Rihanna's 'Work' Was Radio's Most-Heard Song in Its First Day

Radio has gotten right to "Work," Rihanna's new single from her new album,Anti.

In its first day (Jan. 27), "Work" (featuringDrake) was the most-heard song on the more than 1,200 stations monitored by Nielsen Music for the Billboard Hot 100. It drew the largest audience for the day: 23.4 million audience impressions, derived from more than 2,300 first-day plays. (Impressions are calculated via a formula that multiplies plays by station ratings. I.e., a play in morning drive in New York counts more than an overnight spin in a much smaller market, due to the hefty difference in listenership.)

Put in more perspective, the 23.4 million in audience for "Work" for the day bested runner-up Justin Bieber's "Sorry" (21.7 million) and third-ranking Adele's "Hello"  (20.9 million), the latter of which has led the Radio Songs chart for 11 weeks and counting.

Notably, spins for "Work" were boosted in its first day by hourly plays on participating iHeartMedia and CBS Radio pop, rhythmic and R&B/hip-hop stations. So, while "Work" should make a strong debut on Radio Songs next week, it's highly unlikely to maintain its first-day No. 1 ranking.

Highlights of next week's Hot 100 will post on Billboard.com Monday (Feb. 1), while all charts, including the Hot 100 and Radio Songs, will post the following day (Feb. 2).