Syracuse ratings: Cumulus stations disappear from topline report

SYRACUSE — For the first time in years, we’ve got no idea whether the “top 40 leader” in Syracuse is iHeart’s Hot 107.9 (WWHT) or Cumulus’ 93Q (WNTQ). The latest topline ratings data from Nielsen doesn’t include data for 93Q or any other Cumulus stations.

That’s because Syracuse was apparently among multiple markets nationwide where Cumulus stopped subscribing to Nielsen’s ratings reports as of December 31, according to a recent RadioWorld report about Cumulus suing the ratings leader in federal court, alleging monopolistic business practices.

Since 2014, Nielsen’s public releases of topline ratings data have only included stations that maintain paid subscriptions to the company’s full ratings report (informally referred to by many radio insiders as “the book”).

In a column on the Barrett Media website, former Arbitron/Nielsen executive Dr. Ed Cohen notes that Nielsen doubled-down on efforts to protect its data in 2021, by removing non-subscribing stations from the ratings data released to agencies and advertisers. At this point, only radio stations that subscribe to the book can see the ratings data for all of the stations in the market, so that programmers can compare their own stations to the competition.

In addition to 93Q, the local Cumulus cluster includes alt rocker 95X (WAQX) and sports talker The Score 1260 (WSKO). They’re now all omitted from the topline ratings, along with the locally-owned Galaxy Media cluster (including K-Rock, TK99, Sunny 102 and ESPN Radio), which cut ties with Nielsen in Syracuse and Utica over a decade ago.

Nielsen’s latest report, released January 21, reflects a rolling average for the final three months of 2025.

The omission of Cumulus and Galaxy gives the initial impression that iHeart rules the market, with the news-talk simulcast of WSYR on 570AM and 106.9FM garnering a 7.4 share. That’s enough to keep it ahead of its sister and the market’s former longtime leader, country B104.7 (WBBS).

Next in line is adult-contemporary Y94 (WYYY), though a drop from 5.8 to 5.5 seems to indicate that the station’s annual temporary switch to all-Christmas music didn’t benefit the station as much as iHeart may have hoped. Top 40 Hot 107.9 (WWHT) stays consistent with a 5.1.

After that, the first non-iHeart station — it’s local owner Craig Fox’s classic hits “The Dinosaur,” (WSEN) which recently celebrated its 12th anniversary. The December book’s 4.9 matches November, but is nearly a full point below the October book’s 5.8 — which, at the time, tied with Y94. Fox’s New Country WOLF 92.1 is next on the list with a 3.4, it’s best out of the past 3 reports.

Next on the list is Oswego-based NPR affiliate 89.9 WRVO, with a 3.2 share. Although Nielsen typically combines simulcasting stations into a single line, the company listed WRVO’s Syracuse-based simulcast 90.3 WRVD separately, with a 0.2 share. Combining the two, WRVO ties with WOLF-FM.

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