CR&M Provides Look Into Chicago Ratings

Lars at Chicago Radio and Media again provides an excellent breakdown of Arbitron Ratings in Chicago. The Arbitron ratings for the Chicago radio market for the January period -- which covers the dates of 01/03/13-01/30/13 -- were released on Monday.

Persons ages 25-54...

In the overall numbers (Monday-Sunday 6:00am-Midnight), WTMX-FM jumps back into first place jumping up 1.6 share in four weeks time to a 6.2 share -- the station's highest share since 2011. Second place goes to WVAZ-FM, who improves .2 share to a 5.7 average. Third place is a two-way tie between WOJO-FM and WUSN-FM, each with a 4.2 share. For WOJO-FM, that represents a .4 drop, as fans seemed to have moved over to rival WNUA-FM. For WUSN-FM, it is a .9 share increase from the month before. WDRV-FM/97.1 The Drive drives back up to pre-holiday shape with a .6 increase in share to a 4.1 and moves back to fifth place.

CR&M notes increases for the January ratings period include WNUA-FM, which is now up to #7 and a 3.9 share. This marks the highest ratings the station has seen in this demographic since flipping to a Spanish-language format almost four years ago. WSCR-AM gains more strength moving up to a tie at #8 and a 3.7 share. WXRT-FM gains .6 and is back up to a 3.3 share, now ranked at #13.

Of course, the biggest decrease in ratings and share belongs to WLIT-FM. The post-holiday blues for the station has it dropping from its year-high of a 10.3 share and a #1 ranking to only a 2.9 share and a ranking of #14.

WTMX Morning Show

For the Morning Drive time of 6:00am-10:00am, the perennial winner is of course, WTMX-FM, whose "Eric & Kathy Morning Show" remains a ratings juggernaut, coming in at an 8.5 share. WBBM-AM comes in second place with 5.1 share. WDRV-FM is #3 with a 4.6 share. WNUA-FM is at #4 with a 4.3 share. WSCR-AM moves up to #5 with a 4.1 share. Worth noting is WUSN-FM's morning surge. The US99.5 morning show with Lisa Dent and Ramblin' Ray went from a 2.9 share last month to a 4.0 share this month, good enough for a #6 ranking. As usual, WTMX-FM was #1 in mornings with Women 25-54, while WSCR-AM was #1 with Men 25-54.

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Tom's Take: WLS-FM has dropped to a tie at #16 with a 2.6 share 6+. The Classic Hits station has a 4.1 share at this time last year. WLS-FM needs to un-muzzle legendary talent.