Radio’s new measurement rivalry is getting louder. Xperi is taking its AutoStage data into hundreds of new markets, including smaller metros that have lacked measurement coverage, just days after Nielsen publicly questioned the efficacy of in-car-only data.
Xperi’s DTS AutoStage Broadcaster Portal now covers 550 markets across 49 states after adding 246 US markets, including 173 small and mid-sized markets that were previously under-measured. The new markets include Grand Junction, CO, Altoona, PA, Ithaca, NY, and Key West, FL, and each one draws data from at least 1,600 vehicles. North Carolina and Texas lead the South with 17 new markets each. Ohio’s coverage has more than doubled, and Cheyenne gives Wyoming access to the Portal’s radio audience measurement for the first time.
The additions bring about 1 million vehicles to the Portal, for a total of 7.7 million US vehicles. Stations in these markets receive prior-day listening data published daily, with daypart detail, hourly listening trends, and audience listening heatmaps. The standard tier is free and provides quarterly station data. Premium adds daypart station rankings, near-real-time data by day, week, month, and quarter, top 100 music charts, and full data export.
The expanded Portal also adds weekday and weekend station rankings and ready-to-share reports for Premium users.
The expansion comes days after Nielsen published an essay cautioning that in-car data on its own shows what an automotive head unit was tuned to, not who was listening, and that it leaves out older vehicles, delivery vans, and cabs. Nielsen did not name Xperi.
Xperi Senior Vice President of Commercial Strategy and Partnerships Joe D’Angelo said, “Until now, reliable radio data has mostly been a ‘big-market’ advantage. The Autostage Broadcaster Portal changes that by bringing actionable listening insights to broadcasters who have never had them. For example, a station in a smaller town of 20,000 people can now see its audience data with the same clarity as a station in New York or Los Angeles.”
D’Angelo added, “We now publish radio data in more than double the number of markets of any other audience measurement service. And each station in these markets can benefit from the Portal’s data at no cost, through our free standard tier.”
