A
media market,
broadcast market,
media region,
designated market area (DMA),
Television Market Area (FCC term) or simply
market is a region where the
populationIn biology, a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular species; in sociology, a collection of human beings. Individuals within a population share a factor may be reduced by statistical means, but such a generalization may be too vague to imply anything...
can receive the same (or similar)
televisionA television station is a type of broadcast station that broadcasts video and possibly audio to television receivers in a particular area. Traditionally, TV stations made their broadcasts by sending specially-encoded radio signals over the air, called terrestrial television...
and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including
newspaperA newspaper is a publication containing news, information, and advertising. General-interest newspapers often feature articles on political events, crime, business, art/entertainment, society and sports. Most traditional papers also feature an editorial page containing columns that express the...
s and
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
content. They can coincide with
metropolitan areaA metropolitan area is a large population center consisting of a large metropolis and its adjacent zone of influence, or of more than one closely adjoining neighboring central cities and their zone of influence...
s, though rural regions with few significant population centers can also be designated as markets.
A
media market,
broadcast market,
media region,
designated market area (DMA),
Television Market Area (FCC term) or simply
market is a region where the
populationIn biology, a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular species; in sociology, a collection of human beings. Individuals within a population share a factor may be reduced by statistical means, but such a generalization may be too vague to imply anything...
can receive the same (or similar)
televisionA television station is a type of broadcast station that broadcasts video and possibly audio to television receivers in a particular area. Traditionally, TV stations made their broadcasts by sending specially-encoded radio signals over the air, called terrestrial television...
and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including
newspaperA newspaper is a publication containing news, information, and advertising. General-interest newspapers often feature articles on political events, crime, business, art/entertainment, society and sports. Most traditional papers also feature an editorial page containing columns that express the...
s and
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
content. They can coincide with
metropolitan areaA metropolitan area is a large population center consisting of a large metropolis and its adjacent zone of influence, or of more than one closely adjoining neighboring central cities and their zone of influence...
s, though rural regions with few significant population centers can also be designated as markets. Conversely, very large metropolitan areas can sometimes be subdivided into multiple segments. Market regions may overlap, meaning that people residing on the edge of one media market may be able to receive content from other nearby markets. They are widely used in
audience measurementAudience measurement measure how many people are in an audience, usually in relation to radio listenership and television viewership, but also newspaper and magazine readership, and increasingly, usage of websites, to help broadcasters and advertisers determine who is listening, rather than just...
s, which are compiled in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by
Nielsen Media ResearchNielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
(television) and
ArbitronArbitron is a radio audience research company in the United States which collects listener data on radio audiences similar to that collected by Nielsen Media Research on television audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became bi-coastal by merging with L.A....
(radio).
Markets are identified by the largest city, which is usually located in the center. However,
geographyGeography is the study of the Earth and its lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
and the fact that some metropolitan areas have large cities separated by some distance can make markets have unusual shapes and result in two, three, or more names being used to identify a single region (such as
WichitaWichita is a city in and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2000 census its population was 344,284. The 2006 estimated population of 361,420 made it the 51st largest city in the country and the most populous city in Kansas...
-
Hutchinson, KansasHutchinson is the largest city in and the county seat of Reno County, Kansas, United States, northwest of Wichita, on the Arkansas River. Hutchinson's nickname is The Salt City but is referred to locally as Hutch. The population was 40,787 at the 2000 census...
;
ChicoChico is the most populous city in Butte County, California, United States. The population was 59,954 at the 2000 census but was estimated to have grown to 86,949 as of 2008...
-
Redding, CaliforniaFor the city in Pennsylvania, see Reading, PennsylvaniaRedding is a city in Northern California. It is the county seat of Shasta County, California, USA...
;
AlbanyAlbany is a city in the United States of America; it is the capital of the state of New York and the county seat of Albany County. Albany is roughly 136 miles north of the city of New York, and slightly south of the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. The city sits on the Hudson River and...
-
SchenectadySchenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 61,821, making it the ninth-largest city in New York...
-
Troy, New YorkTroy is a city in New York, U.S., and the county seat of Rensselaer County. As of the 2000 census, the population was 49,170. Troy's motto is Ilium fuit, Troja est, which means "Ilium was, Troy is."...
; and
HarrisburgHarrisburg is the capital of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 48,950, making it the tenth largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Reading, Scranton, Bethlehem, Lancaster, and...
-
LebanonLebanon, formerly known as Steitztown, is a city in and the county seat of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 24,461 at the 2000 census...
-
LancasterLancaster is a city in the South Central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is the county seat of Lancaster County. With a population of 55,351, it is the eighth largest city in Pennsylvania, behind Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Reading, Bethlehem, and Scranton...
