2012 Nielsen DMA Rankings

[KML0224]

When television was starting out, Hartford and New Haven were separate television markets.

It's worth noting that Hartford physically lies closer to Springfield, MA, than New Haven. Hartford was even the de-facto CBS and FOX affiliate for Springfield's market until a few years ago. My guess as to why they're separate markets? That little thing in between called the state line maybe?

The Hartford/New Haven market is basically the state of Connecticut minus Fairfield County. That county is home to Stamford, Norwalk and Danbury, none of which have a TV station licensed to them. The county is also home to Bridgeport, which has a PBS and an independent station licensed to it.

Lastly, I've also seen Hartford County (includes Hartford and New Britain) and New Haven County (includes New Haven and Waterbury) both listed as Metro counties, which rarely happens anywhere else (a so-called double metro).

 

[dhett]

It's worth noting that Hartford physically lies closer to Springfield, MA, than New Haven. Hartford was even the de-facto CBS and FOX affiliate for Springfield's market until a few years ago. My guess as to why they're separate markets? That little thing in between called the state line maybe?

That's some of the equation, but there are many other markets that cross state lines. Communities in the northeast tend to be quite a bit more insular than elsewhere, something I attribute to their development and maturation at a time when travel was much more difficult and independence was a must. Plus, higher population density means you can have a larger market in a smaller area.

On the other hand, there's the example of Yuma AZ and El Centro CA. Located about 60 miles apart, and in states about as diverse from each other in philosophy as night and day, they are nevertheless in the same market. Even so, it's market #165; lack of population forces the two communities to be lumped together, despite their political differences. In the northeast, cities 60 miles apart usually center separate markets.

Just a thought.

 

[searadiofreak]

We can argue the new Neilsen rankings till the cows come home, but it won't matter. These rankings can be important to national ad buys, and they will apply or not as such in future buys.

I think the loss of "tv households" is not entirely important. The number of tv households, comparitively is what counts.

I would also note that except for a few markets, most are in about the same place they were in previous rankings.

This new ranking is interesting, but rather innocuous. Perhaps good for bragging rights, but falling or gaining a few points means little.

 

[fortmill]

Upon looking at the 2012 rankings again, I have to believe there WAS a big shift in some of the market definitions. Austin TX, lost THREE places, yet nearby San Antonio and Waco both gained big. Las Vegas had a big jump, despite being one of the most depressed cities in the US, yet Salt Lake City had a big loss. Booming Atlanta also lost big, whereas the sleepy nearby cities of Birmingham, Macon, and Augusta all increased their rankings. Jacksonville lost while Savannah gained. Charlotte lost big while the NC Triad stepped up a notch. I bet a couple of the counties in the NC High Country made the move from Charlotte to the Triad DMA. I'd love to see a map of the 2012 markets.

 

[justpassingthough]

It's worth noting that Hartford physically lies closer to Springfield, MA, than New Haven. Hartford was even the de-facto CBS and FOX affiliate for Springfield's market until a few years ago. My guess as to why they're separate markets? That little thing in between called the state line maybe?

That's some of the equation, but there are many other markets that cross state lines. Communities in the northeast tend to be quite a bit more insular than elsewhere, something I attribute to their development and maturation at a time when travel was much more difficult and independence was a must. Plus, higher population density means you can have a larger market in a smaller area.

On the other hand, there's the example of Yuma AZ and El Centro CA. Located about 60 miles apart, and in states about as diverse from each other in philosophy as night and day, they are nevertheless in the same market. Even so, it's market #165; lack of population forces the two communities to be lumped together, despite their political differences. In the northeast, cities 60 miles apart usually center separate markets.

Just a thought.

While CA and AZ couldn't be more politically or philosophically apart, El Centro is in a conservative portion of California (Imperial County, the Inland Empire and most of Eastern California is heavily conservative), so state lines or the Colorado River in this instance, mean nearly nothing. El Centro has more in common with Yuma than it does with other parts of CA like Los Angeles.

 

[RadioDaze]

Upon looking at the 2012 rankings again, I have to believe there WAS a big shift in some of the market definitions. Austin TX, lost THREE places, yet nearby San Antonio and Waco both gained big. Las Vegas had a big jump, despite being one of the most depressed cities in the US, yet Salt Lake City had a big loss. Booming Atlanta also lost big, whereas the sleepy nearby cities of Birmingham, Macon, and Augusta all increased their rankings. Jacksonville lost while Savannah gained. Charlotte lost big while the NC Triad stepped up a notch. I bet a couple of the counties in the NC High Country made the move from Charlotte to the Triad DMA. I'd love to see a map of the 2012 markets.

