October 2023 PPM Ratings Takeaways – Part Three
October 2023 PPM Data – Information for Nielsen Audio’s October 2023 PPM ratings period (September 14 – October 11) has been released for Portland, Charlotte, San Antonio, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Orlando, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Columbus.
The only requirement for a spoken-word station to be included here is that they be a Nielsen Audio subscriber – there are no share or rank thresholds.
NFL; NBA; and NHL team names of corresponding spoken-word flagship(s) are bolded.
DNA – DNA = Did Not Appear – Does Not Appear
Comparisons are September 2023 – October 2023 (6+).
PORTLAND
News/Talk
KXL 6.7 – 6.9, #3 – #3
KEX 1.4 – 1.7, #22 – #21
KUFO .7 – .7, #26 – #24
KPAM .1 – .1, #33 – #34
News
None
Sports Talk
KFXX 1.5 – 2.0, #21 – #18
KXTG 1.0 – 1.6, #23 – #22
KPOJ .4 – .7, #28 – #24 (Trailblazers)
KFXX Stream .1 – .3, #33 – #28
KMTT .2 – .2, #30 – #31
Public Radio News/Talk
KOPB 6.3 – 5.9, #4 – #4
KOPB Stream 2.0 – 1.6, #18 – #22
CHARLOTTE
News/Talk
WBT-AM 5.2 – 5.3, #5 – #5
News
None
Sports Talk
WFNZ-FM 2.4 – 2.7, #14 – #13 (Hornets)
WSOC-HD3 .1 – .1, #26 – #26
Public Radio News/Talk
WFAE 5.2 – 4.0, #5 – #10
WNSC 1.0 – 1.2, #18 – #18
WFAE-HD3 .3 – DNA, #21 – #DNA
Notes: Public Radio News/Talk WFAE’s -1.2 (5.2 – 4.0) represents Charlotte’s largest September 2023 – October 2023 decrease; classic rock WRFX is the flagship of the Carolina Panthers.
SAN ANTONIO
News/Talk
WOAI 2.6 – 2.8, #15 – #13 (Spurs)
KTSA 2.2 – 2.6, #19 – #15
News
None
Sports Talk
KTFM 1.3 – 1.7, #24 – #22
KTKR .9 – .7, #26 – #27
KZDC .2 – .2, #37 – #35
Public Radio News/Talk
KSTX 1.6 – 1.7, #21 – #22
SACRAMENTO
News/Talk
KFBK-AM 10.1 – 8.2 #1 – #2
KSTE-AM 3.3 – 2.7, #12 – #13
News
None
Sports Talk
KHTK 1.1 – 1.3, #20 – #18 (Kings)
KIFM 1.0 – 1.2, #22 – #20
KIFM Stream .1 – .1, #29 – #30
Public Radio News/Talk
KXJZ 1.9 – 1.8, #15 – #15
KQEI .3 – .2, #27 – #27
KQED .3 – .1, #27 – #30
KUOP DNA – DNA, DNA – DNA
Note: News/Talk KFBK-AM’s -1.9 (10.1 – 8.2) represents Sacramento’s largest September 2023 – October 2023 decrease.
PITTSBURGH
News/Talk
KDKA-AM 4.0 – 3.8, #10 – #11
KDKA-AM Stream .7 – .5, #22 – #23
News
None
Sports Talk
KDKA-FM 7.9 – 8.0, #3 – #3
KDKA-FM Stream .4 – .2, #25 – #28
Public Radio News/Talk
WESA 4.1 – 4.2, #8 – #7
Note: The flagships of the Steelers and Penguins are rock WDVE and alternative WXDX, respectively.
SALT LAKE CITY
News/Talk
KSL-AM/FM 5.2 – 6.9, #5 – #2
KNRS-AM/FM 4.0 – 2.9, #9 – #15
KKAT .1 – .1, #29 – #29
News
None
Sports Talk
KALL 1.7 – 1.8, #22 – #20
KZNS-FM 1.1 – .8, #24 – #24 (Utah Jazz)
KZNS-AM .4 – .5, #27 – #26 (Utah Jazz)
KZNS-FM Stream .1 – .1, #29 – #29 (Utah Jazz)
KZNS-AM Stream .1 – .1, #29 – #29 (Utah Jazz)
KOVO .1 – .1, #29 – #29
Public Radio News/Talk
KUER 2.5 – 2.2, #17 – #19
KBYU-HD2 Stream .5 – .5, #26 – #26
KUMT .4 – .1, #27 – #29
Note: News/Talk KSL-AM’s +1.7 (5.2 – 6.9) represents Salt Lake City’s largest September 2023 – October 2023 increase; conversely, similarly-formatted KNRS-FM’s -1.1 (4.0 – 2.9) is tied for the market’s largest September 2023 – October 2023 decrease.
