51 small to mid-size markets will soon (August 2009) also have Nielsen radio diaries. Diaries? Yep.
Many of the small to mid-size markets do not have a time line for the Arbitron Portable People Meter and has created the need for an alternative to Arbitron. Arbitron has primarily had a monopoly on radio ratings in large and mid-size markets. Many buyers seem to welcome the alternative. There is still a distrust in the accuracy of diaries for media measurement, but Nielsen’s ratings system seems to be a low-cost and possibly effective means to measurement in small and mid-size markets.
Nielsen believes its system to keeping diaries is a superior alternative to Arbitron – Nielsen’s diaries will include stickers with radio station call letters and frequencies on them. These stickers can be placed in the diaries, so respondents don’t have to write down each station they listen to each time they listen to it, as they do with Arbitron’s diaries.
Nielsen Radio Markets include Right Place Media’s own Lexington, KY as well as Green bay, WI and Huntsville, AL to name a few.