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In response to my post:
>And I bet they are "dominated by ratings" much more now that corporate
>sponsors are so important -- AT&T wants the most bang for their sponsorship
>buck just like regular advertisers.
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Aaron Michaels ([log in to unmask]) writes:
>Molly -
>I'm not sure on this, but as far as I know, public broadcast stations aren't
>usually included in the ratings process.  I don't recall seeing our local
>Public Radio station in the 1994 Spring Arbitron book (of course, maybe that
>just shows that nobody around here listens to them - doubtful though).
>Anyone know otherwise?
 
We have an overnight Nielsen television ratings system and PBS is included --
you can see the ratings for PBS national broadcasts.  Our ratings reports don't
break it down by local stations, and some stations "cherry-pick" programming
from the national feed (show some nationally broadcast shows but not others),
but prime time is covered, and that's where the big sponsorship dollars go.
Nielsen probably also goes into more detail on non-primetime shows, local
markets, etc. than what's shown in our overnight reports.
 
Maybe radio's a different story?  I'm not even sure how PBS and NPR are related
other than having some common funding sources.
 
Molly Olsen
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These opinions are mine, not necessarily my employer's.