In the course of business, no longer offering radio measurement services to a particular market is an occurrence that’s not exceptionally rare. Sometimes, it’s based on the inability to get a substantial percentage of a market’s radio station owners to subscribe to a Nielsen Audio report.
The Spring 2020 audience estimates for nine markets will be the last for Nielsen Audio. But, it has nothing to do with its “optimization plan,” announced in early July.
RBR+TVBR has confirmed that Nielsen Audio will no longer be providing audience measurement reports for Battle Creek, Mich.; Bend, Ore.; Billings, Mont.; Grand Junction, Colo.; New Bedford-Fall River, Mass.; Texarkana, Tex.-Ark.; Richland-Kennewick-Pasco, Wash.; Twin Falls-Sun Valley, Idaho; and Yakima, Wash.
While this presents an opportunity for Eastlan Ratings, Nielsen was very clear in its reason for discontinuing the reports.
““Like most commercial businesses, Nielsen Audio continually reviews the economic viability of doing business in all markets,” Nielsen said in a statement offered to RBR+TVBR. “If the audio marketplace in select markets cannot financially support measurement, we discontinue producing our syndicated market report in those markets. That is just business as usual, [and] the typical expansion and contraction of our rated audio market list, which is the case with these nine markets.”
For subscribers, the data may be used for six months after the report’s distribution.
While Nielsen on July 7 said it is shedding some 3,500 jobs across the globe as it reassesses its “underperforming markets” and non-core businesses between now and the end of 2020, these downsizing efforts are wholly being seen outside of the U.S., a source close to the matter tells RBR+TVBR.
Nielsen shares finished Monday’s trading at $14.79 — better than the $11.85 closing price seen April 1 but off from a year-to-date high of $22.25 seen on February 20, before COVID-19 pandemic concerns put a damper of Nielsen’s business operations across the globe.
