It should surprise nobody that news and talk radio stations see ratings improvements in election years. With the 2016 campaign promising to be a memorable one, numbers should be even more telling.
Nielsen recently reported January PPM numbers backing that up. It reported news/talk stations reaching numbers not seen in the past two years with a share of persons 6 years and older reaching almost 10% (9.7%). In the 18–34 bracket, it topped a peak set in 2013 settling at a 4.1% share while 25–54 beat the previous two Januarys with a 6.7% share.
Nielsen also noted a rise in the urban contemporary format, which has seen a consistent rise over the last few years, peaking at 3.5% (6+ years old), 6.5% (18–34) and 4.2% (25–54). It also pointed to strong Mexican regional performance. That format beat the last two years but was short of 2013 peaks.
The top performing formats were Persons 6+: news/talk — 9.7%; pop CHR — 8%; AC — 7.7%; county — 7.1%; and hot AC — 6.6%; Adults 18–34: pop CHR — 12.5%; country — 8.3%; hot AC — 7.5%; AC — 6.8%; and urban contemporary — 6.5%; Adults 25–54: pop CHR — 8.7%; AC — 7.4%; hot AC — 7.2%; country — 7%; and news/talk — 6.7%.
