Need to know: What is a Designated Market Are (DMA), and why does it matter?

As marketers, we are all too familiar with the challenge of communicating in an over-saturated marketplace. It’s like trying to have a conversation in a crowded room—you need to know exactly who you are talking to and how to get their attention. To cut through the noise, marketers need to embrace hyper-local strategies, recognizing that audience preferences and behaviors can vary dramatically not just between major markets, but even within individual neighborhoods of the same city. Understanding these nuanced local differences is key to crafting messages that truly resonate. But how do you achieve that deep understanding?

One particularly powerful approach is the use of geographically segmented data that goes beyond a national view, diving into specifics of how, when and where different audience segments consume local television content in various markets. In the U.S., the media industry often refers to Designated Market Areas® (DMAs)—proprietary geographic regions exclusively defined by Nielsen to represent specific television viewing areas.

The need for DMAs emerged in the 1950s when television began to dominate the media landscape.1 As TV stations proliferated across the country, marketers and advertisers faced a growing need to understand and define television markets for more targeted advertising purposes. Over time, this system has become a widely used resource for marketers and advertisers seeking to better understand regional audience patterns.

What exactly are DMAs?

Designated Market Areas® (DMAs) are a proprietary geography defined by Nielsen. They are non-overlapping geographic regions that group counties based on television viewing areas. Each DMA® represents an area in which local television stations capture a dominant share of viewing. There are currently 210 DMA® regions in total, covering the entire continental U.S., Hawaii, and parts of Alaska. Each year, we review all DMA® regions to determine if we should add or remove any counties from a DMA® region. These defined areas are used extensively in the television industry for audience measurement, advertising planning and media buying.

How do DMAs help advertisers?

For advertisers, certain regional metrics—such as market size, ratings, viewership patterns and consumption habits—have become instrumental in media planning and buying. Here’s how DMAs® contribute to more strategic and efficient advertising:

Targeted advertising: DMAs enable advertisers to focus campaigns on specific geographic areas. Within these defined markets, the messaging tends to align more closely with the preferences and needs of the audience within those regions. Such precise targeting helps create more relevant and engaging advertising, potentially leading to higher response rates and better ROI.

Optimized media buying: Understanding each DMA®’s unique characteristics, including viewership patterns and media consumption habits, helps advertisers make more informed decisions about ad placement timing and location. Leveraging this knowledge, they can maximize their reach while minimizing wasted impressions.

Budget allocation: A clear understanding of the size and consumer profile of each market enables more efficient use of marketing budgets. Such insight facilitates strategic resource allocation, balancing high-impact campaigns in larger, costlier markets with targeted efforts in smaller, less saturated regions to reach specific consumer groups cost-effectively.

Performance measurement: DMAs® offer a standardized geographical framework for comparing advertising campaign performance across different regions. Leveraging DMA®-level data provides insight into the areas where a campaign is performing well or falling short, offering a clear picture of its effectiveness.

What makes DMAs® essential for networks?

For broadcasters and networks, DMAs® are key geographic regions defined for television audience analysis. They help determine:

• Local audience measurement: DMAs® serve as the fundamental units for measuring local TV viewership, making them indispensable for networks and broadcasters. They offer granular, market-specific data on viewing habits and preferences, enabling their value to advertisers with precise, localized audience metrics.
• Programming decisions: By defining markets, DMAs® can help inform local programming decisions. Broadcasters and networks can better understand what programming to meet local audience preferences and demands, ensuring they provide relevant content to maximize viewership.
• Market size and reach: Each DMA® is ranked based on the number of TV households in each market. By understanding the size of each marketplace, local networks and broadcasters can make smarter decisions on ad inventory pricing and understand the context of their reach compared to competitors.

Relevance of DMAs® in the digital age

DMAs® are still highly relevant in the digital age, and in many ways, their importance has only grown. The foundational geographic segmentation provided by DMAs® remains essential for understanding regional viewing patterns and audience behavior. Even with the rise of digital platforms, consumers in different regions have distinct preferences and television consumption habits that affect how they engage with content and advertising. Far from being obsolete, DMAs® are a key component of a data-driven advertising ecosystem.

How does Nielsen help?

Nielsen’s DMA® insights are a game-changer for media buyers and sellers. By providing granular data on what people are actually watching across local markets, Nielsen helps media buyers gain confidence that their ads will reach the right audience, maximizing their impact. Media sellers can leverage this data to accurately value their inventory, demonstrating the true reach and engagement of their content.

Our unique combination of big data and person-level panel measurement captures the viewing habits of every individual, regardless of when they consume content, from primetime favorites to daytime viewing. The result? A nuanced picture of the local TV.

Curious how these insights could help maximize your local TV impact? Learn more about your DMA® reporting or get in touch with a Nielsen representative to get an accurate picture of your local audience.
Notes

1 Ponce de Leon, C. (2015). That’s the Way It Is: A History of Television News in America. The University of Chicago Press.