March Radio Ratings For Washington

The following content is provided by Research Director.

If you’re of a certain age, that will likely trigger a jingle in your brain…. You may have heard of some newsworthy events emanating from our nation’s capital. For the fourth straight survey, the top two 6+ stations specialized in spoken word programming and were in double figures.

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY N/T WAMU was #1 (12.3-11.4).

While HUBBARD News WTOP was #2 (11.7-11.3).

iHEARTMEDIA AC WASH was again the leading music station at #3 (6.5-6.7).

While HOWARD UNIVERSITY Urban AC WHUR stood alone at #4 (5.5-5.4).

iHEARTMEDIA Alternative WWDC (DC101) dipped to #5 (5.5-5.3).

Adding to the spoken word fray was CUMULUS N/T WMAL (NEWSTALK 105.9), which stepped up to #6 with its best book in a year (3.9-4.7).

WASH stepped up with the most cume (824,500-955,500) – a 15.9% increase.

The market was up 1.4%. Market PUMM rose 6.2% from FEBRUARY and 12.0% from 2024.

Last month WAMU and WTOP were the 25-54 co-leaders. WAMU remained in place for its third win in a row, while WTOP slipped to #3 as it snapped a five-book surge.

Moving up to #2 was WASH, which experienced a slight decrease.

WWDC repeated at #4, while WHUR was back at #5.

Both stations had slight gains. Market PUMM grew 4.5% from last month and 2.9% from a year ago.

WASH had its best Frosty-free 18-34 share in over a year as it ascended the demo throne. This ended the two-book winning streak for iHEARTMEDIA Pop CHR WIHT (HOT 99.5), which dipped to #2.

There was a threesome at #3. iHEARTMEDIA Country WMZQ and WWDC moved up from #4 and #5, respectively, with down books.

AUDACY Classic Hits WIAD (94.7 THE DRIVE) advanced from #7 with a slight increase.

WTOP dropped three slots to #6.

iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock WBIG (BIG 100) slid to #7.

Market PUMM was up 16.3% from the previous survey and 10.4% from a year ago.

In our last visit, we saw WASH and WTOP tied for the 18-49 lead.

WASH remained in place with a small share loss, while WTOP slipped to #3 with its first down book since OCTOBER.

WAMU stepped up to #2 with a slight decrease.

WWDC and WIHT remained at #4 and #5, respectively.

WBIG moved up to #6 with its best showing in over a year and was dangerously close to cracking the top five.

Market PUMM grew 8.4% on a monthly basis and 9.9% when compared to last year.