Hot 100 Airplay (Radio Songs) - Chart Data Collection

Chart Data Collection

The Hot 100 Airplay chart is a weekly chart that ranks the 100 songs with the most airplay points (frequently referred to as audience impressions, which is a calculation of the number of times a song is played and the audience size of the station playing the tune). A song can pick up an airplay point every time it is selected to be played on specific radio stations that Billboard monitors. Radio stations across the board are used, from Top 40 Mainstream (which plays a wide variety of music that is generally the most popular songs of the time) to more genre-specific radio stations such as urban radio and country music.

During the early years of the chart, only airplay data from top 40 radio stations (mainstream, adult pop and rhythmic), adult contemporary and modern rock formats are compiled to generate the chart. However, starting from chart issue of December 5, 1998, the chart profile has expanded to include airplay data from radio stations of other formats such as R&B, rock and country. To preserve the notion of the former chart, Top 40 Tracks chart was introduced on the same week.

Per Billboard (as of December 2009):

"1,258 stations, comprised of top 40, adult contemporary, R&B/hip-hop, country, rock, gospel, smooth jazz, Latin and Christian formats, are electronically monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This data is used to compile The Billboard Hot 100."

The chart was first published as a 30-position chart on October 20, 1984. It was expanded to 40 positions on May 31, 1986, and to 75 positions on December 8, 1990.