Nielsen Monitor-Plus Announces Expanded Measurement for Spot Radio.

Nielsen Monitor-Plus announced an increase in spot radio coverage. Now measuring almost 60% of all radio advertising spending, Monitor-Plus continues to be the only national multi-media provider of brand-level detail for spot radio in the U.S.

Monitor-Plus now monitors radio in the top 39 markets, (up from 26 markets last year) Employing state-of-the-art electronic fingerprinting technology Monitor-Plus measures 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, covering an average of 20 stations per market (with many markets having more than 25 stations), clients will continue to have a more complete view of local radio advertising.

According to Rob Frydlewicz, VP Director of Research for Carat USA, “We are very pleased that Monitor-Plus listens to client suggestions for enhancing its service; a deeper list of radio markets was one of the top requests on Carat’s wish list. Not only will this improvement enable us to have better intelligence about local radio, but it will provide our clients with better information about how their competitors are using the medium. Most importantly, it gives us the ability to help our clients make better decisions. We applaud Monitor-Plus for its innovative approach as advancements continue to be made to the technology it utilizes and the media and markets it measures expands”.

As a result of this radio expansion, Monitor-Plus’s measurement now includes 63 Spanish-Language stations in 21 markets, nearly doubling the number of stations and markets measured last year. These 21 markets represent approximately 65% of Total Spanish-Language households.

Jeff King, SVP & Managing Director for Monitor-Plus says, “The addition of 13 markets brings our total number of reported radio stations to almost 800. We are pleased to continue to provide our clients with expanded and more representative data”.

The top 10 radio advertisers among Total U.S. and Spanish-Language Stations are listed in the charts below. Verizon Communications was the largest Spot Radio advertiser, with $9,433 million in advertising for January 2006. Two television networks ranked within the top 10 (FOX and ABC), as did two home centers/hardware stores (Lowe’s and The Home Depot). Also among the top 10 are two automobile vendors (Toyota and Chevrolet). Similarly, two television networks ranked within the top 10 among Spanish-Language Stations (Univision and TeleFutura), with Univision being the top advertiser for January 2006 with $1,846 million in expenditures. Also among the top advertisers in Spanish-Language stations are two telecommunication companies (Verizon and Sprint Nextel) and the same automobile vendors (Toyota and Chevrolet) as in the Total U.S. measured universe.

Beginning in January 2006, Monitor-Plus expands measurement of radio advertising to 39 markets, including 13 new markets*:

Atlanta
Baltimore
Boston
Charlotte*
Chicago
Cincinnati
Cleveland*
Columbus*
Dallas Denver Detroit
Honolulu
Houston
Indianapolis
Kansas City*
Las Vegas*
Los Angeles
Miami
Milwaukee*
Minneapolis Nashville
New York City
Orlando
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Pittsburgh*
Portland*
Providence*
Raleigh-Durham*
Sacramento* Salt Lake City*
San Antonio
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle St.
Louis
Tampa
Washington, DC
West Palm Beach*

To view charts CLICK above on “More Images’.