-
York, PennsylvaniaYork, known as the White Rose City , is a city located in South Central Pennsylvania. The population was 40,862 at the 2000 census. York is the county seat of York County, and is located at...
).
In
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
, radio markets are generally a bit smaller than their television counterparts, as broadcast power restrictions are stricter for radio than TV, and TV reaches further via cable. AM band and
FM bandIn most of the world, the FM broadcast band, used for broadcasting FM radio stations, goes from 87.5 to 108.0 MHz. In Japan the FM broadcast band is 76–90 MHz, unlike any other country in the world. The OIRT band in Eastern Europe is 65.8–74 MHz....
radio ratings are sometimes separated, as are
broadcastTerrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which do not involve satellite transmission or via underground cables—typically through the atmosphere from a transmitting antenna....
and
cable televisionCable television is a system of providing television to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through fixed optical fibers or coaxial cables as opposed to the over-the-air method used in traditional television broadcasting in which a television antenna is required...
. Market
researchResearch can be defined to be search for knowledge or any systematic investigation to establish facts. The primary purpose for applied research is discovering, interpreting, and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of...
ers also subdivide ratings
demographicDemographics or demographic data are selected population characteristics as used in government, marketing or opinion research, or the demographic profiles used in such research...
ally between different
ageAgeing or aging is the accumulation of changes in an organism or object over time. Ageing in humans refers to a multidimensional process of physical, psychological, and social change. Some dimensions of ageing grow and expand over time, while others decline...
groups,
genderGender commonly refers to the set of characteristics that humans perceive as distinguishing between male and female entities, extending from one's biological sex to, in humans, one's social role or gender identity. As a term, "gender" has more than one valid definition...
s, and
ethnicAn ethnic group is a group of humans whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage that is real or presumed.Ethnic identity is further marked by the researcher Seng Yang in the recognition from others of a group's distinctiveness and the recognition of common cultural,...
backgrounds; as well as
psychographicIn the field of buzzwords, marketing, demographics, opinion research, and social research in general, psychographic variables are any attributes relating to personality, values, attitudes, interests, or lifestyles. They are also called IAO variables...
ally between
incomeIncome is the consumption and savings opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. However, for households and individuals, "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings...
levels and other non-physical factors. This information is used by
advertiserAdvertising is a form of communication used to influence individuals to purchase products or services or support political candidates or ideas. Frequently it communicates a message that includes the name of the product or service and how that product or service could potentially benefit the consumer...
s to determine how to reach a specific
audienceAn audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium...
. In countries such as the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, a government body defines the media markets; in countries such as the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, media regions are defined by a privately held institution, without government status.
Television
A
Television Market Area (
TMA) is a group of counties in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
that are covered by a specific group of
television stationA television station is a type of broadcast station that broadcasts video and possibly audio to television receivers in a particular area. Traditionally, TV stations made their broadcasts by sending specially-encoded radio signals over the air, called terrestrial television...
s. The term is used by the U.S. Government's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate broadcast, cable, and satellite transmissions, according to the
Code of Federal RegulationsThe Code of Federal Regulations is the codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government of the United States...
, at
47 CFR § 76.51 and http://www.fcc.gov/oet/info/maps/areas . The TMAs not only delineate local broadcasts, but also delineate which channels will be received by Satellite or Cable subscribers (
"must-carry" rulesIn cable television, governments apply a must-carry regulation stating that locally-licensed television stations must be carried on a cable provider's system.- Australia & NZ :...
). These market areas can also be used to define restrictions on
rebroadcastingA broadcast relay station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator , rebroadcaster , or repeater is a broadcast transmitter which relays, repeats, or reflects the signal of another radio station or television station, usually to an area not covered by the signal of the originating station...
of broadcast television signals. Generally speaking, only stations within the same market area can be rebroadcast. The only exception to this rule is the "significantly viewed" list.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-264821A1.pdf
A similar term used by
Nielsen Media ResearchNielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
is the Designated Market Area (DMA), and they control the trademark on it. There are 210 TMAs regulated by the FCC within the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
ArbitronArbitron is a radio audience research company in the United States which collects listener data on radio audiences similar to that collected by Nielsen Media Research on television audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became bi-coastal by merging with L.A....
at one time also maintained similar areas for television ratings, each called an
area of dominant influence (
ADI). There were 286 ADI's in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Arbitron no longer offers a television ratings service.
Radio
ArbitronArbitron is a radio audience research company in the United States which collects listener data on radio audiences similar to that collected by Nielsen Media Research on television audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became bi-coastal by merging with L.A....
maintains smaller areas for radio stations; each is called an
Arbitron Radio Metro. There are 302 Radio Metros in the United States.
In 2009, Nielsen began offering radio ratings in competition with Arbitron, starting in those markets ranked 101st and smaller.
Canada
Canada also has a similar system, run by the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement (BBM).
External links