Joe Soto
WVAZ 102.7-FM, the iHeartMedia R&B powerhouse, recaptured the top spot in the latest Chicago radio ratings, snapping a seven-month winning streak for Entercom all-news combo WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM.
V103 also finished first across the board — including mornings with the syndicated Steve Harvey, middays with Bioncé Foxx, afternoons with Joe Soto, and evenings with the syndicated Keith Sweat.
Nielsen Audio ratings released Tuesday showed WBBM Newsradio dropping to second place. The latest survey period, which ran from August 13 to September 9, concluded before the start of Chicago Bears football broadcasts.
Tied for third were a resurgent WXRT 93.1-FM, the Entercom adult album alternative station, and WLIT 93.9-FM, the iHeartMedia adult contemporary station.
Chicago Cubs baseball helped lift Entercom sports/talk WSCR 670-AM back into the top 10, while rival Good Karma Brands ESPN sports/talk WMVP 1000-AM remained far behind.
But Chicago White Sox baseball was not enough to keep Nexstar Media Group news/talk WGN 720-AM from falling out of the top 10. Roe Conn ended his nearly six-year run in afternoons tied for 20th place.
While it's too soon to assess the full impact of iHeartMedia's transformation of country WEBG 95.5-FM to "Rock 95 Five" on September 3, Entercom country WUSN 99.5-FM appeared to benefit in the final week of the survey.
One notable gainer was Newsweb Radio progressive talk WCPT 820-AM, which increased by one full share point and jumped from a tie for 33rd to 25th.
Here are Chicago’s top 30 radio stations from 6 a.m. to midnight Monday through Sunday, as measured by Nielsen Audio from August 13 to September 9, followed by format and average quarter-hour share of listeners age 6 and older (with previous month’s share in parentheses):
1. WVAZ 102.7-FM R&B, 8.6 (6.0)
2. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM all news, 6.4 (7.3)
3. (tie) WXRT 93.1-FM adult album alternative, 4.7 (4.9); WLIT 93.9-FM adult contemporary, 4.7 (5.7)
5. WDRV 97.1-FM classic rock, 4.5 (4.7)
6. WLS 94.7-FM classic hits, 4.4 (4.4)
7. WTMX 101.9-FM hot adult contemporary, 4.2 (5.5)
8. WOJO 105.1-FM Mexican regional, 3.8 (3.7)
9. (tie) WSCR 670-AM sports talk, 3.2 (2.5); WBEZ 91.5-FM public radio news talk, 3.2 (3.4)
11. (tie) WGN 720-AM news talk, 3.1 (3.6); WKSC 103.5-FM Top 40, 3.1 (3.5)
13. (tie) WBMX 104.3-FM classic hip hop, 2.8 (2.6); WRME 87.7-FM soft rock oldies, 2.8 (2.8); WSHE 100.3-FM adult contemporary, 2.8 (2.7)
16. WBBM 96.3-FM Top 40, 2.7 (2.7)
17. WPPN 106.7-FM Spanish adult contemporary, 2.6 (2.7)
18. WGCI 107.5-FM hip-hop, 2.5 (2.4)
19. WUSN 99.5-FM country, 2.3 (2.3)
20. (tie) WKQX 101.1-FM alternative rock, 2.2 (2.5); WLEY 107.9-FM Mexican regional, 2.2 (1.9)
22. WLS 890-AM news talk, 2.1 (1.9)
23. WEBG 95.5-FM country, 1.8 (2.1)
24. WPWX 92.3-FM hip-hop, 1.5 (1.5)
25. WCPT 820-AM progressive talk 1.3 (0.3)
26. WVIV 93.5-FM Spanish contemporary, 1.2 (1.2)
27. (tie) WFMT 98.7-FM classical 0.9 (0.9); WMVP 1000-AM sports talk, 0.9 (1.0)
29. (tie) WCKL 97.9-FM contemporary Christian music, 0.7 (0.8); WSRB 106.3-FM R&B, 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. WVAZ 102.7-FM Steve Harvey
2. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Pat Cassidy
3. WTMX 101.9-FM Eric Ferguson, Melissa McGurren and Brian “Whip” Paruch
4. WDRV 97.1-FM Brian Sherman and Steve Tingle
5. WLIT 93.9-FM Melissa Forman
6. WBEZ 91.5-FM “Morning Edition”; “BBC Newshour”
7. WLS 94.7-FM Dave Fogel and Kim Berk
8. WOJO 105.1-FM Raúl Molinar, Carla Medrano and Andrés Maldonado
9. WXRT 93.1-FM Richard Milne
10. WGN 720-AM Bob Sirott
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. WVAZ 102.7-FM Bioncé Foxx
2. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Cisco Cotto
3. WDRV 97.1-FM Bob Stroud
4. WLIT 93.9-FM Robin Rock
5. WXRT 93.1-FM Lin Brehmer
6. WLS 94.7-FM Greg Brown
7. WTMX 101.9-FM Nikki Chuminatto
8. WLS 890-AM Chris Plante; Rush Limbaugh
9. WOJO 105.1-FM Rafael “El Primo Rafa” Bautista
10. WGN 720-AM John Williams; Anna Davlantes
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. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Keith Johnson and Lisa Fielding
3. (tie) WXRT 93.1-FM Marty Lennartz; WLIT 93.9-FM Mick Lee
5. WTMX 101.9-FM Chris Petlak and Lisa Allen
6. WLS 94.7-FM Erin Carman
7. WDRV 97.1-FM Steve Seaver and Janda Lane
8. WOJO 105.1-FM Sylvia del Valle
9. WKSC 103.5-FM Brady Broski
10. (tie) WBBM 96.3-FM Julia Lepidi; WBEZ 91.5-FM “All Things Considered”; “Marketplace”
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 Keith Sweat
2. WSCR 670-AM Joe Ostrowski; Cubs baseball
3. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Bob Conway; Andy Dahn
4. WLIT 93.9-FM Delilah Rene
5. WXRT 93.1-FM Ryan Arnold
6. WBBM 96.3-FM Julia Lepidi
7. WLS 94.7-FM
8. WOJO 105.1-FM Jesus "Chuy" Gonzalez
9. WGN 720-AM various hosts, White Sox baseball
10. WGCI 107.5-FM Zach Boog
(Copyright © 2020 The Nielsen Company.)