Not to be redundant, but it’s another winning month for WLTW/Lite-FM.

The Clear Channel number one mainstay kept residence in its familiar spot with a 7.6 in the overall Arbitron ratings. That’s a .4 boost from January.

By contrast, WCBS-FM slipped to a 6.2 in the current PPM.

• Related: FishbowlNY, Radio Ratings Status Quo: WLTW Remains Number One Overall

WBLS also dropped by .2 to 5.5, while WHTZ/Z100 lost .3 to 5.1.

WINS was next with 4.7, a .2 gain. Sister station WCBS 880 also saw a .2 upgrade to 3.8.

The big news is tracking NASH-FM/WNSH, the city’s first Country station in more than 15 years. NASH in its first full ratings survey notched a 1.6. Just below NASH was ESPN’s WEPN-FM at 1.3, a drop from 1.6. More dramatically, ESPN has lost a point since November.

• Related: FishbowlNY, NASH-FM 94.7 Welcomes First Air Personalities

WFAN-FM kept its distance from its rival. But the ‘FAN, which simulcasts on 660 AM and 101.9 FM, had an uncharacteristic drop of 1.2 to 2.5 for February.

There’s more from the monthly ratings after the jump.

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When legendary rock jock Carol Miller was approached to write her memoirs, she knew it couldn’t be a tell-all book. But the introspective broadcaster would have to open up about her life. She agreed and Up All Night: My Life and Times in Rock Radio by Ecco Press was created. The autobiography has two recurring themes: her serious health problems, that were hereditary, and the lighter dalliances with famous rockers.

Miller has been part of New York radio at WNEW-FM, WPLJ and WAXQ/Q 104.3 since the Watergate scandal grew forty years ago this summer.

Related: FishbowlNY, Q104.3′s Carol Miller ‘Just as Enthusiastic’ After Nearly 40 Years in New York Radio

“I realized if I was going to do it that I would have to get more personal,” Miller tells FishbowlNY. “But on the other hand, I really didn’t feel that I, for the most part, had to say anything embarrassing.”

When a sensitive topic was broached, an alleged case of sexual harassment by a program director, she left out the name.

Miller made the decision to create a cultural chronicle through her eyes of the last half of the 20th Century.

“It was about a person from a particular ethnic background, who jumps right into the frying pan with the media and everything that’s going on in this country,” Miller says.

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Haven’t seen enough of Scott and Todd? If yes, you’ll like this post. The longtime WPLJ morning duo of Scott Shannon and Todd Pettengill will be back for another season of Dish Nation, seen here on My9/WWOR. The nightly 30-minute entertainment/gossip show has been picked for 2013-14 by Fox for its O&Os. It also is being picked up by other syndicators throughout the country.

Scott and Todd are part of the rotating air personalities featured on Dish Nation.

Rickey Smiley based in Atlanta and Kidd Kraddick, out of Dallas, round out the show.

The tree is now mulch and the lights are back in the attic. But the holidays aren’t over until Arbitron releases its seasonal ratings… and it has!.

Lite-FM/WLTW got a big boost from its annual Christmas programming. The Clear Channel perennial number one had an 11.3 for the holidays, up from an 8.4 in December.

By contrast, number two remains WCBS-FM, which slipped .2 to 6.6.

WBLS is still a powerhouse with new YMF owners. The Urban station stands at number three with a 5.9, although losing .2 for the book.

But Z100/WHTZ had a .5 drop to 4.6.

Spanish station WSKQ was next at 4.5, off .3 from December’s figures. Rival WXNY was also on the negative side of the ledger (.1) at 4.2.

WINS saw gains, jumping .5 to 4.2. WCBS 880 slipped .1 to 3.5.

In the sports on FM battle, WFAN is the clear winner! The original all-sports station registered a 3.1, off .1, while WEPN (ESPN)/98.7, is still trying to find its footing on FM. It scored no gains at 1.8.

Also of note, the final rating for WOR under the ownership of Buckley Radio, was 1.1, down .4.

Cumulus made waves this week with the flip to Country at 94.7. That station hasn’t made the survey yet, but the company’s WPLJ was 2.3, off .3. WABC dropped .6 to 2.2.

Cumulus ended its WPLJ simulcast with new acquisition 94.7. The station with call letters WRXP began the final push before it debuts the new format.

The station will unveil its format of choice tomorrow morning, fittingly at 9:47 a.m.

Until that time, Cumulus is having some fun with listeners. In an entertaining stunt called “Wheel of Formats,” it is spending the weekend spinning the wheel of possible genres. Some are serious contenders, while others are completely throwing everyone off.

