Chicago's January PPM results

WBBM-AM big winner

These are based on Persons 6+ numbers.

Winners:

WBBM-AM, WLS-AM and FM, Love FM (WILV-FM), WGRB-AM, The Drive (WDRV-FM), US99 (WUSN-FM)

Honorable Mention:

The Mix (WTMX-FM), WOJO-FM, The Loop (WLUP-FM), JACK FM (WJMK-FM)

Down, but potent:

Lite FM (WLIT-FM), V103 (WVAZ-FM)

Losers:

B96 (WBBM-FM), WGCI-FM, Q101 (WKQX-FM), Fresh (WCFS-FM)

Analysis: All news WBBM-AM - with its coverage of Inaguration of President Obama and other hot-button issues, rose to first in the January PPM report. Citadel had a good survey with both of its stations on the upswing. WGN-AM continued its swing upward to third place, and should be back in the top spot once Cubs baseball returns in the spring. WUSN-FM also went up, as did WDRV, WOJO, and WTMX.

On the downside, both WLIT-FM and WVAZ-FM were down, but not out as both stations remained in the Top 10, despite big drops from December. Fresh and Q101 continue to struggle finding an audience, while the tech-savvy young fans of pop and urban formats and their downloading of music aren't helping B96, WGCI, or Power 92 (WPWX-FM). Kiss (WKSC-FM) beats them all, but it ranked outside the Top 10. A slight drop from the last survey keeps Kiss off the winner's list.

On a positive note, Clear Channel's Gospel music station (WGRB-AM) outperformed Power 92 and WSRB-FM (Soul 106.3), WCFS, both sports stations, and Q101. And this is a music station - on an AM stick. Chicago sure loves its gospel!