With Q3 2026 a wrap in Nielsen\u2019s 20 non-embedded PPM markets reporting on Days 1 and 2, looking at each format\u2019s total wins for the quarter\u2019s three surveys, including September (covering Aug. 20-Sept. 16), adult contemporary stations maintain an edge over news\/talk, with AC\u2019s 14 total wins for the three books vs. news\/talk\u2019s 13.<\/p>\n
How does this line up with the first two quarters of this year? AC racked up 13 wins in Q1 and 16 in Q2, in each case a wider lead over news\/talk, with 11 in both quarters.<\/p>\n
Adding news stations to news\/talk tells a different story. The combined total comes to 17 for Q3, so three wins ahead of AC. During Q1 the total is 19, further ahead of AC, while in Q2 AC still leads the news\/news-talk combo by 16 wins vs. 12.<\/p>\n
For Days 1 and 2 in these 20 markets, the leaderboard shows four wins for news\/talk, three for AC, two each for news, urban AC, sports, soft AC and classic hits, and one each for hot AC, contemporary Christian, rock and classic rock.<\/p>\n
Rankings don\u2019t include stations owned by Cumulus Media, which is in the midst of a re-negotiation of its contract with Nielsen, which expired Dec. 31, 2025.<\/p>\n
Q3 2026 has been all about share growth for American University news\/talk WAMU, with only gains from June to September. WAMU\u2019s current 11.9 share widens its lead over Hubbard all-news WTOP to 2.2 points. Third-ranked Howard University urban AC WHUR has also seen share lifts since June, up steadily for a 20% increase.<\/p>\n
Boston University news\/talk pubcaster WBUR hangs on for a third consecutive survey, its fifth on top in 2026. The station is just 0.3 ahead of iHeartMedia CHR \u201cKiss 108\u201d WXKS-FM, which has been rising since June, with a 25% share gain. Beasley Media Group classic hits WROR and iHeartMedia classic rock WZLX come in third and fourth, while WGBH Educational Foundation classical WCRB makes a rare top five showing at fifth.<\/p>\n
After seven surveys finishing second or third, Cox Media Group soft AC \u201cEasy 93.1\u201d WFEZ reclaims the throne, with just a 0.6 edge on Univision Spanish AC \u201cAmor 107.5\u201d WAMR, up from fourth to second. Former champs iHeartMedia Spanish AC \u201cMagic 93.9\u201d WMIA-FM, Audacy AC \u201c101.5 Lite FM\u201d WLYF, and CMG urban AC \u201cHot 105\u201d WHQT line up at 3-4-5. Where did August\u2019s leader, Audacy classic hits \u201c102.7 The Beach\u201d WMXJ, go? Down to eighth, from a 6.8 share to 3.9.<\/p>\n
News\/talk pubcaster KUOW-FM hasn\u2019t budged from the top two since December 2024, and it\u2019s just notched a ninth consecutive win, staying ahead of Bonneville \u201cSeattle Sports 710\u201d KIRO-AM by 1.6 share points. iHeartMedia classic hits \u201c95.7 The Jet\u201d KJEB places third, followed by Hubbard AC \u201cWarm 106.9\u201d KRWM and Audacy \u201cRock 99.9\u201d KISW, both returning to the top five.<\/p>\n
Hubbard classic rock KSLX, on top for a third straight survey, adds a full share point while just 0.8 ahead of iHeartMedia AC KESZ. iHeartMedia talk and country sisters, KFYI and KNIX, take third and fourth, followed by Hubbard rock KUPD, making its first top five appearance since April 2025.<\/p>\n
Audacy sports \u201c97.1 The Ticket\u201d WXYT-FM makes it nine straight wins, with a 2.7-point lead over country sister WYCD. iHeartMedia urban AC \u201cMix 92.3\u201d WMXD makes a 1.1-share gain, up from fifth to third, while Audacy classic hits WOMC and iHeartMedia AC WNIC rank fourth and fifth.<\/p>\n
iHeartMedia sports \u201cK-Fan\u201d KFXN stays in double-digit land as it nabs a seventh win in the Twin Cities, 2.9 ahead of classic hits sister \u201cKool 108\u201d KQQL. Minnesota Public Radio news\/talk KNOW holds at third, while both Audacy adult hits \u201c104.1 Jack FM\u201d KZJK and contemporary Christian pubcaster KTIS-FM re-enter the top five.<\/p>\n
CMG soft AC \u201c105.5 The Dove\u201d WDUV continues its reign at number-one for an eighth straight survey, keeping its double-digit share. WDUV is 2.6 points ahead of Radio Training Network contemporary Christian \u201cThe Joy FM\u201d WCIE, which since June is up 36%, with a 1.2 share gain just since August. Also up 1.2 from August is iHeartMedia AC \u201cMix 100.7\u201d WMTX, moving from a tie for seventh to third-ranked.<\/p>\n
The last time Bonneville AC KOSI didn\u2019t finish first or second was January of 2025, and currently it\u2019s racked up five consecutive surveys at the top. Moving back into the top five at second is iHeartMedia modern\/alternative rock \u201cChannel 93.3\u201d KTCL, up from seventh with a 1.4-point gain. Just below, Audacy hot AC \u201cAlice 105.9\u201d KALC and Bonneville country sister KYGO tie for third.<\/p>\n
Audacy keeps hold of the top two with classic hits \u201cSunny 98.1\u201d making it six wins in a row, while sports and Padres\u2019 flagship \u201c97.3 The Fan\u201d KWFN moves up to second. News\/talk KPBS and Univision Spanish regional Mexican \u201cQue Buena 106.5\u201d KLNV come in third and fourth.<\/p>\n
Urban One urban AC \u201cMagic 95.9\u201d WWIN-FM has been Baltimore\u2019s only leader in 2026-to-date, now 1.5 share points ahead of Audacy AC \u201cToday’s 101.9\u201d WLIF, which has ranked second since March. Urban One urban contemporary sister \u201c92Q Jams\u201d WERQ moves back into the top three for the first time since January, with news\/talk pubcaster WYPR fourth and Hearst’s \u201c98 Rock\u201d WIYY fifth, returning to the top five for the first time since February.<\/p>\n
After four surveys out of the top spot, iHeartMedia classic hits KLOU moves back in, squeaking (or should that be squealing) ahead of Hubbard heritage rocker KSHE by half a share point. Gateway Creative Broadcasting contemporary Christian \u201c99.1 Joy FM\u201d KLJY moves back into the top five at third, making a 1.2-share-point gain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With Q3 2026 a wrap in Nielsen\u2019s 20 non-embedded PPM markets reporting on Days 1 and 2, looking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,4975,157,111,43,139,69],"class_list":["post-623183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-free","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}