For the past two decades, the most predictable takeaway from Nielsen’s December survey is adult contemporary’s holiday bump in PPM markets, as most stations in the format switch to Christmas music. That’s certainly true this year, based on Inside Radio’s analysis of average quarter-hour share data in PPM markets (covering Monday-Sunday 6am-midnight).
Compared to November, AC’s share during Nielsen’s December survey period (Nov. 13-Dec. 10) is up across the board, with a 49% lift among persons 6+, 52% for 18-34, and 45% for 25-54.
How has that changed from a year ago? All those growth percentages are up vs. Nov.-Dec. 2024, when those bumps were 34% 6+, 32% 18-34, and 32% 25-54. There’s a good reason for that: AC’s December survey share is itself up significantly, year-over-year, 11% for 6+ (9.9-11.0), 10% 18-34 (11.6-12.8), and 15% 25-54 (9.6-11.0).
Why the larger numbers for AC this year? One theory: listeners may have been more likely to seek out Christmas music as an escape from the news, as news/talk’s 6+ and 25-54 shares were lower this December vs. last. In other words, for many listeners this holiday season, no news is good news.
If you’re thinking AC’s holiday bump made the format stronger for 2025-to-date vs. last year, that’s unfortunately not the case. Jan.-Dec.’s share is off 6% for 6+ (8.2-7.7), 4% 18-34 (8.9-8.5), and 5% 25-54 (8.0-7.6).
| Yearly PPM Format Share Trends 6+ | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Format | Jan-Dec 22 | Jan-Dec 23 | Jan-Dec 24 | Jan-Dec 25 |
| News/Talk | 10.8% | 9.9% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| Adult Contemporary | 8.2% | 8.6% | 8.2% | 7.7% |
| Country | 6.0% | 6.3% | 5.8% | 6.0% |
| Classic Hits | 5.8% | 5.9% | 5.7% | 5.7% |
| Classic Rock | 5.2% | 5.6% | 5.5% | 5.2% |
| Urban Adult Contemporary | 5.1% | 4.9% | 5.3% | 5.2% |
| CHR | 4.9% | 4.8% | 4.8% | 4.6% |
| Sports | 4.4% | 4.6% | 4.6% | 4.5% |
| Hot AC | 4.5% | 4.4% | 4.1% | 4.4% |
| Contemporary Christian | 2.9% | 3.2% | 3.4% | 3.9% |
| Spanish Regional Mexican | 3.1% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 3.1% |
| Modern/Alternative Rock | 2.5% | 2.5% | 2.7% | 2.9% |
| Urban Contemporary | 3.0% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 2.9% |
| Adult Hits | 2.6% | 2.8% | 2.7% | 2.8% |
| News | 2.4% | 2.4% | 2.3% | 2.6% |
| Spanish Contemporary | 2.7% | 2.7% | 2.7% | 2.5% |
| Classical | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1.7% | 1.9% |
| Rhythmic CHR | 1.8% | 1.8% | 1.8% | 1.9% |
| Spanish Adult Hits | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.5% | 1.4% |
| Rock | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% |
| Album Alternative | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.3% |
| Spanish Tropical | 1.0% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 1.0% |
| Rhythmic AC | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.0% | 0.8% |
| Talk | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 0.7% |
| Soft AC | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.6% |
| Jazz | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.6% |
| Mainstream Rock | 0.7% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.5% |
| Source: Nielsen total week 6+ AQH Shares, PPM Markets | ||||
While most other music formats see shares stand still or decline in December as some listeners migrate to AC, there are others with growth stories compared to last December. One of those is contemporary Christian, with some stations also moving to an all-Christmas format for the season.
From December 2024 to December 2025, contemporary Christian is up 19% 6+ (3.2-3.8), 18% 18-34 (2.8-3.3), and 20% 25-54 (3.0-3.6). It’s also the only format that has steadily grown every year-to-date since 2022, across the board: up 34% 6+ (2.9-3.2-3.4-3.9), 52% 18-34 (2.3-2.8-2.9-3.5), and 33% 25-54 (2.7-3.1-3.3-3.6).
