NH Arbs

[raykinsella]

Interesting that two of the three NH markets were embargoed by Arbitron today. Any thoughts?

 

[MassMusicMan]

Yeah...radio stations in NH don't make a lot of money. Arbitron charges too much money for the ratings. Therefore, the stations don't subscribe, and Arbitron doesn't tell us the 12+ numbers.

I've told this story before, but when I was at Triple X, Arbitron legitimately sent Hamilton a proposal that legitimately said, in writing, that the ratings would cost the station more money than they could make by using the numbers to sell advertising.

The reality is that small NH towns, like Burlington, are what they are. It's not New York where Hot 97 goes against Power to get ad dollars from McDonald's. The country station gets its slice from the pickup truck dealer, and the CHR gets its slice from the nightclub. Lather, rinse, repeat. Don't need ratings for that.

 

[probuttonpusher]

Is nassuas contract up for concord/lakes with arb? if so the NO ONE in the "market" buys it. watch for it to become a non market next year. it shouldnt have been one anyway, that was a massive land mass for a market. it should be a market if you can get half of the stations in half of the market.

 

[choicevoicepro.com]

Arbitron pulling out of markets rarely happens.

Radio stations are not Arbitron's only clients - hundreds of advertising agencies subscribe to ARB too.

The ad dollars for McDonald’s, Home Depot and alike may not be as big as in larger markets but dozens of national advertisers place buys in the region. And big houses like CCA, Bresette and Arnold aren’t going to just guess at the numbers.

 

[radiotony]

So, does that mean they won't be posting Concord/Lakes Region any time soon? I'm interested to see what the numbers are compared to the fall book. Interesting that 19 of the Manch stations listed in the 12-plus or Boston/Worcester stations.

Interesting that two of the three NH markets were embargoed by Arbitron today. Any thoughts?

 

[Oldbones]

So, does that mean they won't be posting Concord/Lakes Region any time soon? I'm interested to see what the numbers are compared to the fall book. Interesting that 19 of the Manch stations listed in the 12-plus or Boston/Worcester stations.

It's been pretty much that way as far back as I can remember.

 

[probuttonpusher]

Arbitron pulling out of markets rarely happens.

Radio stations are not Arbitron's only clients - hundreds of advertising agencies subscribe to ARB too.

The ad dollars for McDonald’s, Home Depot and alike may not be as big as in larger markets but dozens of national advertisers place buys in the region. And big houses like CCA, Bresette and Arnold aren’t going to just guess at the numbers.

well there is a good chance it will drop to smaller ranking, angencys were buying before the whole concord/lakes market was in the top 200.

 

[MassMusicMan]

I love how Manchester and Concord are only 18 miles apart, and yet, they're separate markets. Are Boston and Natick separate markets?

If you want to represent northern NH, be real. Call it Berlin/Lakes Region.

 

[choicevoicepro.com]

Arbitron pulling out of markets rarely happens.

well there is a good chance it will drop to smaller ranking, angencys were buying before the whole concord/lakes market was in the top 200.

Market ranking is based on population - if there was a sizeable shift in the population the market ranking may change. But it won't be due to a lack of radio clients.

Will makes a good point about the proximity of the two markets though...

 

[Oldbones]

I love how Manchester and Concord are only 18 miles apart, and yet, they're separate markets. Are Boston and Natick separate markets?

If you want to represent northern NH, be real. Call it Berlin/Lakes Region.

From what I understand, making southern Merrimack county part of the Manchester metro has been proposed any number of times, as well as including Nashua. It's always been shot down due to protests from Saga & Clear Channel (and before that Knight). Having a small metro that's basically just Manchester, and abutting suburbs gives WGIR & WZID artificially high numbers. Neither owner wants to give that up.

 

[MassMusicMan]

Easy way to circumvent that, Oldbones. Arbitron is obligated to provide its paying customers with what they specifically want, but beyond that, they can do as they please. So why don't they keep on releasing the Manchvegas numbers with the current market definition, then also release an edition that includes the expanded definition for shits and giggles? Let the ad agency see what the actual reach is of the Manchester stations.

 

[newhampshiredude]

I love how Manchester and Concord are only 18 miles apart, and yet, they're separate markets. Are Boston and Natick separate markets?

If you want to represent northern NH, be real. Call it Berlin/Lakes Region.

From what I understand, making southern Merrimack county part of the Manchester metro has been proposed any number of times, as well as including Nashua. It's always been shot down due to protests from Saga & Clear Channel (and before that Knight). Having a small metro that's basically just Manchester, and abutting suburbs gives WGIR & WZID artificially high numbers. Neither owner wants to give that up.

I have argued a couple of times before on this board that I really don't understand Saga and Clear Channel's resistance to including Nashua. I mean, look at the Boston arbs and WGIR-FM sometimes gets a 1 share and 'ZID can score even a .6 or more.This is partly because of the high listenership in and around Nashua to these Manchester stations.

Now even though I see that the companies may think the Boston stations would get high #s in nashua, I would argue that adding it to the Manchester metro would would bring in more ad dollars to the stations even if their ratings reduced to around a 10 share. They would still be high.

However, for this concern, I have suggested a Manchester-Nashua-Concord market where the relatively low Boston station ratings in the Concord market would equalize the high ones in the Nashua market and probably reduce the share of 'GIR-FM and 'ZID a little, but this market may be a top 100 market if this was done. That would make WZID and WGIR-FM a whole lot more money than they probably get now and would reflect the area that the two stations cove rnow anyways (actually, pretty much all the Manchester stations do).