Chicago radio ratings: 93.9 LiteFM continues to lead

WXRT finishes third overall; WOJO wins key demos 

iHeartMedia’s 93.9 LiteFM (WLIT) is not only Chicago’s top-rated radio station during the holiday season, but now it’s aiming for dominance year-around.

The Gold AC station finished on top of Chicago’s radio ratings for the seventh straight time, finishing up a tenth of a point from last month ahead of The Drive (WDRV), who came in second. Fellow rocker WXRT finished third, but did slip in the ratings a little bit from last month. 

But the real winner was TelevisaUnivision’s Regional Mexican station WOJO, branded as Que Buena 105.1 as it finished first in the key 18-34 and 18-49 demos and tied WLIT for first in the key 25-54 demo. Overall, WOJO finished fifth, behind the three English-language music stations and all-news WBBM Newsradio. WLIT did finish second behind WOJO in the 18-34 and 18-49 demo. 

The arrival of baseball benefited Audacy’s 670 The Score (WSCR) and Good Karma’s ESPN 1000 (WMVP) as they both posted increases from the previous book, despite the lackluster performances of the Cubs and White Sox, respectively. ESPN 1000 will get even more of a boost when Chicago Bears games arrive this fall.  

WSCR-AM’s Internet stream, as they are broken out separately from regular numbers, was strong enough to place in a tie for 29th.  News/Talk WLS-AM’s stream also showed up separately in the survey in 37th, in addition to its 23rd place terrestrial radio finish. 

It was quiet elsewhere as B96 did manage an slight increase in ratings after altering its format, tying Rock 95.5 and 100.3 WSHE for 17th place. However, all three did not place in the top five in any key demo category as Kiss 103.5 led B96 by over a point overall and finished in a tie for fifth in adult 25-54s with The Drive and placed third in adult 18-34s. And a television marketing campaign for Hubbard’s 101.9 The Mix (WTMX) didn’t have much of an impact as the station’s share slipped by a tenth and wound up in an tie with WLS-FM. Moreover, 101.9 The Mix saw a ratings drop in the key 25-54 adult demo, falling from third to seventh. 

Sources: RadioInsight and Research Director, Inc.