NPR NEWS STATIONS: WNYC-FM, WAMU, KQED & KPCC HAVE THE MOST WEEKLY LISTENERS

This week we are looking at Nielsen Audio’s estimated weekly cumulative listeners for noncommercial radio stations in PPM markets.  We are comparing the just-released data for June 2016 with June 2015 and one-year trends. Today we are looking at NPR News stations.

As we reported on Monday, 92% of NPR News had more weekly listeners in 2016 than 2015. This unprecedented performance is due to several factors. It is well known that a hot news cycle tends to increase listening to all types of news and talk stations. But the number of stations that increased listeners and the amount of the gains is likely due to more than the turbulent Presidential election campaigns.  I am hesitant to cite these factors without more information.  Two general factors that are certainly responsible are: The stations sound good and listeners appreciate the value of what they are hearing.

I separated the long list of NPR News stations into bundles to provide useful comparisons. According to the Nielsen Audio data, several stations had listening in more than one PPM markets.  I have taken the liberty of combining weekly listeners for a summary total for stations heard in more than one market. Caution should be used in these cases because there may be duplication of respondents.

Scroll down to see ratings of NPR News station with dual formats and measurable listening to streaming audio.  Also, there are two stations with non-NPR news formats. Tomorrow we will have the ratings for all Classical stations in PPM markets.

WNYC-FM IS THE TOP NPR NEWS STATION IN WEEKLY LISTENERS

WNYC-FM leads the list with an estimated 839,900 weekly cumulative listeners. They appear to be drawing a lot of listeners from Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk counties). Classical WQXR and Triple A WFUV also have substantial numbers of weekly listeners on Long Island.

WAMU’s 830,400 weekly listeners may be a record high number. Comparing June 2015 with June 2016, WAMU gained almost a hundred thousand weekly listeners in DC alone.

KPCC certainly has more weekly listeners in exurban Diary markets such as Oxnard/Ventura, Santa Barbara and Palm Springs. WGBH also gets a nice boost in weekly listeners in the Providence market. KUHF had the largest numeric gain, up over 125,000 weekly listeners on 2016 compared with 2015.