Nielsen adds brand activity to radio advertising research

by Staff,, Brand Republic 14-Feb-05

NEW YORK - Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the ad tracking service from Nielsen Media Research, has added brand-level detail to radio research for the first time and has significantly extended its coverage of the US market.

Nielsen Monitor-Plus system now reports on more than 500 radio stations, representing a growth of 68% in the industry, covering 50% of all US advertising spend.

The service monitors the top 27 markets with approximately 20 stations in each, 24 hours a day, seven days a week using electronic fingerprint technology.

In the top three advertisers for January 2005, insurance firm Geico was the biggest spot advertiser with 38,000 commercial airings, Fox TV network came in second with 34,000 and McDonald's third with 33,000.

As of 2005 Nielsen Monitor-Plus measures advertising in 26 major US cities including New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Washinton DC.

Nielsen Monitor-Plus also provides ad research for 18 different media, including tracking for all 210 major US markets.

Jeff King, senior vice-president and managing director at Nielsen Monitor-Plus, said: ""This improvement will bring our total number of reported radio stations to more than 500, representing a growth of 68%. We are delighted to make this enhanched capability available to our clients."

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