A critical part of executing an effective public relations plan is reaching your client’s target demographic audience. A demographic audience is a particular socio-economic group containing specific traits, including gender, age, income, education, and location.
How can information about the Top 100 Media Markets be Used?
The top 100 media markets in the United States are the largest of what are known as DMAs. These are geographical areas where Nielsen measures local media consumption. There are 210 television markets and 253 radio markets. Radio “metro” markets are smaller than DMAs because the area that’s surveyed and reported doesn’t extend as far from the central city area as a DMA. Radio statistics are similar to television statistics and include critical demographic profiles for radio stations’ listening audiences in every market. Your clients’ target market may be broad or quite limited and specific, depending on their products and services. Access to information and listenership patterns in the top 100 markets is critical whether your client is located in a top 10 media market or market 100.
Using carefully targeted demographic information, you can develop a cost-effective campaign reaching the maximum potential audience.
What are the Top 10 Media Markets?
You might guess some of these top 10 media markets, but others may be unexpected. Here’s how they stack up.
- New York, NY
- Los Angeles, CA
- Chicago, IL
- Philadelphia, PA
- Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX
- San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA
- Atlanta, GA
- Houston, TX
- Washington (Hagerstown), DC-MD
- Boston (Manchester), M.A.
You’ll see that some markets are comprised of one, two, or even three cities. A market not only includes the city center — it may also include the suburbs and surrounding counties. Markets are essentially the trade area where urban, suburban, and rural residents receive the same radio station or TV signals. Market rank is determined by the size of the population of each of these areas.
The Effect of COVID-19 on Radio Listening
Some 93% of Americans listen to radio every week. Radio audiences listening from home increased in 2020 as more employees became remote workers. Businesses instituted COVID safety measures for essential workers who returned to commuting back and forth to work and tuning into radio. More trends: smart speakers are replacing traditional radios, and apps on smartphones and streaming on computers continue to boost listenership. All signs point to radio continuing to shine as one of the most consistent and cost-effective media options for public relations campaigns.
The Top 25 Media Markets
As we examine the Top 25 media markets, we might be surprised by what markets make up the remaining 15 slots from the Top 25 media markets.
- Florida ranks third in population and contains 3 of the Top 25 media markets – #13, Tampa-St. Petersburg, #17, Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, and #18, Miami-Fort Lauderdale.
- Minnesota ranks 22nd in population, but Minneapolis-St. Paul comes in at #14 among the Top 25 media markets.
- Oregon is the bottom half of the population, ranking #27, but Portland, OR, ranks a solid #21 in radio markets.
Take time to study the numbers and audiences of the Top 25 media markets. You may be surprised when you learn that you or one of your clients are located in a Top 25 media market.
Rounding Out the Top 50 Media Markets
Fifty states and fifty top US media markets — but many states don’t have a city in the Top 50 Media Markets.
- Utah is #30 in population, and Salt Lake City ranks as #30 in top media markets.
- Alabama ranks #24 in population, yet Birmingham-Anniston-Tuscaloosa comes in at #45 in the Top 50 media markets.
- Florida has additional top markets with West Palm Beach-Fort Pierce coming in at #39 and Jacksonville at #43.
Whether targeting a Top 10, Top 25, or Top 50 media market, opportunities abound for creating effective, cost-efficient public relations campaigns for your clients.
How Does Access to the Top 100 Media Markets Help a Public Relations Campaign?
Public relations firms depend on radio as a valued part of media campaigns. Radio’s ability to target and provide very specific demographics along with nationwide distribution are big reasons why it continues to be so successful. With a wide number of formats ranging from pop to adult contemporary, urban to country, and news/talk to Spanish language, radio has something for virtually every person in the United States. This means you can disseminate content for a nationwide campaign, as well as target your intended audience by age, sex, location, and ethnicity.
Call Us to Learn More
MediaTracks Communications specializes in audio communications for public relations. We are a turn-key firm guiding the placement of media content through targeted demographics or nationwide distribution. We provide highly experienced content producers and full-service production capabilities.
Email us at info@mediatracks.com or call us at 847-299-9500. We’ll answer your questions about targeting the Top 100 media markets.
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