Chicago radio ratings: Country station WUSN rises in June rankings

It's been the summer of street races, cowboy hats and, now, country music radio.

What's happening: US-99 (WUSN-FM) has jumped up the charts to No. 5 in local radio ratings for June.

Context: The top 40 country music format has historically performed well in the area, but June saw US-99 jump almost half a percentage point, leap-frogging stalwarts like V-103 and The Mix.

Yes, but: Make no mistake, Chicago remains a solid rock town with WLIT and WDRV dominating for another month.

The losers: Talk radio, again. June saw WBEZ-FM and WGN-AM tumble out of the top 10. WBEZ started the year with a 3.9 but dropped to a 2.5 in June — the worst ratings loss in 2023.

What to watch: July may bring more gains for US-99 as it's the month we hosted both the NASCAR street race and the country-heavy Windy City Smokeout.

• Also with the Cubs starting to make a move, The Score could finally get that summer baseball bump.

Of note: These ratings don't break down precisely when people are tuning in, nor specific listener demographics.

Full disclosure: Axios' Justin Kaufmann has worked for a number of these stations.