The Christmas holiday — and the arrival of year-end countdowns — may throw the pop radio airplay chart for a loop over the next few days.
As it currently stands, however, Selena Gomez’ “Same Old Love” is tracking ahead of Adele’s “Hello” in the battle for pop radio’s runner-up position (behind Justin Bieber’s “Sorry,” which is expected to repeat as #1).
Gomez’ tune received 10,505 pop radio spins during the first four days of the December 20-26 tracking week. Up 6.1% from the same point last week, the count positions “Same Old Love” at #2 on Mediabase’s building pop airplay chart.
Played 10,417 times during that same four-day period (-3.2%), “Hello” is #3 on the building chart.
Given their current trajectories — Gomez’ song is still gaining airplay, while Adele’s song is losing it — one would typically consider “Same Old Love” a lock to hold its #2 position through the conclusion of the week. The impact of Christmas and year-end countdowns, as noted, makes things trickier. It is therefore too early to make any definitive declarations about how the two songs will appear on this week’s official chart.
“Same Old Love” was #3 on last week’s official chart. “Hello” was #2.
Justin Bieber’s “Sorry,” which officially reached #1 last week, is again tracking as the pop format’s #1 song. It received a format-leading 11,213 spins during the week’s first four days.