Hot AC, where several stations also flipped to all holiday music, saw Dec.-Dec. shares lifts for 6+ and 25-54, up 7% for the former and 6% for the latter.
| Monthly PPM Format Share Trends 6+ | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Format | JAN25 | FEB25 | MAR25 | APR25 | MAY25 | JUN25 | JUL25 | AUG25 | SEP25 | OCT25 | NOV25 | DEC25 | ||
| Adult Contemporary | 7.4% | 7.6% | 7.5% | 7.3% | 7.3% | 7.3% | 7.3% | 7.3% | 7.1% | 7.3% | 7.4% | 11.0% | ||
| News/Talk | 10.7% | 10.8% | 10.4% | 10.4% | 10.1% | 10.5% | 10.0% | 9.8% | 10.0% | 10.3% | 10.4% | 9.9% | ||
| Classic Hits | 5.5% | 5.6% | 5.6% | 5.7% | 5.8% | 5.8% | 5.8% | 5.7% | 5.7% | 5.8% | 5.7% | 5.7% | ||
| Country | 5.7% | 5.7% | 6.0% | 6.2% | 6.3% | 6.2% | 6.1% | 6.1% | 6.0% | 5.9% | 6.0% | 5.4% | ||
| Urban Adult Contemporary | 5.1% | 5.2% | 5.3% | 5.4% | 5.3% | 5.1% | 5.1% | 5.3% | 5.2% | 5.0% | 5.1% | 5.1% | ||
| Classic Rock | 5.2% | 5.3% | 5.3% | 5.4% | 5.4% | 5.5% | 5.6% | 5.4% | 5.2% | 5.1% | 4.9% | 4.6% | ||
| Sports | 4.7% | 3.9% | 4.0% | 4.6% | 4.5% | 4.1% | 4.0% | 4.4% | 4.8% | 5.3% | 4.9% | 4.5% | ||
| Hot AC | 4.3% | 4.3% | 4.4% | 4.2% | 4.5% | 4.4% | 4.4% | 4.5% | 4.6% | 4.3% | 4.5% | 4.5% | ||
| CHR | 4.8% | 4.9% | 4.8% | 4.7% | 4.6% | 4.5% | 4.5% | 4.5% | 4.6% | 4.7% | 4.7% | 4.4% | ||
| Contemporary Christian | 3.9% | 3.9% | 3.9% | 3.6% | 3.8% | 3.9% | 4.1% | 4.0% | 4.0% | 3.7% | 3.9% | 3.8% | ||
| Spanish Regional Mexican | 3.1% | 3.1% | 2.9% | 3.3% | 3.2% | 3.1% | 3.2% | 3.2% | 3.2% | 3.1% | 3.2% | 3.0% | ||
| Adult Hits | 2.7% | 2.7% | 2.8% | 2.8% | 2.8% | 3.0% | 2.7% | 2.8% | 2.7% | 2.7% | 2.7% | 2.8% | ||
| Urban Contemporary | 2.6% | 2.8% | 2.9% | 2.8% | 3.0% | 2.7% | 2.9% | 3.1% | 3.0% | 3.0% | 2.9% | 2.7% | ||
| News | 2.8% | 2.9% | 2.7% | 2.6% | 2.6% | 2.5% | 2.6% | 2.6% | 2.5% | 2.6% | 2.7% | 2.6% | ||
| Modern/Alternative Rock | 2.8% | 3.1% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 2.8% | 2.9% | 2.8% | 2.8% | 3.0% | 2.9% | 2.6% | ||
| Spanish Contemporary | 2.7% | 2.6% | 2.6% | 2.7% | 2.4% | 2.6% | 2.5% | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2.5% | 2.5% | 2.3% | ||
| Classical | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.8% | 1.8% | 1.9% | 2.0% | 2.0% | 2.1% | 1.9% | 2.0% | ||
| Rhythmic CHR | 1.8% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.8% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 2.0% | 1.7% | ||
| Album Alternative | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 1.3% | ||
| Rock | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.2% | ||
| Spanish Adult Hits | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.5% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.2% | ||
| Spanish Tropical | 0.9% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1.0% | ||
| Rhythmic AC | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.8% | ||
| Jazz | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | ||
| Soft AC | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | ||
| Mainstream Rock | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.5% | ||
| Talk | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.5% | ||
| Source: Nielsen total week 6+ AQH Shares, PPM Markets | ||||||||||||||
Aside from contemporary Christian, the only other format with significant growth since 2023 in any of these three demographics is one where Christmas songs are hard to find: modern/alternative rock, up 16% for both 6+ (2.5-2.7-2.9) and 25-54 (3.7-4.0-4.3).
There are notable downtrends at two current-music-based formats. Since 2023, country has steadily lost share among 18-34s (-8%, 7.4-6.9-6.8) and 25-54s (-15%, 6.7-6.1-5.7, also down 12% Dec.-Dec.). Since 2022, CHR is off 6% for 6+ (4.9-4.8-4.7-4.6) and 11% for 18-34 (8.0-7.4-7.1-7.1). For the latter demo, it’s also worth noting that while CHR’s Nov.-Dec. share increased in 2024 (6.5-6.8), it went in the other direction this year (7.1-6.6).
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