Eastlan ratings is adding three new markets, with Federated Media signing for the telephone recall ratings service in its three largest markets. Those are all in Indiana: Fort Wayne, South Bend and Elkhart.
Although there was no mention of Arbitron, it was pretty easy to guess who Federated Media COO Tony Richards was talking about in the announcement distributed by Eastlan.
“The fact of the matter is, in this climate our current vendor is cost prohibitive,” Richards said. “Plus, if you continue to collect data the same way for over 42 years and rely on the United States Postal Service as your primary delivery system, you get what you get. We’re going in a different direction as I suppose most radio stations are in this day and age. We are excited to be working with Eastlan to bring more reliable, cost effective results for our stations and clients.”
Fort Wayne ranks as Arbitron market #108 and South Bend #179. Neither is scheduled to have the Portable People Meter (PPM) service replace diaries. Elkhart, in the county adjacent to the one-county South Bend metro, is not currently a rated radio market.
“This is another bellwether moment for our company. Federated is widely regarded as one of the best locally-owned, medium-market broadcasters in our industry; needless to say we are very, very proud to be associated with them, said Eastlan President/CEO Mike Gould.
Eastlan Ratings’ initial measurement in the three new markets will be Fall 2010.
