WRIT keeps lead in radio ratings race

Despite switching to all Christmas music midway through the month, WRIT-FM (95.7) backslid a bit in the latest radio ratings scorecard.

The classic-hits station was still No. 1 among overall listeners in what ratings outfit Nielsen Audio calls “December.” According to numbers posted Thursday by radio industry newsletter Tom Taylor Now, WRIT had a 9.1 rating in the period from Nov. 3-30. That was down from a 9.6 rating the month before, even though the station went all-yule-all-the-time, traditionally an audience booster, on Nov. 17.

WLDB-FM (93.3), which beat WRIT to the Christmas punch by four hours, posted a 4.5 rating during the period, up slightly from the 4.3 it posted the month before and good enough for 10th place overall.

Urban music WKKV-FM (100.7) and classic-rock WKLH-FM (96.5) tied for second among overall listeners with a 6.3 rating. That was down from a 6.6 rating for WKKV, but up from a 5.8 for WKLH.

Hot adult-contemporary WMYX-FM (99.1) and news-talksports WTMJ-AM (620) tied for fourth with a 6.1 rating — up from a 5.9 rating for WMYX and up from 6.0 for WTMJ.

Rounding out the top 10 among overall listeners: WISN-AM (1130), 5.5, up from 5.2; WXSS-FM (103.7), 5.5, unchanged; WHQGFM (102.9), 5.2, down from 6.0; WMIL-FM (106.1), 5.1, down from 5.6; and WLDB.

Thursday’s ratings numbers were released amid concerns about Nielsen’s data gathering, which in some markets was seen to give a boost to stations that switched to Christmas music later in the month.