Mike Gould’s privately owned company Eastlan will now measure ratings in Johnson City/Kingsport/Bristol TN/VA and Billings MT. Bristol Broadcast Company is the first to add Eastlan in the Bristol market and Desert Mountain Broadcasting will be first in Billings.
“When we switched from Nielsen to Eastlan in our Charleston, West Virginia market almost four years ago, we wondered if our agency business would drop,” reflects Roger Bouldin, Secretary/General Manager of Bristol Broadcasting Company. “It did not! We actually saw increases in all agency business (local agency, national, and regional) during each of the first two years after the change. While we do not attribute these increases to the change in ratings vendors, this did give us confidence to make this change from Nielsen to Eastlan in the Johnson City/Kingsport/Bristol (Tri-Cities TN/VA) market.”
Bouldin adds, “we have used Eastlan Ratings at our Paducah KY cluster for about 20 years and in Charleston WV for four years. We have found Eastlan data to be well accepted and the cost to be far easier to absorb in today’s challenging radio environment.”
Meanwhile in Billings MT, Desert Mountain Broadcasting is the first in Billings to switch to Eastlan. President/CEO Cameron Maxwell said “I’ve been a big believer in a data-driven strategy for decades, and I’m excited about Eastlan’s new continuous service! The ROI from Eastlan just works better for us.”
Eastlan’s first releases in their continuous markets will be delivered on Friday, August 28. “We are certain the increased consistency and stability of our new continuous measurement will provide radio advertisers a new level of accountability and at the same time, instill more confidence in our subscribers,” added Eastlan President/CEO Mike Gould. “We are excited to be able to offer this enhancement to small and medium market broadcasters, like Roger and Cam, without increasing our annual rates.”
