Mediabase is a

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes

music charts A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and

satellite radio Satellite radio is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s ITU Radio Regulations (RR) as a ''broadcasting-satellite service''. The satellite's signals are broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than ter ...

, and provides in-depth analytical tools for radio and record industry professionals. Mediabase charts and airplay data are used on many popular radio countdown shows and televised music awards programs. Music charts are published in both domestic and international trade publications and newspapers worldwide. Mediabase is a division of

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

History

Mediabase was founded in 1985 by Nancy and Rich Deitemeyer (a.k.a. Rich Meyer). Originally known as Mediascan, the company changed its name to Mediabase in 1987. Mediabase became the industry's first mass-airplay monitoring company in late 1987. After its inception, Mediabase was purchased by a

private equity group A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including lev ...

based in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, then acquired by

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

-based

Premiere Radio Networks Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. It ...

Jacor Communications Jacor Communications was a media corporation, existing between 1987 and 1999, which owned many radio stations in the United States. In 1998, Jacor was purchased by Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia, for $2.8 billion. Jacor Communicat ...

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

, and ultimately, Bain Capital. In January 1988, Mediabase began publishing a trade magazine known as ''Monday Morning Replay'', featuring monitored airplay in the top 35 US radio markets. Mediabase then expanded its coverage to 180 US and Canadian markets. In 1992, Mediabase transitioned to delivery by data disk. In 1997, Mediabase moved its product to the Internet. Over the years, Mediabase has supplied data to numerous trade business-to-business (B-to-B) publications including

Radio & Records ''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...

, Network Magazine Group, Gavin, Hits, and Friday Morning Quarterback. Mediabase charts appear every Friday (originally every Tuesday until during the 3rd quarter of 2015) in

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

's LIFE section. Mediabase serves as the official music chart provider for USA Today, the American Music Awards, and numerous syndicated programs, such as ''

American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (previously abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacr ...

'' with

Ryan Seacrest Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American media personality and producer. He is the co-host of ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'', as well as the host of multiple media shows including ''American Idol'', ''American Top 40'', and '' ...

Charts and data

Mediabase produces song charts and airplay analyses of radio airplay in more than two dozen radio formats based on the monitoring of more than 1,800 radio stations in the US and Canada. Mediabase also monitors HD formats, video channels, and satellite radio. Published charts are used on popular business-to-business (B-to-B) and consumer websites including AllAccess, Friday Morning Quarterback, Country Aircheck, and

Hits Daily Double ''Hits'' is an American music industry trade publication. Founded by Lenny Beer and Dennis Lavinthal, who had previously worked in independent promotion, it was launched as a print magazine in August 1986. By 1997, it had become the most successf ...

. Music and entertainment industry executives gain access to in-depth charts and analyses through B-to-B exclusive access. Mediabase owns and operates Rate the Music, a service that allows consumers to rate music on a scale from 1 to 5 and whether or not they are tired of hearing the song on the radio for the radio and record industries. As of November 2022,

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

started using Mediabase to make calculations for the Radio Songs chart, which is one of the components that is used to determine chart positions in the Hot 100 charts in the United States and Canada.

Use in radio programming

Countdown

Mediabase charts are the source for the following radio countdown programs: *

with

(Top 40 and Hot AC shows). * Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40 * Country Countdown USA with Lon Helton * American Country Countdown with Kix Brooks (from 2009 to 2017) *

Crook & Chase ''Crook & Chase'' is an American television talk show hosted by Lorianne Crook and Charlie Chase, focusing primarily, but not exclusively, on country music. The pair had first worked together on the weekly syndicated program "This Week In Count ...

Country Countdown * Nikki Sixx Active Rock and Alternative Radio Countdowns *

SiriusXM Hits 1 ''Sirius XM Hits 1'' is a Top 40 radio station on Sirius XM Radio channel 2 and Dish Network channels 6002 and 099-02 (099-02 is only for Hopper users). Like most Sirius XM stations, it plays no commercials. The channel was formerly known as US-1 ...

Weekend Countdown * Smooth Jazz Top 20 Countdown with Allen Kepler

Other

Mediabase is the primary programming tool for nationally syndicated programs like

Open House Party ''Open House Party'' (often referred to as "OHP") is an American radio show hosted by Kannon (Saturday) and Joe Breezy (Sunday), branded as "The Biggest Party on the Planet!", playing contemporary hit radio, contemporary hit music. From its incep ...

, After Midnite, and Nighttime with Delilah.

Detailed description of data

US Radio

Formats monitored

* Mainstream adult contemporary * Hot adult contemporary * Mainstream top 40 * Rhythmic top 40 * Urban top 40 * Urban adult contemporary * Country *

Alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

Active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

Mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

* Adult alternative * Rhythmic adult contemporary * Adult hits * Dance *

Classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

Smooth jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...

* Christian top 40 * Christian adult contemporary * Classic hits *

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

* Regional Mexican * Spanish contemporary * Tropical * Christmas (seasonal)

Canadian radio

* Top 40 * Hot Adult Contemporary *

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

* Country * Active Rock * Alternative

References

External links

*
USA Today
— weekly charts by format
America's Music Charts
— weekly charts
AllAccess.com
— radio and music industry online community {{iHeartMedia Audience measurement Market research companies of the United States American music websites American record charts American companies established in 1985 IHeartMedia Companies based in San Antonio