The DMA maps I have seen of the Charlotte market over the years have always included three of of North Carolina's northwesternmost mountain counties--Ashe, Watauga and Avery--all of which are noticeably farther from Charlotte than DMA counties in other directions. My guess is, in the analog days, WBTV's powerful channel 3 signal from Spencer Mountain (and later a 2,000-foot tower in nearby Dallas) coupled with the high altitute of these counties likely had generations of "eyeballs" watching Charlotte TV. Ashe, Watauga, and Avery would probably fit better into the Tri-Cities market, but I douobt any counties went there judging by their big drop in rank.

 

[Markxxx]

We can argue the new Neilsen rankings till the cows come home, but it won't matter. These rankings can be important to national ad buys, and they will apply or not as such in future buys.

I think the loss of "tv households" is not entirely important. The number of tv households, comparitively is what counts.

I would also note that except for a few markets, most are in about the same place they were in previous rankings.

This new ranking is interesting, but rather innocuous. Perhaps good for bragging rights, but falling or gaining a few points means little.

You made an important point, because a lot of large national companies will simply ask to "Buy ads in the top 10 markets only." Or buy ads in the "top 25 markets only" And so forth. So while going from 9 to 10 probably won't matter crossing from 10 to 11 will most likely hurt you in the long run

 

[desertv]

Actually Yuma and El Centro are economically similar...agriculture, military(active and retired), border trade

 

[ding12]

This new ranking is interesting, but rather innocuous. Perhaps good for bragging rights, but falling or gaining a few points means little.

It's relevant for a commercial station owner that is gauging what should be it's advertising rates, or when one it is interested in buying or selling the station.

As far as the viewer and 99% of the public, it has no significance.

 

[tripinva]

The DMA maps I have seen of the Charlotte market over the years have always included three of of North Carolina's northwesternmost mountain counties--Ashe, Watauga and Avery--all of which are noticeably farther from Charlotte than DMA counties in other directions. My guess is, in the analog days, WBTV's powerful channel 3 signal from Spencer Mountain (and later a 2,000-foot tower in nearby Dallas) coupled with the high altitute of these counties likely had generations of "eyeballs" watching Charlotte TV. Ashe, Watauga, and Avery would probably fit better into the Tri-Cities market, but I douobt any counties went there judging by their big drop in rank.

The big Charlotte stations still make it up there where the other signals do not. Not as well as they once did, but they still do get up there.

- Trip

 

[wncc]

Upon looking at the 2012 rankings again, I have to believe there WAS a big shift in some of the market definitions. Austin TX, lost THREE places, yet nearby San Antonio and Waco both gained big. Las Vegas had a big jump, despite being one of the most depressed cities in the US, yet Salt Lake City had a big loss. Booming Atlanta also lost big, whereas the sleepy nearby cities of Birmingham, Macon, and Augusta all increased their rankings. Jacksonville lost while Savannah gained. Charlotte lost big while the NC Triad stepped up a notch. I bet a couple of the counties in the NC High Country made the move from Charlotte to the Triad DMA. I'd love to see a map of the 2012 markets.

The DMA maps I have seen of the Charlotte market over the years have always included three of of North Carolina's northwesternmost mountain counties--Ashe, Watauga and Avery--all of which are noticeably farther from Charlotte than DMA counties in other directions. My guess is, in the analog days, WBTV's powerful channel 3 signal from Spencer Mountain (and later a 2,000-foot tower in nearby Dallas) coupled with the high altitute of these counties likely had generations of "eyeballs" watching Charlotte TV. Ashe, Watauga, and Avery would probably fit better into the Tri-Cities market, but I douobt any counties went there judging by their big drop in rank.

Being a native of that area, I remember in the early 90's when congress was establishing "must carry" people in that area were in an uproar because we were going to be put in the Tri-Cities DMA. People wrote the congressman to make sure that those counties stayed in a North Carolina market. I remember OTA in the analog days we could pick up stations from Charlotte and the Tri-Cities as well as Winston-Salem/Greensboro/High Point. We just didn't want to get news from Tri-Cities because those stations were focused on Tennessee and pretty much ignored NC.

 

[nomadcowatbk]

Packers fans in Western WI don't like being in Minnesota DMAs

 

[kilamanjero]

Upon looking at the 2012 rankings again, I have to believe there WAS a big shift in some of the market definitions. Austin TX, lost THREE places, yet nearby San Antonio and Waco both gained big. Las Vegas had a big jump, despite being one of the most depressed cities in the US, yet Salt Lake City had a big loss. Booming Atlanta also lost big, whereas the sleepy nearby cities of Birmingham, Macon, and Augusta all increased their rankings. Jacksonville lost while Savannah gained. Charlotte lost big while the NC Triad stepped up a notch. I bet a couple of the counties in the NC High Country made the move from Charlotte to the Triad DMA. I'd love to see a map of the 2012 markets.

