The Drive 97.1
Talk about going out on top.
In the run-up to his announced retirement from WDRV 97.1-FM, legendary midday personality Bob Stroud led the Hubbard Radio classic rock station to No. 1 in Chicago radio ratings released Monday.
Nielsen Audio figures for May showed The Drive in first place overall, first in middays with Stroud, and first in afternoons with Steve Seaver and Janda Lane.
Bob Stroud
Stroud, whose last day of full-time employment after 21 years on The Drive will be June 30, learned Monday that he's on the ballot again this year for the Radio Hall of Fame. (More on this year's nominees in Tuesday's post.)
“It is most gratifying to see the commitment and hard work from everyone at The Drive reflected in the ratings," said Jeff England, vice president and market manager of Hubbard Radio Chicago. "This is a nice welcome to Chicago for Keith Hastings, our new director of brand and content, and certainly adds even more weight to Bob Stroud’s just-announced nomination to the Radio Hall of Fame.
"Of course none of this is possible without the loyalty and support of our listeners in 'Driver Nation.' Thank you from Chicago’s Classic Rock - The Drive," he said.
Leading the market in mornings was Chicago Public Media news/talk WBEZ 91.5-FM, with NPR's “Morning Edition” and “BBC Newshour” and local news cut-ins anchored by Mary Dixon. The Drive's Brian Sherman and Steve Tingle finished second in mornings.
Nights were topped by iHeartMedia R&B WVAZ 102.7-FM, with syndicated host Keith Sweat.
Univision Spanish-language regional Mexican WOJO 105.1-FM dominated the ratings among listeners between 25 and 54 — the demographic most sought by advertisers. Que Buena 105.1 not only finished first in the key adult demo overall but also led in mornings with Raúl Molinar, Carla Medrano and Andrés Maldonado, middays with Rafael “El Primo Rafa” Bautista, and afternoons with Sylvia del Valle.
Hispanic listeners comprise 21.5 percent of the Chicago radio market and Black listeners comprise 16.6 percent of the market, according to Nielsen.
Here are Chicago’s top 30 radio stations from 6 a.m. to midnight Monday through Sunday, as measured by Nielsen Audio from April 28 to May 25, followed by format and average quarter-hour share of listeners age 6 and older (with previous month’s share in parentheses):
1. WDRV 97.1-FM classic rock, 6.0 (5.7)
2. WVAZ 102.7-FM R&B, 5.4 (6.0)
3. WLIT 93.9-FM adult contemporary, 5.3 (5.1)
4. WBEZ 91.5-FM public radio news talk, 4.8 (4.8)
5. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM all news, 4.7 (4.6)
6. WOJO 105.1-FM Mexican regional, 4.5 (3.6)
7. WLS 94.7-FM classic hits, 3.9 (3.2)
8. WUSN 99.5-FM country, 3.7 (3.1)
9. (tie) WXRT 93.1-FM adult album alternative, 3.2 (3.7); WTMX 101.9-FM hot adult contemporary, 3.2 (3.8)
11. (tie) WGN 720-AM news talk, 3.0 (3.1); WKSC 103.5-FM Top 40, 3.0 (2.7)
13. WRME 87.7-FM soft rock oldies, 2.9 (3.3)
14. WCHI 95.5-FM rock, 2.8 (2.7)
15. (tie) WPPN 106.7-FM Spanish adult contemporary, 2.5 (2.9); WSHE 100.3-FM adult contemporary, 2.5 (2.4)
17. WBBM 96.3-FM Top 40, 2.4 (2.1)
18. WFMT 98.7-FM classical, 2.3 (2.6)
19. (tie) WBMX 104.3-FM classic hip-hop, 2.2 (2.3); WGCI 107.5-FM hip-hop, 2.2 (2.3); WLEY 107.9-FM Mexican regional, 2.2 (2.3)
22. WKQX 101.1-FM alternative rock, 2.1 (2.0)
23. (tie) WSCR 670-AM sports talk, 1.9 (2.0); WPWX 92.3-FM hip-hop, 1.9 (1.3)
25. WMVP 1000-AM sports talk, 1.5 (1.5)
26. WCKL 97.9-FM contemporary Christian music, 1.2 (1.2)
27. (tie) WLS 890-AM news talk, 1.0 (1.1); WSRB 106.3-FM R&B, 0.9 (0.8)
29. WXLC 102.3-FM hot adult contemporary, 0.9 (0.8)
30. WDCB 90.9-FM public radio jazz, 0.8 (0.8)
Here are Chicago radio’s top 10 morning shows from 6 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday, as measured by Nielsen:
1. WBEZ 91.5-FM “Morning Edition”; “BBC Newshour”
2. WDRV 97.1-FM Brian Sherman and Steve Tingle
3. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Cisco Cotto and Mai Martinez
4. WOJO 105.1-FM Raúl Molinar, Carla Medrano and Andrés Maldonado
5. WVAZ 102.7-FM Steve Harvey
6. (tie) WKSC 103.5-FM Christopher “Fred” Frederick; WTMX 101.9-FM Chris Petlak, Nikki Chuminatto, Brian Paruch and Violeta Podrumedic
8. WLIT 93.9-FM Melissa Forman
9. WGN 720-AM Bob Sirott
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:
1. WDRV 97.1-FM Bob Stroud
2. WLIT 93.9-FM Robin Rock
3. WVAZ 102.7-FM Bioncé Foxx
4. WBEZ 91.5-FM “1A”; “Reset”; “Here and Now”
5. WOJO 105.1-FM Rafael “El Primo Rafa” Bautista
6. (tie) WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Rob Hart; WLS 94.7-FM Erin Carman; WRME 87.7-FM
9. WUSN 99.5-FM Drew Walker; Katie Neal
10. WGN 720-AM John Williams
Here are Chicago radio’s top 10 afternoon shows from 3 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, as measured by Nielsen:
1. WDRV 97.1-FM Steve Seaver and Janda Lane
2. WLIT 93.9-FM Mick Lee
3. WVAZ 102.7-FM Joe Soto
4. (tie) WUSN 99.5-FM Scotty Kay; WOJO 105.1-FM Sylvia del Valle
6. (tie) WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Keith Johnson and Lisa Fielding; WBEZ 91.5-FM “All Things Considered”; “Marketplace”
8. WLS 94.7-FM Tim Virgin
9. WTMX 101.9-FM Casey McCabe and Jenny Valliere
10. 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:
1. WVAZ 102.7-FM Keith Sweat
2. WLIT 93.9-FM Delilah Rene
3. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Bob Conway; Andy Dahn
4. WFMT 98.7-FM Kerry Frumkin
5. WDRV 97.1-FM John “Byrd” Kempf
6. WUSN 99.5-FM Rob Stone and Holly Hutton
7. (tie) WBMX 104.3-FM; WGCI 107.5-FM Zach Boog
9. WOJO 105.1-FM Jesus "Chuy" Gonzalez
10. WLS 94.7-FM Kid Kelly
(Copyright © 2022 The Nielsen Company.)