Halfway Into 2026, AC, News/Talk Still Top PPM Formats. | Story

At the top of the rankings of Nielsen’s most-listened-to radio formats during the first half of 2026 — based on Inside Radio’s analysis of average-quarter-hour share data in PPM markets, covering Monday-Sunday 6am-midnight — news/talk remains a comfortable first place among persons 6+, while adult contemporary leads among 18-34 and 25-54. While AC ranks second 6+, with news/talk the runner-up for 25-54s, the latter format comes in tenth for 18-34s.

The key question: how is each format trending? For all three demos, AC is basically flat, whether the comparison is year-over-year or from January-to-June 2026. While news/talk’s trend varies by demographic, the format isn’t growing in any of the three. For 6+, it’s down year-over-year 6+ (10.5-10.1) with a more dramatic decline Jan.-June (10.6-9.7), while 25-54 shows a similar but less significant trend either way (6.5-6.2 year-over-year, 6.3-6.0 year-to-date). 18-34 shows year-over-year flat, with year-to-date down 0.4 (4.1-3.7).

Yearly PPM Format Share Trends 6+FormatJan-Jun 22Jan-Jun 23Jan-Jun 24Jan-Jun 25Jan-Jun 26News/Talk11.0%10.0%9.8%10.5%10.1%Adult Contemporary8.0%8.4%8.4%7.4%7.3%Country5.9%6.4%5.9%6.0%5.9%Classic Hits5.9%6.0%5.8%5.7%5.8%Classic Rock5.1%5.5%5.6%5.4%4.9%Urban Adult Contemporary5.1%4.8%5.1%5.2%4.9%CHR5.0%4.9%4.7%4.7%4.6%Hot AC4.5%4.5%4.1%4.4%4.7%Sports4.2%4.4%4.5%4.3%3.8%Contemporary Christian2.9%3.2%3.5%3.8%4.1%Spanish Regional Mexican3.1%3.0%2.9%3.1%3.0%Modern/Alternative Rock2.5%2.5%2.8%2.9%2.9%Urban Contemporary3.0%3.0%2.9%2.8%2.9%Adult Hits2.6%2.7%2.7%2.8%2.8%News2.5%2.4%2.4%2.7%2.7%Spanish Contemporary2.7%2.8%2.6%2.6%2.3%Rhythmic CHR1.8%1.8%1.7%1.9%1.7%Classical1.7%1.6%1.7%1.9%2.1%Spanish Adult Hits1.3%1.2%1.5%1.4%1.3%Rock1.3%1.3%1.3%1.3%1.3%Album Alternative1.1%1.3%1.2%1.3%1.5%Spanish Tropical1.0%0.9%0.9%1.0%0.9%Rhythmic AC1.3%1.3%1.2%0.8%0.9%Talk0.8%0.8%0.9%0.8%0.5%Soft AC0.6%0.6%0.6%0.6%0.6%Mainstream Rock0.8%0.5%0.6%0.6%0.5%Jazz0.6%0.6%0.5%0.6%0.5%Source: Nielsen total week 6+ AQH Shares, PPM Markets

Contemporary Christian still has the best growth story across all demos, with steady year-over-year gains going back to 2022 for both 6+ and 25-54, while 18-34’s share is flat from the first half of 2025. Year-to-date, 6+ and 18-34 are up noticeably, while less so for 25-54.

For 6+ and 25-54, hot AC has a good year-over-year story, up from 4.3-4.7 for the former and 5.3-5.7 for the latter, while flat 18-34 (5.4-5.4) and down year-to-date (5.8-5.1). Both classic hits and modern/alternative rock are generally up in all demos, although not in both measures.

Monthly PPM Format Share Trends 6+FormatJAN26FEB26MAR26APR26MAY26JUN26News/Talk10.6%10.2%10.0%10.1%9.8%9.7%Adult Contemporary7.3%7.2%7.3%7.4%7.4%7.3%Country5.8%5.9%5.8%5.9%6.1%6.1%Classic Hits5.5%5.8%5.8%5.7%5.8%5.9%Classic Rock4.6%4.7%4.9%4.9%5.1%5.1%Urban Adult Contemporary4.9%5.1%5.0%4.9%4.8%4.8%Hot AC4.6%4.6%4.7%4.7%4.7%4.6%CHR4.6%4.6%4.5%4.7%4.6%4.5%Contemporary Christian3.9%4.2%4.1%4.0%4.1%4.2%Sports4.2%3.3%3.5%4.2%3.9%3.9%Modern/Alternative Rock2.8%2.9%2.8%2.9%2.9%2.9%Urban Contemporary2.8%3.0%3.0%2.9%2.9%2.8%Adult Hits2.7%2.9%2.8%2.7%2.8%2.8%Spanish Regional Mexican3.2%3.1%3.1%2.9%2.8%2.7%Spanish Contemporary2.1%1.7%2.4%2.6%2.5%2.5%News2.9%2.9%2.8%2.7%2.5%2.5%Classical2.2%2.1%2.0%2.1%2.1%2.2%Album Alternative1.5%1.4%1.5%1.6%1.5%1.6%Rhythmic CHR1.7%1.8%1.8%1.7%1.7%1.6%Rock1.2%1.2%1.2%1.2%1.3%1.4%Spanish Adult Hits1.4%1.2%1.3%1.3%1.4%1.4%Rhythmic AC0.8%0.8%0.9%0.9%0.9%0.8%Spanish Tropical1.1%0.9%0.9%0.8%0.8%0.8%Soft AC0.5%0.5%0.6%0.6%0.6%0.7%Jazz0.6%0.5%0.5%0.5%0.5%0.5%Mainstream Rock0.4%0.5%0.4%0.5%0.5%0.5%Talk0.6%0.6%0.5%0.5%0.5%0.5%Source: Nielsen total week 6+ AQH Shares, PPM Markets

Only two other formats — classic rock and Spanish regional Mexican – are downtrending in these demos, one way or other. Classic rock’s year-over-year is 5.3-4.9 for 6+, 5.1-4.4 18-34 and 4.8-4.4 25-54. Spanish regional Mexican, meanwhile, has a year-to-date trend of 3.2-2.7 among 6+, 3.7-2.8 18-34 and 4.3-3.6 25-54.