Yeah, the Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville market is now the largest DMA in the Carolinas.

 

[formeraa]

You made an important point, because a lot of large national companies will simply ask to "Buy ads in the top 10 markets only." Or buy ads in the "top 25 markets only" And so forth. So while going from 9 to 10 probably won't matter crossing from 10 to 11 will most likely hurt you in the long run

I disagree. Most companies now are much more sophisticated than that with their advertising. They are concerned about demographics. They look for the target audience for their product (e.g. females 35-54) and advertise on specific programs and cable networks with that specific audience.

 

[Markxxx]

You made an important point, because a lot of large national companies will simply ask to "Buy ads in the top 10 markets only." Or buy ads in the "top 25 markets only" And so forth. So while going from 9 to 10 probably won't matter crossing from 10 to 11 will most likely hurt you in the long run

I disagree. Most companies now are much more sophisticated than that with their advertising. They are concerned about demographics. They look for the target audience for their product (e.g. females 35-54) and advertise on specific programs and cable networks with that specific audience.

While you're are correct that companies are concerned about demographics, they still want to maximize their dollars. This is done by block selling. They are not going to be concerned at all with smaller markets because the ROT (return on dollar) makes no difference in the long wrong. This is why major ad agencies still will buy blocks of a particular demographic but limit it to "the top ten markets only." (or whatever)

A drop from 10 to 11 hurts a station a lot, because so man advertisers won't look beyond this. Think of it this way, do you look past the first or second page on a Google search. Most of us don't, SEO tells you 90% of us don't. Same thing applies in ad sales.

If I only have a budget of a million dollars I'm going to devote the biggest part of that to MY demographic in the largest block. Which is usually the top ten markets. Of course specialized companies will adjust it (let's say none of their stores are in a top ten market), but the principle applies.

You are right, demographics are what they want, but they buy in blocks, when it comes to advertising on a national level.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Upon looking at the 2012 rankings again, I have to believe there WAS a big shift in some of the market definitions. Austin TX, lost THREE places, yet nearby San Antonio and Waco both gained big. Las Vegas had a big jump, despite being one of the most depressed cities in the US, yet Salt Lake City had a big loss. Booming Atlanta also lost big, whereas the sleepy nearby cities of Birmingham, Macon, and Augusta all increased their rankings. Jacksonville lost while Savannah gained. Charlotte lost big while the NC Triad stepped up a notch. I bet a couple of the counties in the NC High Country made the move from Charlotte to the Triad DMA. I'd love to see a map of the 2012 markets.

The DMA maps I have seen of the Charlotte market over the years have always included three of of North Carolina's northwesternmost mountain counties--Ashe, Watauga and Avery--all of which are noticeably farther from Charlotte than DMA counties in other directions. My guess is, in the analog days, WBTV's powerful channel 3 signal from Spencer Mountain (and later a 2,000-foot tower in nearby Dallas) coupled with the high altitute of these counties likely had generations of "eyeballs" watching Charlotte TV. Ashe, Watauga, and Avery would probably fit better into the Tri-Cities market, but I douobt any counties went there judging by their big drop in rank.

Being a native of that area, I remember in the early 90's when congress was establishing "must carry" people in that area were in an uproar because we were going to be put in the Tri-Cities DMA. People wrote the congressman to make sure that those counties stayed in a North Carolina market. I remember OTA in the analog days we could pick up stations from Charlotte and the Tri-Cities as well as Winston-Salem/Greensboro/High Point. We just didn't want to get news from Tri-Cities because those stations were focused on Tennessee and pretty much ignored NC.

I always found it strange that there was so much emphasis on those areas on all these stations. And they run weather bulletins for those counties too.

 

[kilamanjero]

Upon looking at the 2012 rankings again, I have to believe there WAS a big shift in some of the market definitions. Austin TX, lost THREE places, yet nearby San Antonio and Waco both gained big. Las Vegas had a big jump, despite being one of the most depressed cities in the US, yet Salt Lake City had a big loss. Booming Atlanta also lost big, whereas the sleepy nearby cities of Birmingham, Macon, and Augusta all increased their rankings. Jacksonville lost while Savannah gained. Charlotte lost big while the NC Triad stepped up a notch. I bet a couple of the counties in the NC High Country made the move from Charlotte to the Triad DMA. I'd love to see a map of the 2012 markets.

