Q100, the River spring forward in April Arbitron ratings

URBAN

- R&B/hip-hop station V-103 remained the top station in the market by a wide margin in all key demographics but had its worst overall rating (8.2) since the people meter measurements began in January 2009.

- R&B station Kiss 104.1 remained steady, finishing at No. 2 among 25 to 54 year olds for the third month in a row. Syndicated morning host Tom Joyner, though, for the first time in PPM history performed worse than the rest of the station.

- Hot 107.9's Rickey Smiley, on the other hand, outperformed the rest of the station for the first time, finishing at No. 3 with his best ratings since the new PPM measurements began.

- Majic 107.5/97.5 held steady in the overall ratings but Steve Harvey's appeal among younger listeners has fallen markedly in recent months. He ranked 19th among 18 to 34 year olds with half the ratings of what he was drawing as recently as November.

COUNTRY

Kicks is the alpha male in country land as usual, ranked No. 8 overall and No. 7 among 25 to 54 year olds but its appeal among 18-to-34 listeners has slipped to 14th from 8th in November, with its ratings down about one third in just five months. Rival 94.9/The Bull, in fact, beat Kicks among 18 to 34 year olds for the first time, ranking 12th.

NEWS/TALK

WSB-AM remains the No. 2 station overall but its audience keeps getting older and older. Its 25-54 numbers are down 34 percent year over year and is down to a tie for sixth from second in April 2009.

WABE-FM's "Morning Edition" landed in the top 10 among 18 to 34 year olds for the first time and jumps to No. 5 among 25 to 54 year olds. Among men, it's ranked No. 3.

The Fan is beating its rival the Zone in all day parts among guys except the late afternoons when the Zone airs 2 Live Stews and Mike Bell and David Pollack. From 3 to 7 p.m. and on weekends, the Zone beats the Fan among guys. Otherwise, the Fan wins.

CHRISTIAN

- Gospel station Praise 102.5 slipped back from an incredible March but remained a solid top 5 station overall and among 25 to 54 year olds.

- Fish 104.7, too, took a step back but is still a top 10 player among 18 to 34 year olds and 25 to 54 year olds. Overall, it's ranked tied for 10th and has been in the top 10 the past six months.

ROCK

-As noted earlier, the River is the top rock station in overall ratings but skews older than the others.

- Dave FM continued a solid run, topping rock stations among 25-to-54 year olds with its second-best performance in that demo since early 2009. Jimmy Baron had his best numbers ever in that age group since he started last fall, ranked 14th. (He lags the rest of the station, which does especially well on weekends, where it's ranked 5th among 25 to 54 year olds and 4th among men.)

- Project is the 18-to-34 year old dominant player, ranking No. 4 overall in that arena.

- Rock 100.5's The Regular Guys had its best numbers since July among 18 to 34 year olds. Its 25 to 54 numbers drooped, with the show ranked No. 13, down from 8 in February. The show ranked No. 5 overall among guys (vs. 19th among women).

TOP 40

The gap between Q100 and the other top 40 stations continues to grow. It's ranked No. 6 overall and tied for third among 25-to-54 year olds. The Bert Show is No. 2 among women overall, 18-to-34 year olds and 25-to-54 year olds, behind V-103's Frank and Wanda in all three cases.

- 95.5/The Beat remains a strong No. 2 among 18 to 34 year olds despite a more direct assault from 105.7/The Groove, which reached a 4.0 rating (ranked No. 10) for the first time among 18 to 34 year olds in its seven-month life.

- Star 94, once a top 5 player in key demos, now ranks No. 17 among 25 to 54 year olds and No. 13 among 18 to 34 year olds.

POP

B98.5 held steady at No. 3 overall and among 18 to 34 year olds. The Vikki Locke show (minus Steve McCoy) in its second month showed slight slippage among 25-54 year olds overall but it's too early to gauge a trend. (PD Lee Cagle sent me a note to say her numbers were up among women 25-54 from March to April. I don't get gender/demo breakdowns but women 25-54 is the target audience for B98.5.)

True Oldies also didn't see much change, ranked No. 9 overall and 14th among 25 to 54 year olds. Randy & Spiff remain much stronger than the morning show a year ago with Spiff and Fred.

Top 25 overall ratings

1. V-103 (1)

2. 750/WSB-AM (2)

3. B98.5 (4)

4. Kiss 104.1 (5)

5. Praise 102.5 (3)

6. Q100 (9)

7. WABE-FM (6)

8. Kicks 101.5 (7t)

9. 106.7/True Oldies (10t)

10 (tie) 97.1/The River (13), Fish 104.1 (7t)

12. Hot 107.9 (10t)

13. Majic 107.5/97.5 (12)

14. 94.9/the Bull (14t)

15. 92.9/Dave FM (16t)

16. 95.5/The Beat (16t)

17. Project 9-6-1 (14t)

18. Star 94 (18t)

19. 105.3/El Patron (18t)

20. Rock 100.5 (21)

21. Groove 105.7 (22)

22. 640/WGST-AM (20)

23. 680/The Fan (23)

24. 790/The Zone (24)

25. J93.3 (25)

Top 15 25-54

1. V-103

2. Kiss

3. B98.5

4. Q100

5. Praise

6. WSB-AM

7. Kicks

8. Fish

9. Majic

10. Dave

11. Hot

12. (tie) River, Bull

14. (tie) True Oldies, WABE

Top 10 morning shows 25-54

1. Frank & Wanda, V-103

2. Bert Show, Q100

3. Scott Slade, WSB-AM

4. Tom Joyner, Kiss

5. Morning Edition, WABE

6. (tie) Vikki Locke, B98.5; Cadillac & Dallas, Kicks

8. Kevin & Taylor, Fish

9. Yolanda Adams, Praise

10. Steve Harvey, Majic

Top 15 18-34

1. V-103 (1)

2. Q100 (5t)

3. Hot (2)

4. Project (3)

5. Beat (4)

6. The River (11t), El Patron (7t)

8. Praise

9. Fish

10. Groove

11. B98.5

12. The Bull

13. Star

14. Kicks

15. Majic

Top 10 morning shows 18-34

1. Frank & Wanda, V-103

2. Bert Show, Q100

3. Ricky Smiley, Hot

4. Regular Guys, Rock 100.5

5. Patrones de la Manana, El Patron

6. Kevin & Taylor, Fish

7. Yolanda Adams, Praise

8. Shaffee & El Jefe, Project

9. Murph Dawg & CJ, Beat

10T Kaedy Kiely, The River; Morning Edition, WABE-FM

Top 10 men overall

1. V-103

2. WSB-AM

3. Kiss

4. Kicks

5. B98.5

6. (tie) WABE-FM, Q100

8. Majic

9. (tie) River, Hot

Top 10 women

1. V-103

2. Praise

3. Q100

4. Kiss

5. B98.5

6. Fish

7. Dave

8. Majic

9. Kicks

10 (tie) WSB-Am, Bull

SOURCE: Arbitron