FORT MYERS, FLA. — The owner of the CBS affiliate serving Southwest Florida, perhaps the last market in the U.S. where three of the Big Four network affiliates are owned by independent broadcasters, has just signed a new agreement for “industry-leading local TV measurement currency” across its stations in the market.
The deal isn’t with Nielsen.
Rather, Fort Myers Broadcasting Company, the owner of WINK-11 serving the sprawling — and expanding — Fort Myers-Bonita Springs-Naples-Marco Island DMA, signed a contract for local TV ratings data with Comscore.
Explaining the deal, Fort Myers Broadcasting GM Joe Schwartzel said, “Southwest Florida is the fastest growing area of the Sunshine State and Ft. Myers is the state’s fastest growing city. That’s why it’s more important than ever for us to have the most comprehensive, accurate, and reliable way to measure our audience.’
Schwartzel lauded Comscore’s methodology, which he claims uses continuous viewer data “from one of every two homes in the Ft. Myers market.” As such, he said, “that massive footprint is especially key in a rapidly growing and changing market like ours. No other audience measurement company offers that kind of detail.”
It’s a blow to Nielsen, which dominates the local TV audience measurement business.
“Now Fort Myers Broadcasting will be able to provide our advertisers with the kind of detailed audience information that shows clients the true value of advertising on our stations,” Schwartzel said.
Speaking for Comscore, EVP Steve Walsh said, “We have continued our investment in and support of local broadcasters and their clients, most recently with the addition of more than 10 million homes to our local television measurement footprint.”
Comscore measures television viewership from return path devices in households across the U.S.
It also notes that its data insights enable “the adoption of advanced audiences and the move to impressions, which allow the industry to go beyond age and gender to evaluate based on consumer behaviors, interests and lifestyles. This enables TV stations, networks, advertisers, agencies and media companies at both local and national levels to effectively find and reach their ideal audiences to maximize their revenues.”
In addition to WINK-TV, Fort Myers Broadcasting operates three Naples-licensed stations under a shared services agreement (SSA) with partner company Sun Broadcasting, led by President Jim Schwartzel: WXCW-46, the market’s home for The CW Network; WUVF-LD 2, the Univision affiliate; and Azteca América-affiliated low-power sibling WANA-LD 18.
The Schwartzels have been in the headlines over the last several years for their reluctance to take anything less than what they deserve is fair compensation for the carriage of their TV stations on MVPDs. WXCW spent much of 2019 blocked from DirecTV viewers due to the absence of a retransmission fee agreement. Last month, WINK suffered its second retrans impasse with Dish.
