Atlanta ahead of Detroit in Arbitron rankings

[BRENT]

http://www.arbitron.com/downloads/redbook_fa06.pdf

Detroit has fallen to 10.         

[brian4]

And according to that website, Boston is less than 50,000 eyes/ears away from Detroit. So will Beantown overtake Motown within a year? 

Go Tigers!

[fred flintstone]

Boston dropped out of the Top 10 last year.

People have been moving South for decades and Southern cities have been gaining population.  Of course, people are moving out of Detroit faster than other rust Northern cities.  Time was Detroit was number five.  Boston is a liveable, but expensive, city.  People go to college there and many never want to leave.  Lots of well-paying high tech jobs.  Still, I'd put my money on Miami moving into the Top 10 shortly.

[Frasier]

Still, I'd put my money on Miami moving into the Top 10 shortly.

Barring a hurricane, of course. (God forbid.)

[Kevin]

Someone started a thread about the population shifts in America. It was very interesting.

The West and American South are growing, while the Midwest and Northeast are losing residents.

Do you think New York will lose its top spot in rankings someday?

[BRENT]

Someone started a thread about the population shifts in America. It was very interesting.

The West and American South are growing, while the Midwest and Northeast are losing residents.

Do you think New York will lose its top spot in rankings someday?

DEFINITELY,  It will be Los Angeles.

[fred flintstone]

Keep Detroit in the Top 10.

The rankings are for MSAs (Metro Survey Areas).
Metro Areas a defined by the Census Bureau and definitions are subject to change, sometimes as a result of political pressure and influence.

Get the Census Bureau (and therefore Arbitron) to include Washtenaw County in the Detroit Metro Area.
Currently it's the Ann Arbor Metro Area (including only Washtenaw County) - Market 147 with 297,100 people 12 or older.
That's more than enough to put Detroit ahead of Atlanta and Washington, making Detroit the number eight market with Detroit radio getting all those extra bucks that go to stations in the top 10 markets.

Check the Ann Arbor ratings.  They mostly listen to Detroit radio anyway.  Based on radio usage, and not all the other factors the Census Bureau uses, it should be in the Detroit market anyway.

The other alternatives are:
Make babies.
Get people to move back.

[Oldies Cat]

I've always thought Ann Arbor should be part of the Detroit metro.  The problems are two-fold:  first, the "loca" (A.A.) stations can lose out big-time revenue wise being folded into the Detroit market and being forced to compete against superior signals, talent, budgets, etc.; then, we forget that Arbitron would then lose a separate market (none of the A.A. stations can afford to subscribe to Arb at Detroit rates).  Ditto when you go west on 96 a couple of hours to Grand Rapids- Muskegon should really be part of the G.R. market but it's separated.  Seems like Kazoo and Battle Creek should be a single market, as well, but you can see how Arbitron would lose 3 Michigan markets if they consolidated markets.

Getting these smaller market, "local" stations to sign-off on that premise would be pretty difficult, even though to us radio geeks it makes total sense and we'd love to see it. 

[CHRles]

I don't think some of you understand just how quickly the metro Atlanta area is growing. In 2000 about 4 million people lived there, while in 2006 that figure jumped to nearly 5 million (!!!)

[kenhawk1160]

http://www.arbitron.com/downloads/redbook_fa06.pdf

Detroit has fallen to 10.         

Very sad for the Motor City, of which I'm originally from.  I worked in that market back when it was Number 6.  Now I'm in Pittsburgh, and I can tell you when it was Number 11...back in the late 70's and early 80's.  Now we're out of the Top 20 (22).