Chicago radio ratings: 101.9 The Mix takes back the crown

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Melissa McGurren, Eric Ferguson and Brian "Whip" Paruch

After falling to a tie for sixth place one month ago, WTMX 101.9-FM jumped back to the top spot in the Chicago radio survey released Monday.

The Hubbard Radio hot adult-contemporary station known as 101.9 The Mix also finished first in mornings with Eric Ferguson, Melissa McGurren and Brian “Whip” Paruch, and afternoons with Kevin “Koz” Koske and Jennifer Roberts, according to the latest Nielsen Audio report.

Surprise runner-up in mornings was the duo of Mike Mulligan and David Haugh on Entercom sports/talk WSCR 670-AM, followed by news anchors Felicia Middlebrooks and Pat Cassidy on Entercom all-news WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM.

Tying for first place in middays were Bob Stroud of Hubbard Radio classic rock WDRV 97.1-FM and Greg Brown of Cumulus Media classic hits WLS 94.7-FM. Topping evenings was Chris Michaels of iHeartMedia urban adult-contemporary WVAZ 102.7-FM.

Among big gainers was Hubbard Radio adult contemporary WSHE 100.3-FM, which picked up a half-share point to land in the top 10 overall and in mornings with syndicated hosts Brooke Fox and Jubal Flagg, middays with Lisa Kosty, and afternoons with Jay Styles.

Audience shares also rose for all three news/talk stations — Nexstar Media WGN 720-AM, Chicago Public Media WBEZ 91.5-FM and Cumulus Media WLS 890-AM.

Formats experiencing notable declines included country with Entercom WUSN 99.5-FM and iHeartMedia WEBG 95.5-FM, and Top 40 with iHeartMedia WKSC 103.5-FM and Entercom WBBM 96.3-FM. All four were down month-to-month.

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 September 12 to October 9, 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, 5.5 (4.2)
2. WVAZ 102.7-FM urban adult contemporary, 5.4 (5.7)
3. WDRV 97.1-FM classic rock, 5.2 (5.4)
4. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM all news, 4.9 (4.8)
5. WLS 94.7-FM classic hits, 4.8 (4.9)
6. (tie) WSCR 670-AM sports talk, 4.3 (4.3); WLIT 93.9-FM adult contemporary, 4.3 (4.2)
8. WXRT 93.1-FM adult album alternative, 3.8 (3.5)
9. WGN 720-AM news talk, 3.5 (3.2)
10. (tie) WRME 87.7-FM soft rock oldies, 3.4 (3.3); WSHE 100.3-FM adult contemporary, 3.4 (2.9)
12. WBEZ 91.5-FM public radio news talk, 3.3 (2.9)
13. WKQX 101.1-FM alternative rock, 3.1 (3.4)
14. (tie) WBMX 104.3-FM classic hip hop, 3.0 (3.2); WKSC 103.5-FM Top 40, 3.0 (3.5)
16. WOJO 105.1-FM Mexican regional, 2.9 (3.0)
17. WBBM 96.3-FM Top 40, 2.8 (2.9)
18. WGCI 107.5-FM urban contemporary, 2.4 (2.5)
19. WLS 890-AM news talk, 2.3 (1.7)
20. WUSN 99.5-FM country, 2.0 (2.7)
21. (tie) WLEY 107.9-FM Mexican regional, 1.8 (2.1); WMVP 1000-AM sports talk, 1.8 (1.6); WPPN 106.7-FM Spanish adult contemporary, 1.8 (1.7)
24. WVIV 93.5-FM Spanish contemporary, 1.4 (1.4)
25. WEBG 95.5-FM country, 1.3 (1.5)
26. WSSR 96.7-FM adult contemporary, 1.1 (1.0)
27. (tie) WCKL 97.9-FM contemporary Christian, 1.0 (1.1); WERV 95.9-FM classic hits, 1.0 (1.0); WMBI 90.1-FM Christian ministry, 1.0 (0.8)
30. (tie) WFMT 98.7-FM classical, 0.7 (0.8); WZSR 105.5-FM hot adult contemporary 0.7 (0.7)

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. WSCR 670-AM Mike Mulligan and David Haugh
3. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Felicia Middlebrooks and Pat Cassidy
4. WDRV 97.1-FM Brian Sherman and Steve Tingle
5. WVAZ 102.7-FM Steve Harvey
6. WGN 720-AM Steve Cochran
7. WLS 94.7-FM Dave Fogel and Kim Berk
8. WBEZ 91.5-FM “Morning Edition” and “Morning Shift” with Jennifer White
9. WSHE 100.3-FM Brooke Fox and Jubal Fresh
10. WKSC 103.5-FM Christopher “Fred” Frederick and Angi Taylor

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. (tie) WDRV 97.1-FM Bob Stroud; WLS 94.7-FM Greg Brown
3. WTMX 101.9-FM Lisa Allen
4. WVAZ 102.7-FM Bioncé Foxx
5. WLIT 93.9-FM Robin Rock
6. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Cisco Cotto and Rob Hart
7. WXRT 93.1-FM Richard Milne
8. WRME 87.7-FM
9. WLS 890-AM Chris Plante; Rush Limbaugh
10. (tie) WSCR 670-AM Dan Bernstein and Connor McKnight; Laurence Holmes; WSHE 100.3-FM Lisa Kosty

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. WDRV 97.1-FM Steve Seaver and Janda Lane
3. WVAZ 102.7-FM Joe Soto
4. (tie) WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Keith Johnson and Lisa Fielding; WLIT 93.9-FM Mick Lee; WLS 94.7-FM Ron Parker; Erin Carman
7. WXRT 93.1-FM Marty Lennartz
8. WSCR 670-AM Dan McNeil and Danny Parkins; Cubs baseball
9. WSHE 100.3-FM Jay Styles
10. (tie) WKQX 101.1-FM Tim Virgin; WRME 87.7-FM

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. WSCR 670-AM Joe Ostrowski; Julie DiCaro; Cubs baseball
3. WLIT 93.9-FM Delilah Rene
4. WTMX 101.1-FM Chris Petlak
5. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Mariam Sobh; Bob Conway
6. WLS 94.7-FM Brian Peck
7. WBEZ 91.5-FM "Marketplace," "The Daily," "Fresh Air with Terry Gross," "BBC Newsday," "1A," "BBC World Service"
8. WRME 87.7-FM
9. (tie) WDRV 97.1-FM Phil Manicki; WGCI 107.5-FM DJ MoonDawg (Michael Muniz)

(Copyright © 2019 The Nielsen Company.)