» Rate'll You See This: Here is the first of Arbitron's two PPM monthly ratings for April. All shares and rankings (in parentheses) are 6+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight. In addition to Atlanta, Boston, Detroit and Washington, DC, tomorrow we'll report on the first-ever PPM currency ratings for Miami, Minneapolis, Phoenix, San Diego and Seattle.

• Los Angeles: Mt. Wilson's KKGO climbed into the upper atmosphere, rising 3.1-3.3 (14t-11t), its strongest share yet and tying its best share rank in the PPM era. Go Country's cume jumped 43,900 to a record 1,244,500 (21-21).
• Chicago: The nation's No. 4-cuming station, CBS Radio's WUSN, dipped 4.0-3.8 (8-7), as audience declined 65,600 to 965,700 (14-16).
• San Francisco: Entercom's KBWF earned its best ratings and share ranking in the PPM era, advancing 2.6-2.9 (15t-14t). Remarkably, The Wolf achieved that success with its smallest cume since PPM began last July, as its weekly reach was down 20,900 to 500,500 (21-22).
• Houston: Cox's KKBQ improved for the third straight month, 4.1-4.2 (9t-8), remaining eighth in cume for the fourth straight month, though its audience slipped 2,300 to 987,700 (up from fourth to No. 3 in America). CBS Radio's KILT gained 2.7-3.0 (16-14t), earning its best share since last October. Its cume was down 32,500 to 847,800 (11-14). Cox's Classic Country KTHT was down 2.6-2.4 (17-18), but cume was up 300 listeners to 580,500 (19-18). A year ago, KKBQ had a 5.5 share (4) with 1,035,500 listeners (7), while KILT had a 4.3 (7t) with 1,010,200 cume (8) and KTHT had a 2.3 (19) with an audience of 666,800 (17).

  Among 25-54s, KKBQ declined 4.2-3.8 (8t-9t), while KILT grew 2.8-3.1 (16t-13t) to its highest share since last October, and KTHT was up 1.7-1.9 (22-22). With 18-34s, KKBQ gained 3.8-3.9, remaining tied at No. 10. KILT was steady at a 1.7 (19t-18).

• Dallas: Congrats to Cumulus' KPLX, which rose 5.5-5.6 and tied for No. 1 with Pop CHR KHKS. KPLX has been second. The Wolf's 5.6 tied the station's highest share in the PPM era, which it posted in the market's PPM debut last October. KPLX's cume, the nation's second-largest, grew 15,000 to 1,160,900 (5-4), its most since last December. Citadel's KSCS also gained, 3.7-3.8 (8-6), attracting 32,000 more listeners to total 949,600 (10-9), third-most for the station in the PPM era.
• Philadelphia: Beasley's WXTU shifted 4.0-3.9 (8t-8), with cume up 30,600 to 670,300 (16-17), its most since last November and nearly 100,000 better than January. A year ago, 'XTU had a 4.5 share (7) with 741,300 listeners (13).
• Riverside: CBS Radio's KFRG held steady at a 3.6 (8-7). Although its cume was down 13,900 to 304,100, its cume rank gained 9-8, the station's highest in the PPM era.
• San Jose: Empire's KRTY edged upward 2.4-2.5 (17-17), but posted its highest cume since last September with 153,200 (20-20), up 15,100 from March.

» Lay Down The Shaw: Former New Revolution rep David Shaw has joined Ride Records for National Promotion. He previously held the VP/Promotion post at Category 5. Ride is home of Steve Azar, whose current single "Moo La Moo" is at radio now. Shaw can be reached at 401-219-1139 or here.

» Voter Awareness: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is trailing just behind the American Red Cross in Target's Bullseye Gives campaign. Facebook members can still vote (limit one per day) until May 25 here. Each vote determines what percentage of $3 million will make a difference in the lives of St. Jude Kids.

» Kudos: The first-ever Music Row Road Race, which concluded with a Jo Dee Messina-headlined concert at Nashville's Wildhorse Saloon, raised a combined $100,000 for St. Jude Children's Hospital Saturday (5/16).

