Melissa McGurren, Eric Ferguson and Brian “Whip” Paruch
Once again led by "Eric in the Morning with Melissa & Whip," WTMX 101.9-FM held onto the top spot in Chicago's radio ratings for a second straight month.
The Hubbard Radio hot adult-contemporary station finished first in the overall rankings as well as in mornings (with Eric Ferguson, Melissa McGurren and Brian “Whip” Paruch), middays (with Lisa Allen) and afternoons (with Kevin “Koz” Koske and Jennifer Roberts), according to Nielsen Audio figures released Monday.
Cubs baseball broadcasts boosted Entercom sports/talk WSCR 670-AM, which won in evenings (also featuring Joe Ostrowski and Julie DiCaro) and scored top 10 spots in mornings, middays and afternoons.
On the other hand, White Sox baseball broadcasts struck out for Tribune Broadcasting news/talk WGN 720-AM, which posted historically low numbers in adult demographics. Mornings with Steve Cochran held up in seventh place, but afternoons with Roe Conn and Anna Davlantes fell to a tie for 20th place.
Christopher “Fred” Frederick and Angi Taylor
The biggest uptick in mornings was at iHeartMedia Top 40 WKSC 103.5-FM where Christopher “Fred” Frederick and Angi Taylor jumped from a tie for 11th to fourth place with a 35 percent increase in share since April. That coincided with a drop from 16th to a tie for 20th and a 30 decrease in share for mornings on Entercom Top 40 WBBM 96.3-FM, hosted by Gabe Ramirez and Nina Hajian.
Another impressive gain was at Cumulus Media classic hits WLS 94.7-FM, where Brian Peck moved up from 12th to fourth in evenings, marked by a 70 percent share increase.
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 April 25 to May 22, followed by format and average quarter-hour share of listeners age 6 and older (with previous month’s share in parentheses):
1. WTMX 101.9-FM hot adult contemporary, 5.6 (5.9)
2. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM all news, 5.3 (5.3)
3. WVAZ 102.7-FM urban adult contemporary, 5.2 (5.6)
4. WDRV 97.1-FM classic rock, 4.7 (5.4)
5. WLS 94.7-FM classic hits, 4.5 (3.9)
6. WSCR 670-AM sports talk, 4.2 (3.7)
7. WLIT 93.9-FM adult contemporary, 3.9 (3.9)
8. WXRT 93.1-FM adult album alternative, 3.7 (3.3)
9. WKSC 103.5-FM Top 40, 3.6 (3.2)
10. WBMX 104.3-FM classic hip hop, 3.5 (3.3)
11. WOJO 105.1-FM Mexican regional, 3.1 (3.9)
12. (tie) WUSN 99.5-FM country, 3.0 (2.7); WKQX 101.1-FM alternative rock, 3.0 (2.8)
14. (tie) WGN 720-AM news talk, 2.9 (2.9); WRME 87.7-FM soft rock oldies, 2.9 (2.5)
16. (tie) WBEZ 91.5-FM public radio news talk, 2.8 (2.8); WSHE 100.3-FM adult contemporary, 2.8 (3.3)
18. (tie) WBBM 96.3-FM Top 40, 2.7 (3.1); WGCI 107.5-FM urban contemporary,2.7 (2.8)
20. WPPN 106.7-FM Spanish adult contemporary, 1.8 (1.9)
21. WLEY 107.9-FM Mexican regional, 1.9 (2.2)
22. (tie) WEBG 95.5-FM country, 1.8 (1.7); WLS 890-AM news talk, 1.8 (1.8); WPWX 92.3-FM urban contemporary, 1.8 (1.8)
25. WVIV 93.5-FM Spanish contemporary, 1.6 (1.2)
26. WERV 95.9-FM classic hits, 1.5 (1.1)
27. WMVP 1000-AM sports talk, 1.4 (1.3)
28. WFMT 98.7-FM classical, 1.1 (1.2)
29. WCKL 97.9-FM contemporary Christian, 1.0 (1.2)
30. 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. (tie) WSCR 670-AM Mike Mulligan and David Haugh; WKSC 103.5-FM Christopher “Fred” Frederick and Angi Taylor
6. WOJO 105.1-FM Raúl Molinar, Carla Medrano and Andrés Maldonado
7. WGN 720-AM Steve Cochran
8. (tie) WBEZ 91.5-FM “Morning Edition” and “Morning Shift” with Jennifer White; WVAZ 102.7-FM Steve Harvey
10. WLS 94.7-FM Dave Fogel and Kim Berk
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. WTMX 101.9-FM Lisa Allen
2. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Cisco Cotto and Kris Kridel
3. (tie) WDRV 97.1-FM Bob Stroud; WLS 94.7-FM Greg Brown
5. (tie) WXRT 93.1-FM Terri Hemmert; Marty Lennartz; WVAZ 102.7-FM Bioncé Foxx
7. WLIT 93.9-FM Robin Rock
8. WOJO 105.1-FM Rafael “El Primo Rafa” Bautista
9. (tie) WSCR 670-AM Dan Bernstein and Connor McKnight; Laurence Holmes; WRME 87.7-FM
Here are Chicago radio’s top 10 afternoon shows from 3 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, as measured by Nielsen Audio:
1. WTMX 101.9-FM Kevin “Koz” Koske and Jennifer Roberts
2. WVAZ 102.7-FM Joe Soto
3. WDRV 97.1-FM Steve Seaver and Janda Lane
4. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Keith Johnson and Lisa Fielding
5. (tie) WLIT 93.9-FM Mick Lee; WLS 94.7-FM Ron Parker
7. WKSC 103.5-FM Brady Broski
8. WBMX 104.3-FM Sean “Sonic” Leckie
9. WSCR 670-AM Dan McNeil and Danny Parkins; Cubs baseball
10. WXRT 93.1-FM Richard Milne
Here are Chicago radio’s top 10 evening shows from 7 p.m. to midnight Monday through Friday, as measured by Nielsen Audio:
1. WSCR 670-AM Joe Ostrowski; Julie DiCaro; Cubs baseball
2. WVAZ 102.7-FM Chris Michaels
3. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Mariam Sobh; Bob Conway
4. WLS 94.7-FM Brian Peck
5. WLIT 93.9-FM Delilah Rene
6. WBMX 104.3-FM Julian Jumpin’ Perez
7. WKSC 103.5-FM Erik Zachary
8. (tie) WGCI 107.5-FM DJ MoonDawg (Michael Muniz); WTMX 101.9-FM Nikki Imbracsio
10. WBBM 96.3-FM Julia Lepidi
(Copyright © 2019 The Nielsen Company.)
Monday's comment of the day: Dick Johnson: Derrick [Blakley] has always been a gracious, respectful, friendly competitor in the race for a story. He has indeed had a helluva ride and now deserves only the best as he steps aside.