Look out the window and you see tall buildings and traffic jams, but this city seems to be turning into a country town, at least in terms of the music it chooses.
For the second time in the past three quarters, country station WDSY-FM was second place among total listeners, according to the spring Arbitron ratings. WDSY is up more than two share points from spring '98 and more than one from the previous survey period, again edging out rock station WDVE-FM by a nose, as it did in fall '98. Longtime top dog news/talk KDKA-AM remains No. 1.
The competition at the next level is also fierce, with contemporary hits WBZZ-FM, oldies WWSW-FM/AM and modern rock WXDX-FM battling it out in a three-way tie for fourth place.
In morning drive, there's less of a shakeup in the status quo, although Howard Stern on WXDX, WDSY's John Garabo and WRRK-FM's Jim Quinn continue to draw growing numbers of listeners.
The flurry of recent format and morning show air staff changes won't have an impact on this rating period: It's too soon to tell what will happen because of those shifts. Ironically, the former smooth jazz format on WJJJ-FM was showing some growth before the plug was pulled.
Among 25- to 54-year olds, the top 10 stations are: WDVE, WDSY, WBZZ, WWSW, WXDX, KDKA, WJJJ, WLTJ-FM, WSHH-FM and WZPT-FM. The top 10 morning drive shows: WDVE'S Scott Paulsen and Jim Krenn, followed by WXDX, WDSY, KDKA, WBZZ, WRRK, WWSW, WLTJ, WSHH and WJJJ.
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