The DMA maps I have seen of the Charlotte market over the years have always included three of of North Carolina's northwesternmost mountain counties--Ashe, Watauga and Avery--all of which are noticeably farther from Charlotte than DMA counties in other directions. My guess is, in the analog days, WBTV's powerful channel 3 signal from Spencer Mountain (and later a 2,000-foot tower in nearby Dallas) coupled with the high altitute of these counties likely had generations of "eyeballs" watching Charlotte TV. Ashe, Watauga, and Avery would probably fit better into the Tri-Cities market, but I douobt any counties went there judging by their big drop in rank.

Being a native of that area, I remember in the early 90's when congress was establishing "must carry" people in that area were in an uproar because we were going to be put in the Tri-Cities DMA. People wrote the congressman to make sure that those counties stayed in a North Carolina market. I remember OTA in the analog days we could pick up stations from Charlotte and the Tri-Cities as well as Winston-Salem/Greensboro/High Point. We just didn't want to get news from Tri-Cities because those stations were focused on Tennessee and pretty much ignored NC.

I always found it strange that there was so much emphasis on those areas on all these stations. And they run weather bulletins for those counties too.

Well, Charlotte TV stations does a better job that some other Southern markets like Atlanta, whom will completely ignore some of the outlying counties in its DMA. Even during severe weather events, there have been times where they have ignored the 2 East Alabama counties and the 1 in North Carolina.

 

[dave73]

Well, Charlotte TV stations does a better job that some other Southern markets like Atlanta, whom will completely ignore some of the outlying counties in its DMA. Even during severe weather events, there have been times where they have ignored the 2 East Alabama counties and the 1 in North Carolina.

Living in market #3 (Chicago), I know exactly what you're talking about. Most of the news revolves around Chicago & some nearby suburbs, while mostly ignoring the Indiana side (even outer counter on the Illinois side). For weather, they do focus on most counties, but overall talks about Chicago & nearby suburbs. PBS station WYIN Gary/Merrillville Indiana has a low budget news show during the week to report news for NW Indiana (very little news is on Chicago). Their news overall comes the Northwest Indiana Times. They also have weather that comes from Accuweather (at least they disclose it, while Chicago stations might use Accuweather, but don't disclose it). LaPorte County is completely ignored by Chicago stations, that the South Bend stations tend to report the news more toward LaPorte County residents than Chicago stations do, but LaPorte County Indiana is part of the Chicago DMA. With satellite, they're only allowed to carry Chicago stations, while cable must carry South Bend full power stations, due to the significantly viewed status that South Bend stations have in LaPorte County Indiana (not sure if cable carries low power stations from South Bend, due to most of them barely reaching LaPorte & Michigan City in LaPorte County Indiana).

 

[BRNout]

Well, Charlotte TV stations does a better job that some other Southern markets like Atlanta, whom will completely ignore some of the outlying counties in its DMA. Even during severe weather events, there have been times where they have ignored the 2 East Alabama counties and the 1 in North Carolina.

Living in market #3 (Chicago), I know exactly what you're talking about. Most of the news revolves around Chicago & some nearby suburbs, while mostly ignoring the Indiana side (even outer counter on the Illinois side). For weather, they do focus on most counties, but overall talks about Chicago & nearby suburbs. PBS station WYIN Gary/Merrillville Indiana has a low budget news show during the week to report news for NW Indiana (very little news is on Chicago). Their news overall comes the Northwest Indiana Times. They also have weather that comes from Accuweather (at least they disclose it, while Chicago stations might use Accuweather, but don't disclose it). LaPorte County is completely ignored by Chicago stations, that the South Bend stations tend to report the news more toward LaPorte County residents than Chicago stations do, but LaPorte County Indiana is part of the Chicago DMA. With satellite, they're only allowed to carry Chicago stations, while cable must carry South Bend full power stations, due to the significantly viewed status that South Bend stations have in LaPorte County Indiana (not sure if cable carries low power stations from South Bend, due to most of them barely reaching LaPorte & Michigan City in LaPorte County Indiana).

Yes, I feel for people who live in NW Indiana. There is never any news coverage on Chicago stations of any state news from Indiana. Frankly, most of the news seems to come from Cook County anyway. Where I live, in Lake County, is generally ignored aside from weather as well. However, at least we do get in-state political coverage. I don't think I've ever seen one Chicago station cover a story about Indiana's governor, senators, state budget, tax policies or anything else like that.

Those of you who live in Lake County, IN and who can't get South Bend affiliates are screwed as far as news is concerned.

 

[kilamanjero]

WOW! Now that's an insult to add to injury, indeed! Chicago KNOWS that those NW Indiana counties are apart of their urbanized area, so why would just ignore them although. It's bad enough if they do it to them also other metro counties as well. It's kind of sad how in the nation's #3 largest TV market stations have yet to figure out how to functionally operate and use news bureaus in their vast urbanized area, let alone DMA.