KOST 103.5 in Los Angeles proves once again that playing Christmas music exclusively is very lucrative. The radio station has almost doubled its market share in a month. Sister Station 106.7 Lite FM (WLTW) in New York City also made significant progress. This is clear from Nielsen Audio’s December figures. The report covers the period from November 11 to December 8. The U.S. has thirteen measurements per year. The last measurement of the year is called the ‘holiday’ period.
KOST 103.5 made full use of this measurement period because the station had already switched to non-stop Christmas music on November 12 at 09:00. As a result, market share almost doubled. From 6% on the November scale, to 11.6% now. This is even better than the station reaching 10.7% market share last year. Weekly Reach has grown to over 3.05 million with over 600,000 listeners. This is immediately good for most Los Angeles listeners and high market share.
K-Earth 101 – Second place for KRTH (Classic Hits) for the fourth time in a row. The market share was down 0.6% to 4.9%. 104.3 My FM – KBIG (POP) is in third place, but its market share has risen to 4.5%. In fourth place was 94.7 The Wave – KTWV (Urban Pop) with 4.0%, while 102.7 KIIS FM (Hits) completed the top 5 with 3.8% and finally returned to the top five. However, KIIS wants to share this space with the Spanish-speaking 107.5 K-Love (KLVE). KOST is now at the forefront with all the major target groups.
New York City
Light FM in New York City switched to Christmas music during the second measurement week. It turned out to be Friday, November 19, at 5:00 p.m. As a result, the market share increased by almost 3% to 9.7%. More than 4 million listeners per week increased by almost 19%. Second place went to WBLS 107.5 (Urban Pop) with 5.8% market share (-0.7%), followed by Spanish Mega 97.9 (WSKQ) with 5.1%. (W) CBS hit FM 101.1 (Classic Hits) and reduced its market share by 1% to 4.5%.
Q104.3 – WAXQ (Classic Rock) is in fifth place with 4.2%. Z100 – WHTZ (wins) missing from the top 5 again. Hot 97 – WQHT (hip-hop) has had a low market share of 2.2% on this frequency since its inception in 1988, according to Guru Chris Huff. Thanks to Christmas music, Light is now at the forefront of all major target groups.
From beach to beach
Elsewhere in the United States, however, radio stations featuring Christmas music also saw their market share increase. After gaining a lead of 93.9 Lite FM (WLIT) in Chicago in the previous session, the market share has doubled to 11.8% this time. In San Francisco, the market share increased from 96.5 KOIT to 7.9%, which is good for second place. In San Jose, KOIT also gained 9.7% and took the lead.
In Dallas, Star 102.1 (KDGE) doubled its holdings to 8.8%, which is good for gold. In Houston, the Sunny 99.1 (KODA) performed well, leading the market with 10.8%. In Philadelphia, B101 (WBEB) did good business and now ranks first with 10.1% (+ 5.3%). Washington DC is now the domain of 97.1 WASH FM with 11.3% (+ 4.1%). The biggest jump was made at 100.3 WNIC in Detroit. Christmas music boosted market share from 9.8% to 16.8% over a period of time. (RadioWereld.nl)
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