Despite enduring significant deceleration, Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” faced no issue claiming the #1 spot on Mediabase’s official pop radio airplay chart.
“Blank Space” rises to #1 on the strength of the 16,766 spins it received during the December 7-13 tracking week. Maroon 5’s multi-week #1 “Animals,” which received 15,837 spins within that window, slips to #2.
Insofar as “Blank Space” also maintains a considerable advantage from an airplay standpoint (114.08 million vs. 102.28 million impressions), it will likely ascend to #1 on this week’s edition of the audience-driven Billboard Pop Songs chart. Billboard will announce that chart’s leader Monday evening.
“Blank Space” took seven weeks to reach the #1 spot on Mediabase’s pop radio chart. Swift’s predecessor “Shake it Off,” which was itself a very impressive performer, required eight weeks to claim the throne.
The song did, however, endure notable deceleration this week. Last week, the song added 2,884 spins to its weekly count to register as the pop radio format’s greatest gainer. This week, it gained a considerably lesser 1,216 spins. Still enough to thrust “Blank Space” into the #1 position, the spin gain was the pop format’s fifth-largest.
In addition to “Blank Space” and “Animals,” the weekly pop top 5 also includes Calvin Harris’ #3 “Blame (featuring John Newman),” Ed Sheeran’s #4 “Don’t” and Nick Jonas’ #5 “Jealous.” All three were in the top five last week, but “Blame” and “Don’t” switch places on this week’s version of the chart.