Eastlan Ratings has added more Top 100 markets to its continuous measurement footprint, expanding service in Honolulu, Reno, and Tulsa as the local radio ratings company remains at the center of Cumulus Media’s ongoing antitrust lawsuit against Nielsen.
Eastlan President Mike Gould said the continued expansion reflects what radio operators are asking of their ratings providers. “They expect three things from their ratings vendor: reliable data that includes a complete picture of their market including all stations, the option to save significant money on their ratings investment and in many cases, the freedom to be able to buy only what they need.”
“As I’ve said previously, frustrating buyers by redacting the performance of certain stations is certainly not making it easier to confidently buy our medium,” he added.
That critique now carries broader implications. In its lawsuit before the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Cumulus has positioned Eastlan as the only remaining measurement firm with the structural capability to challenge Nielsen locally, while arguing that it has been systematically blocked from scaling into a national competitor. The lawsuit frames Eastlan less as an active rival and more as evidence of how constrained the ratings market has become.
Cumulus has asserted that Eastlan “does not operate in the market for national radio ratings data and does not have a product comparable to Nationwide,” calling the company’s limited footprint proof of market foreclosure. Gould’s sworn testimony supports that factual distinction. He confirmed that Eastlan does not currently offer a national ratings service, though he testified that a nationwide-style product could be developed within roughly one year if customers were willing to fund the data collection.
Nielsen disputes that framing, arguing that Eastlan’s expansion into larger local markets demonstrates active competition rather than exclusion.