LAS VEGAS
News/Talk
KMXB-HD3 1.9 – 1.6, #18 – #22
KXNT .6 – .5, #28 – #29
KMZQ .1 – .1, #36 – #36
News
None
Sports Talk
KWWN .9 – 1.0, #27 – #27
KENO .3 – .5, #32 – #29
KRLV .3 – .3, #32 – #32 (Raiders)
KKGK .2 – .3, #35 – #32 (Golden Knights)
Public Radio News/Talk
KNPR 1.2 – 1.4, #26 – #23
ORLANDO
News/Talk
WTKS 4.6 – 3.9, #8 – #10
WDBO 3.4 – 3.5, #12 – #13
WFLF 1.0 – .9, #21 – #19
WFYY-HD3 DNA – DNA, DNA – DNA
News
None
Sports Talk
WYGM 1.1 – .7, #20 – #22 (Magic)
WOCL-HD2 DNA – .1, DNA – #28
Public Radio News/Talk
WMFE 2.4 – 2.2, #15 – #15
CINCINNATI
News/Talk
WLW 13.9 – 13.5, 21st consecutive month at #1 (Bengals)
WKRC 4.6 – 5.4, #6 – #5
News
None
Sports Talk
WCKY 1.6 – 1.9, #18 – #18 (Bengals)
WSAI .6 – 1.0, #22 – #20
Public Radio News/Talk
WVXU 3.6 – 3.2, #9 – #11
CLEVELAND
News/Talk
WTAM 6.1 – 5.5, #7 – #10 (Cavaliers)
News
WMMS-HD2 DNA – .1, DNA – #24
Sports Talk
WKRK 5.1 – 5.9, #10 – #8 (Browns)
WKRK Stream .8 – .9, #17 – #18 (Browns)
WARF .3 – .2, #20 – #23
Public Radio News/Talk
WKSU 4.9 – 5.9, #11 – #8
WKSU-HD4 .1 – DNA, #22 – DNA
Note: Public Radio News/Talk WKSU’s +1.0 (4.9 – 5.9) represents Cleveland’s largest September 2023 – October 2023 increase.
KANSAS CITY
News/Talk
KMBZ-FM 5.1 – 5.5, #4 – #4
KCMO-AM 1.0 – 1.6, #20 – #17
KMBZ-AM 1.2 – 1.2, #19 – #21
KMBZ-FM Stream .9 – .9, #22 – #22
KCMO-AM Stream .1 – .2, #30 – #26
KMBZ-FM HD2 DNA – DNA, DNA – DNA
News
None
Sports Talk
KCSP 3.1 – 3.1, #13 – #14
KCSP Stream .6 – .4, #23 – #23
Public Radio News/Talk
KCUR 3.2 – 3.2, #12 – #13
KANU-HD2 .1 – DNA, #30 – DNA
Note: Country WDAF is the flagship of the Chiefs.
COLUMBUS
News/Talk
WTVN 7.3 – 7.5, #4 – #4
News
None
Sports Talk
WBNS-FM 7.9 – 8.6, #2 – #2 (Blue Jackets)
WBNS-AM DNA – .1, DNA – #21 (Blue Jackets)
WMNI .1 – .1, #22 – #21
Public Radio News/Talk
WOSU 4.5 – 3.9, #8 – #9
Up next: October 2023 overviews for Austin; Raleigh; Indianapolis; Milwaukee; Nashville; Providence; Norfolk; Jacksonville; West Palm Beach; Greensboro; Memphis; and Hartford.
