Interep Report Shows Diversity Within Top 10 Radio Metros.

Interep released the latest update today of its “Marketing Differences in the Top 10 Radio Metros” report.

The report shows that contrasts abound within the nation’s largest media metros in the areas such as ethnic population, income levels and age skews.

— Size of the metros varies from 14.5 million in New York, to 3.7 million in Houston.

— Average age ranges from a high of 39 years in New York, to 33 years in Houston. The average age in the total U.S. in 36.6 years.

— Washington DC tops the list with a median income of $75,363. Los Angeles comes in 10th with a $50,969 median.

— Washington DC also has the highest percentage college graduates (36.8%), following by San Francisco (34.8%). Detroit
has 18.1% college graduates.

— Due to its heavy concentration of government and high tech workers, Washington DC tops the list in its percentage of
on-line users at 71%. New York comes in at 52%.

— Ethnic compositions also vary dramatically. In Los Angeles, 38% of the population is Hispanic, compared to 2% in Detroit.

African-Americans represent 25% of Washington DC’s population, but just 6% of Boston’s population.

For national advertisers, these differences augment the problem of managing an effective marketing campaign across markets. Debbie Durben, President of the Interep Marketing Group, said, “Because of these tremendous differences in demographics and ethnic composition, national advertisers could benefit from the market-specific campaign ‘tweaks’ that are possible by combining spot radio with other national media.”

One consistency arose — median household income rose in all top metros from 1999 to 2000, for an average increase of 5%. The largest gains were seen in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Chicago.

For more information at http://www.interep.com.