» The Happiest Place On Earth ... or at least Nashville, will be SunTrust's Music Row branch (1026 17th Ave. S.) when the 11th Annual SunTrust Hot Dog Day kicks off June 11. The event is co-hosted by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, with live music from Cal IV Entertainment and free food for all muzz buzz moochers from 11:30-2pm.

» Two Records In One: "I've been selling records for 35 years and this is probably the proudest moment of my career," UMG/Nashville Chairman Luke Lewis said as he presented a gold record to Jamey Johnson for That Lonesome Song. Guests including Little Big Town's Kimberly Schlapman and Phillip Sweet, the Oak Ridge Boys, Hank Cochran, Bill and Keith Anderson (no relation) also attended the rooftop party Tuesday (5/19) at Nashville's BMI. Johnson then delivered the shortest artist gold record speech in Nashville history: "I've been making records for four years now and this is my proudest moment, too."

» You Can't Say That On The Radio: Mercury rep Louie Newman faced a regional's worst nightmare when WKXC/Augusta, GA PD T. Gentry interviewed an "uncooperative" Jamey Johnson on-the-air. Watch as Newman inches away from the mic and hear the expletives fly here.

» That's What I Want: 19/Arista's Carrie Underwood is No. 1 on Forbes' list of "The Year's Top-Earning 'Idols,'" making $14 million last year. 19/BNA's Kellie Pickler rounds out the top five with $2.3 million. Other Idol moneymakers on the list include Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson, Jordin Sparks and Taylor Hicks, who happens to be working a country single at the moment.

» Pop Goes The Taylor: Big Machine's Taylor Swift received the BMI President's Award at the PRO's 57th Annual Pop Awards in Los Angeles. The special recognition honors an exceptional person in the entertainment industry. Swift also took home a BMI Pop Award for "Teardrops on My Guitar."

» Set Your TiVo: Tonight (5/20), Keith Urban and Steve Martin are among the celebrity guests performing on the season finale of American Idol at 8pm ET on FOX-TV. Last night (5/19), Carrie Underwood performed the Idol farewell song and Mötley Crüe cover "Home Sweet Home".

» Songs Of The Season: As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, here are some patriotic tunes to keep in mind:

• Phil Vassar/American Child
• Toby Keith/American Solider
• Trace Adkins/Arlington
• Merle Haggard/Fightin' Side Of Me
• Lee Greenwood/God Bless The U.S.A.
• Tim McGraw/If You're Reading This
• John Michael Montgomery/Letters From Home
• David Ball/Riding With Private Malone
• Josh Gracin/The Other Little Solider
• Aaron Tippin/Where The Stars And Stripes And Eagle Fly

» Fourward Thinking: In an effort to help unemployed citizens find work, Clear Channel is encouraging listeners in selected markets to submit entries online to be one of five people chosen each week to air their own station-produced 30-second radio resumes; the full-length versions of their curriculum vitae will be posted on the stations' websites for employers to review. Among the 21 CC stations participating, four are Country including WUBL/Atlanta, WDXB/Birmingham, WUSY/Chattanooga and KZSN/Wichita.

» So Tender You Can Stick A Fork In It: Cox Enterprises subsidiary Cox Media Group has completed its tender offer to buy out all the 10.3 million outstanding Class A common stock of Cox Radio not already owned by CMG. At $4.80 a share, the tender was a 45% premium over the closing price on the trading day before the offer was made. Cox Radio will now become a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises.

» The Imperfect 10: Compiled by 24/7 Wall St., Time magazine's 10 largest tech failures over the past 10 years includes Sirius XM, which is attempting a financial rebound after its July 2008 merger. Read about it here. The list also includes Gateway, HD DVD, Iridium, Palm, Segway, Microsoft's Vista, Vonage, YouTube and Zune.

» Life Note: Congrats to Capitol Sr. Dir./Media & PR Dixie Owen and her husband Glenn on the birth of their son Collier Thomas yesterday (5/19). Collier weighed in at 7 lbs 11 1/2 oz, measuring 18 1/2 inches long.