team of award-winning journalists brings a fresh perspective to mornings while delivering a perfect mix of news, sports, and entertainment.” Also, station traffic and weather anchor Renee Vitale becomes co-host of “First Thing with Mike Parsons” from 5:00 am to 6:00 am. The station is pairing Detroit Lions great Lomas Brown with WJR’s Sean Baligian for the 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm “Sportswrap with Lomas Brown and Sean Baligian” program. Cumulus Media regional VP and market manager Steve Finateri comments, “‘JR Morning with Guy, Lloyd and Jamie’ plus ‘SportsWrap with Lomas Brown and Sean Baligian’ as bookends to our current big-name local daily shows on WJR has given ‘The Great Voice of The Great Lakes’ more prime time firepower than at any time in the past 20 years!”
digital revenue growth of 9.1% year-over-year, with digital revenue representing 18.6% of total third quarter revenue. Our continued strong digital revenue growth has moved us to within a few basis points of reaching the bottom end of our goal of digital revenue accounting for 20% to 30% of total revenue, and we remain laser focused on this initiative as a means to diversify our revenue in a cash flow positive manner. Our dedicated sales teams continue to leverage the tremendous audience reach and engagement of our local multi-platform content to attract new advertisers, resulting in a 22% increase in new local business revenue growth for the third quarter. Additionally, the actions we have taken to reduce our cost structure resulted in third quarter operating and corporate expenses decreases of 2.7% and 12.5%, respectively. In summary, we believe our third quarter financial performance demonstrates that our digital transformation and revenue diversification strategies continue to gain momentum and our initiatives focused on lowering operating expenses and reducing debt are positioning Beasley to generate increased and more diversified cash flows in future periods. Looking ahead, as has always been the case for non-election years, we expect fourth quarter revenues to be somewhat impacted by the absence of cyclical political advertising. While we plan to offset some of this expected softness through continued growth in digital and new business, we are hopeful that the overall advertising environment will improve in the fourth quarter and continue to closely monitor the economy.”
programming includes Premiere Networks’ “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” and “The Jesse Kelly Show,” as well as programming from Westwood One. iHeartMedia SVP of programming Jason Carr says, “We’re excited to bring ‘The Patriot’ to Vero Beach with local talk and news from ‘The Brian Mudd Show’ and some of the biggest names in national talk radio. ‘The Patriot’ will super-serve the growing Vero Beach community, with the most up-to-date news, weather and sports updates, including sources like FOX News and the Florida News Network.”
Spoken Word Audio Report 2023. According to data from the study, 48% of those in the U.S. age 13+ listen to some type of spoken-word audio daily, and audio consumers in the U.S. age 13+ spend 31% of their daily audio time with spoken word. They say this edition of the study focuses on listening locations and explores spoken-word audio consumption at home, at work, in-car, and other locations. 
advertising. In 2016 and 2017, direct response represented the vast majority of podcast advertising. From 2018 to 2021, the proportion of podcast ad spend was equally split between brand and direct response.” The post says there are four major implications of the shift to podcast brand advertising: 1) Targeting will become much broader: Wide campaign reach will become the priority with a goal of “being known before you’re needed”; 2) Creative will shift to become more entertaining and emotion based: The objective will be to stir passions and create positive feelings and associations with ads that people find interesting and enjoyable; 3) Brand safety and suitability measurement will become more crucial: Firms like Barometer will become powerful resources to help marketers find the right context for their campaigns with nuanced data; and 4) Measurement will focus on how well campaigns build memories to ensure brands are “easy to mind and easy to find”: Key performance indicators are brand awareness, brand consideration, and brand preference. 
the achievement of the market’s total sales goal. Mems comes to Audacy from his most recent post as president of the Central Illinois Media group. Audacy St. Louis SVP of sales Becky Domyan states, “We are happy to add Charles and his vast experience of media sales and client support to our team. I have no doubt that he will drive exceptional results for our collection of brands.”
October 2023 PPM Data – Information for the October 2023 ratings period (September 14 – October 11) has been released for New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Nassau-Suffolk (Long Island), and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario.
notes due March 31, 2029 that extends the grace period before which a default in payment of interest on the 2029 Notes matures into an Event of Default by 30 days. The grace period for the interest payment under the 2029 Notes Indenture in the amount of approximately $18 million that was due on September 30, 2023, which, as previously disclosed, the Issuer elected to utilize, now ends on November 29, 2023. Additionally, Audacy is using the 30-day grace period under the existing indenture governing its 6.500% senior secured second-lien notes due May 1, 2027 for the interest payment in the amount of approximately $15 million that is due on Wednesday, November 1, 2023. Audacy intends to utilize the 3-business day grace period under the credit agreement, dated as of October 17, 2016, among the Issuer, the guarantors named therein, the lenders named therein and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent for the lenders and collateral agent for the secured parties thereunder, for interest payments in the aggregate amount of approximately $17 million that are due on Tuesday, October 31, 2023.
