Chicago December 2025 Radio Ratings - some demo rankings - WLS-FM demos are UP WDRV is down.
Posted by WYTZZ95FM on January 3, 2026, 11:17 am
Found this on FB. It is a public group, so everyone should be able to see it. If you click the "see more" link it will drop down some rankings for 25-54 & 18-34 & 18-49 ratings. The rankings are from the overview provided by Research Director - Steve Allan. (which does a great job at it). Link is within the FB post itself. Recommend you click it and read Steves breakdown for Chicago and a few other markets.
WLS-FM is #2 in 18-34. Digest that for a bit. A Classic Hits station dominating a demo that should be dominated by Urban, CHR, other younger contemporary formats. It just shows how sick terrestrial radio is, not functioning correctly. They are also outstripping themselves in the demo than 25-54, which they should be doing better in. Totally sad when WLS-FM is beating B96 #7 in the same demo & KISS #3. Kudos to Todd Cavanah. Credit is due when it is warranted. They wanted to be the 2nd spot to WDRV, looks like it has now been realized and it has reversed. This month was on fire, not the pretty 6+ but actual salable demos, especially a Christmas month. It is possible people ended up on WLS-FM avoiding the all Christmas format of WLIT. But it also shows how much lower the bar has sunk compared to the past.
I like to look at lower end of the book. WVON at 0.1 is a mere shadow if itself when it helped elect Harold Washington. It seems METV FM at 2.2 is trending downward.
WLS AM at 1.7 is a wonder. What will happen to them? Also I wonder about WCHI who also come in at 1.7.
Re: Chicago December 2025 Radio Ratings - some demo rankings - WLS-FM demos are UP WDRV is down.
iHeart owns 1690, doing an LMA to Midway. WVON is a prime example of not having an FM counterpart and declining with the simultaneous decline of the AM band. Also, WVON was a major force in the African American community. Aging of that generation along with the internet appealing to the younger generations, have rendered it not as important. We have to remember, WVON was instrumental in then Senator Obama's career. Wikipedia (often incorrect because it is not vetted) lists a translator @ 98.3 W252AW, but that is not correct. That translator is linked to WRLL-AM which Midway owns.
Even @ 87.75FM, MeTV would be Top 3 and slamming demos if they had an air staff and were not a jukebox. There is no reason to listen to them if you can listen to something w/ no jocks & commercial free elsewhere (YouTube, Spotify, your MP3's on random rotate). The only reason to listen is for the older demos which are not internet savvy, do not care to use it, are in the habit to listen to FM radio due to convenience, or can't afford it. All 3 of these are shrinking day by day and will be so negligible at some point it will not be a reason to run that outfit the way it is.
Nothing will happen to WLS-AM. It is run on the cheap, mostly network programming, they are getting national clearance for these shows. It has been close to a 1 share in the past. They are not looking at ratings. Cumulus Conservative talkers in the US are run the same way and do not garner large numbers. Talk about a legendary station that just exists today, minus all of its teeth.
WCHI goes up and down. Rock music has changed. Classic rock is aging and that demo is now 90s Alternative. Over the years the ethnic makeup of Chicago has shifted and the younger demos that are into rock music, whatever it is identified as today, has also shifted. WCHI is straddling that line of paying classic rock tracks, being harder than anything on the dial and still garnering enough female listeners, because that is where the marketing dollars are at.
Z
Re: Chicago December 2025 Radio Ratings - some demo rankings - WLS-FM demos are UP WDRV is down.
Jeremy, what is your opinion on their 18-34 numbers when they should be 25 -54 for this format? Those 18-34 numbers, the demos were not even alive compared to the years most of the songs they play were released. A 34 year old was born in 1991.
Do you have any data how many times and when they have ranked #1 18-34? Even more crazy is they have veered heavily past 1990 in the last year or so.
Z
Re: Chicago December 2025 Radio Ratings - some demo rankings - WLS-FM demos are UP WDRV is down.
I know younger people are listening to older music. The format is more mass appeal, goes into the 2010s. Some of them might be listening in public places, work places, family's cars.
on January 3, 2026, 11:17 am