Boston Moving Back Up The Arbitron Ladder?

[Mickey37]

Mayor Menino says the U.S. Census admits undercounting Boston in the census by some 37,000 people. Boston's official population has been reset to about 596,000. Will Arbitron take notice? Should they? Being a Top Ten market is much more sell-able than a Top Twenty, after all. Discuss.

 

[Laurence Glavin]

Unless I'm mistaken, it's the METROPOLITAN area that is the final determinant of the Arbitron (or Neilsen for that matter) placement. That's why a portion of the Worcester ADI found itself included inside Boston's ADI (Area of Dominant Influence).

 

[Varulven]

Boston Globe has a front page story today re: the census


"The US Census Bureau yesterday said it had underestimated Boston's population in 2005 and released a new tally showing that the city gained residents in the first half of the decade."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/10/28/hub_population_rose_census_review_finds/

Laurence Glavin has a good point, though.

 

[rapking]

To get back into the top 10.....Just add Springfield into The Boston Metro .

 

[webcastboy]

Rapking's point isn't as flippant as you might think, either. I know a few folks that commute to Boston jobs from Springfield. And Providence, and Manchester, NH, etc etc etc. It's so expensive to live near Boston that people are going outrageously far distances to find a place to live. From a radio listening standpoint, though...it means these people are quite possibility listening to Springfield radio on their commute into Boston. I don't know the official rules for what defines a "metro area" for Arbitron, but I'd argue there's some definite blurring of the lines there.