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by Liberty News Radio Network from its flagship station WMQM-AM/W227DQ, Memphis. The show says, “Danila has immigrated to America from Brazil to live the American Dream! And we couldn’t be happier! She has been featured in Moevir, Latinos Today and Pump magazines.” Rodrigues is the second female member on the show, joining special correspondent Heather Powers McBride.
Feel busy? Try keeping-up with these four:
Audacy’s KMBZ, Kansas City yesterday (10/26) after spending the last month in a rehab program, according to a story in the Kansas City Star. Parks says he’s been addicted to alcohol for much of his adult life but had been sober for three years before an undisclosed family trauma in July led him back to drinking. Wright noticed Parks’ relapse and, fearing for his health, contacted Parks’ brother. Parks credits the resulting intervention with getting him the help he needed. 
Gov. Ron DeSantis, Amb. Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Tim Scott, Gov. Doug Burgum, Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and Ryan Binkley. “Iowa Talking Points” is produced for live video stream, 
video and audio on-demand playback, and radio rebroadcast by NRG’s “News/Talk 1540” KXEL, Cedar Rapids-Waterloo and is hosted by KXEL program director and host Jeff Stein. Previous programs in the series have been produced in front of a live studio audience from Mudd’s state-of-the-art “Studio5@Mudd” facility in Cedar Falls. Last week, the team arranged a special live broadcast from the annual tailgate fundraiser sponsored by Iowa State Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks. Stein says, “There are very few opportunities to have access to this many candidates at one time. Engaging with them in this way gives our audience the best information free from sound bites and media filters.” Pictured here is Stein with DeSantis (left) and Haley (right).
GOP presidential nomination and says he’ll put his support behind Donald Trump. “As I look at the path forward, and after careful consideration and consultation with my campaign team, I have made the difficult decision to suspend my campaign.” Elder was unable to get a spot on either of the two Republican presidential debates held so far. 
president and co-founder Kit Gray says, “The Opportunist is an incredible complement to our existing slate of award-winning true crime podcast programming. There is no more fitting time than now to debut the show on our network. We look forward to growing the show’s existing audience.”
implementation and management of all market events, promotions and contesting initiatives and support similar initiatives within the region that includes Dallas, Houston and New Orleans. Audacy Austin SVP and market manager Bob Mackay says, “Momo has all the mojo going as far as being connected promotionally in Austin. She loves live music and being out with the brands, which made her the perfect choice to work alongside our vice president of programming Nikki Nite, to help elevate the Audacy Austin marketing efforts.” Audacy operates news/talk KJCE-AM and three music brands in the Austin market.
the top sports morning shows in America and has won numerous national industry awards including a Marconi Award. Toucher was a foundational member of the launch of the station in August 2009. Prior to joining the ‘98.5 Sports Hub’ team, he worked at the former legendary rock station, WBCN.” Toucher comments, “I am thrilled to be able to work with my Beasley family over the coming years. I will continue my record of immense competence and brilliance.” Station PD Rick Radzik adds, “Fred has been entertaining ‘Sports Hub’ listeners each morning since 2009 with his compelling viewpoints and opinions on a wide range of topics. We are very pleased that he will continue on with us for years to come.” There’s no mention of morning drive co-host and Toucher’s longtime partner Rich Shertenlieb in the press release and the Boston Globe’s Chad Finn writes about the possibility Shertenlieb will exit the station soon. 
MultiMedia’s weekend programs, are migrating to new satellite distribution as the programming shifts from GCN Channels 1, 3, 4 & 6 to Wegener/Westwood One Satellite Channel A-1DBV165. GCN will continue to offer audio access via Echo Box.
economy found on PublicSq.” The agreement includes collaborative content segments that will air on Tucker Carlson’s show on both X and Last Country’s own platform. Last Country CEO Neil Patel comments, “We are proud to announce that our new media venture will be partnering with PublicSq. as our first advertiser. PublicSq. is a key company in the parallel economy, specifically countering the Chamber of Commerce and Amazon. There is a wave of disruption coming to the media and economic establishment, and our companies will help accelerate this overdue shift.”