Rhythmic CHR isn't exactly my cup of tea--wrong gender, wrong demo (by a mile)--but I have (just barely) enough discipline to force myself to listen to the format. It's one of the hazards of continuing to work in this fine profession at an advanced age. Truth is, there's a lot of catchy stuff, and I understand why my two 18-34 Caucasian daughters listen a lot to stations like The Beat, as well as pop-CHR stations like Island.
I would guess that if you walked along The World's Most Beautiful Beaches next month you'd hear more Spring Break Lovelies listening to The Beat--and that helps sell a shitload of beer, bar & tanning lotion commercials.
And I would guess that with a couple years of solid ratings success, now, and with the top (CC) sales crew in PC pitching it, The Beat probably bills somewhere around Island--maybe a bit less--and well behind Sunny... and way behind WPAP. Keep in mind that a couple years ago, both The Beat and PFM took chunks out of WILN. The current radio-info.com summary shows them at #6 just two books ago.
Then again, small-market selling is a relationship game, anyway. Local/direct clients take ratings with a grain of salt ("Hey, everybody says they're #1"), so it's hard to really know what's going on at street level.
Maybe Charlie has some insight...