemporary WLIT 93.9-FM fell back down after its seasonal high at year's end.
Note: In accordance with Nielsen’s publishing guidelines, I cannot report actual audience shares other than those for the full week (below). For mornings, middays, afternoons and evenings, I can list only their rankings — not specific shares.
Here are Chicago’s top 30 radio stations from 6 a.m. to midnight Monday through Sunday, as measured by Nielsen Audio from February 28 to March 27, followed by format and average quarter-hour share of listeners age 6 and older (with previous month’s share in parentheses):
1. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM all news, 5.8 (6.1)
2. WTMX 101.9-FM hot adult contemporary, 5.4 (5.5)
3. (tie) WDRV 97.1-FM classic rock, 5.3 (5.1); WVAZ 102.7-FM urban adult contemporary, 5.3 (4.7)
5. WLS 94.7-FM classic hits, 4.5 (3.9)
6. WOJO 105.1-FM Mexican regional, 4.2 (5.0)
7. WLIT 93.9-FM adult contemporary, 3.9 (4.4)
8. WBMX 104.3-FM classic hip hop, 3.6 (3.1)
9. WBEZ 91.5-FM public radio news talk, 3.4 (3.3)
10. WSHE 100.3-FM adult contemporary, 3.2 (3.2)
11. (tie) WXRT 93.1-FM adult album alternative, 3.1 (3.3); WGN 720-AM news talk, 3.1 (3.5)
13. WBBM 96.3-FM Top 40, 3.0 (2.2)
14. (tie) WGCI 107.5-FM urban contemporary, 2.9 (2.7); WKSC 103.5-FM Top 40, 2.9 (2.9)
16. WSCR 670-AM sports talk, 2.8 (3.0)
17. (tie) WUSN 99.5-FM country, 2.6 (3.0); WKQX 101.1-FM alternative rock, 2.6 (2.8); WRME 87.7-FM soft rock oldies, 2.6 (2.6)
20. WLEY 107.9-FM Mexican regional, 2.2 (2.6)
21. WPWX 92.3-FM urban contemporary, 2.1 (2.1)
22. WPPN 106.7-FM Spanish adult contemporary, 1.9 (1.6)
23. WLS 890-AM news talk, 1.7 (1.7)
24. WEBG 95.5-FM country, 1.6 (1.6)
25. WFMT 98.7-FM classical, 1.3 (1.2)
26. (tie) WCKL 97.9-FM contemporary Christian, 1.2 (1.5); WVIV 93.5-FM Spanish contemporary, 1.2 (1.0)
28. WMVP 1000-AM sports talk, 1.1 (1.0)
29. (tie) WERV 95.9-FM classic hits, 0.9 (0.7); WMBI 90.1-FM Christian ministry, 0.9 (1.0)
Here are Chicago radio’s top 10 morning shows from 6 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday, as measured by Nielsen Audio:
1. WTMX 101.9-FM Eric Ferguson, Melissa McGurren and Brian “Whip” Paruch
2. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Felicia Middlebrooks and Pat Cassidy
3. WDRV 97.1-FM Brian Sherman and Steve Tingle
4. WOJO 105.1-FM Raúl Molinar, Carla Medrano and Andrés Maldonado
5. WVAZ 102.7-FM Steve Harvey
6. (tie) WBEZ 91.5-FM “Morning Edition” and “Morning Shift” with Jennifer White; WGN 720-AM Steve Cochran
8. WSCR 670-AM Mike Mulligan and David Haugh
9. WLS 94.7-FM Dave Fogel and Kim Berk
10 WLEY 107.9-FM Alberto “El Terrible” Cortez
Here are Chicago radio’s top 10 midday shows from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, as measured by Nielsen Audio:
1. WDRV 97.1-FM Bob Stroud
2. WLS 94.7-FM Greg Brown
3. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Cisco Cotto and Kris Kridel
4. WTMX 101.9-FM Lisa Allen
5. WOJO 105.1-FM Rafael “El Primo Rafa” Bautista
6. WVAZ 102.7-FM Bioncé Foxx
7. WLIT 93.9-FM Robin Rock
8. WXRT 93.1-FM Terri Hemmert; Marty Lennartz
9. WSHE 100.3-FM Lisa Kosty
10. (tie) WBMX 104.3-FM Diana Steele; WGN 720-AM Bill Leff and Wendy Snyder; John Williams
Here are Chicago radio’s top 10 afternoon shows from 3 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, as measured by Nielsen Audio:
1. WVAZ 102.7-FM Joe Soto
2. (tie) WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Kris Kridel, Keith Johnson and Lisa Fielding; WTMX 101.9-FM Kevin “Koz” Koske and Jennifer Roberts
4. (tie) WDRV 97.1-FM Steve Seaver and Janda Lane; WOJO 105.1-FM Sylvia del Valle, Jose Gutierrez and Carlos Ivan Paez
6. WLS 94.7-FM Ron Parker
7. WLIT 93.9-FM Mick Lee
8. WBMX 104.3-FM Sean “Sonic” Leckie
9. WBEZ 91.5-FM “All Things Considered” and “Marketplace”
10. (tie) WGCI 107.5-FM Tone Kapone; WKSC 103.5-FM Brady Broski
Here are Chicago radio’s top 10 evening shows from 7 p.m. to midnight Monday through Friday, as measured by Nielsen Audio:
1. WVAZ 102.7-FM Chris Michaels
2. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Mariam Sobh; Bob Conway
3. WBMX 104.3-FM Julian Jumpin’ Perez
4. WGCI 107.5-FM DJ MoonDawg (Michael Muniz)
5. (tie) WSCR 670-AM Laurence Holmes; Julie DiCaro; WSHE 100.3-FM Brian Middleton
7. WLS 94.7-FM Brian Peck
8. WTMX 101.9-FM Chris Reese
9. WLIT 93.9-FM Delilah Rene
10. WBBM 96.3-FM Julia Lepidi
(Copyright © 2019 The Nielsen Company.)
Monday's comment of the day: Stephanie Zimmermann: So happy to see Dave Roeder coming back to cover business and labor at the Sun-Times! Dave is intelligent, ethical and one of the nicest guys around.