For example, the short previews take listeners from a Michael Jackson station to all Disco music. There was the comedy format, and separately “Weird” Al Yankovic and his pop parodies, along with a Beatles “Fab Format.” Those are in the extremely unlikely category, as are the 24/7 polka tunes.

But, a stronger contender is a country format. The “wheel” landed on a pair of country possibilities–one featuring Nashville “legends,” with the other highlighting current artists.

• Related: Cumulus Begins 94.7 Ownership with Simulcast of WPLJ

Also, on the station during this weekend was the whimisical all-New Jersey music, with songs from Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, and Whitney Houston. Her signature, I’ll Always Love You segued into a Love Songs format.

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There are dozens of radio traffic reporters in the New York market. Many of them could be deemed “interchangable” with a cookie cutter sound. Only a select few in the last 20 years have been able to make a career, and be known to a large number of listeners. And then there’s Jeff McKay!

McKay is clearly the most engaging traffic reporter in the business. Therefore, his stock is constantly on the rise. After many years as a full-time gridlock guy on 1010 WINS, mainly nights and weekends, McKay landed as the morning traffic anchor with a managerial role at Merlin Media’s ill-conceived, FM News. But McKay has never been ill-conceived. His reports stay true every 10 minutes, never crossing into gimmicky. He straddles a line effortlessly from entertaining to informing like few in the traffic world have ever done.

Once the writing was on the wall at Merlin last year, and Merlin fired the majority of its staff, McKay began his quest for the next radio home.

“I was looking at a number of scenarios, in radio, television and outside of broadcasting, and had received several offers I liked,” McKay admits. “However, the possibilities with Radiate Media and Cumulus was the best position for me and my family.”

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Longtime WPLJ overnight jock Dave Stewart is now keeping listeners up all night on WCBS-FM. In a radio industry where pre-dawn voicetracking is the norm, particularly on music stations, Stewart is delighted to be live each weeknight on the Classic Hits mainstay.

“CBS-FM is my dream station, so I can’t even express how honored I am to work under that logo,” Stewart tells FishbowlNY.

It’s a change for CBS-FM where Joe Causi was on “tape” during overnight. When Causi was promoted to evenings, music director Lenny Bloch handled the voicetracking duties.

“The people at CBS/New York have welcomed me like family,” Stewart says. “I will do my best to uphold the legacy.”

Stewart debuted on CBS-FM Friday morning.

After 22 years at his station, Stewart left WPLJ in October 2011, as part of layoffs at the Cumulus New York cluster.

Cumulus has added a third station to its New York stable. WFME, the Religion station part of evangelist Harold Camping‘s Family Stations, covers much of the New York area from a West Orange, New Jersey tower.

WFME, a Newark based station, joins WPLJ and WABC under the Cumulus ownership.

All Access reports the deal is for an undisclosed price.

“This strategic acquisition of our second FM in the nation’s largest market will enable us to provide compelling new programming for our listeners and a powerful marketing vehicle for our advertising partners,” said Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey said in a statement.

The acquistion is expected to be completed by the end of the year, with format plans to be released at that time.

It’s no news that WLTW/Lite FM is the city’s top-rated station. The September Arbitron overall ratings show Lite FM increasing its audience slightly to 7.2.

However, its cushion is slipping. WCBS-FM is back in second place, within .6 of the Clear Channel mainstay. CBS’ Classic Hits offering had an impressive month, gaining .5 after dropping to third position for August.

CBS-FM leapfrogs WBLS, which took a .5 nosedive to 5.8.

As for WHTZ/Z100, a perennial Top 5 participant, is fourth but fell .6 for the month. Its sister station WKTU also went in negative territory, also lost .3 to stand at 4.7.

It’s a steady month for Spanish station WSKQ, holding at 4.2. It’s rival WXNY saw slight gains to 3.8.

Erasing the memory of WEMP and FM News, Merlin’s Alternative Rocker WRXP jumped .5 to 2.1. As a news station, WEMP never eclipsed a .6.

Among current news stations, WINS was tops with a 3.9, although down .2 for September. WCBS 880 had a .4 leap to 3.5.

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Get out the pancake makeup, here we go again!

Dish Nation, the entertainment and gossip show, which first launched as a summer tryout in 2011, is premiering September 10. It returns to WWOR/Channel 9, and most important, WPLJ’s Scott Shannon and Todd Pettengill are, once again part of the cast.

The show separates itself from the overabundance of entertainment magazine shows by featuring radio personalities from across the country as the stars from their own broadcasts.

The show, seen on Fox stations nationwide, airs on WWOR nightly at 6.

Scott and Todd, together on WPLJ for more than 20 years, told FishbowlNY prior to the Dish Nation debut last summer they won’t act like TV stars on radio.

“The only thing we do differently is we have makeup on,” Shannon admitted.