Tampa TV Market Climbs List
Aug. 26–TAMPA — The Tampa-St. Petersburg TV market, already the largest in Florida, is moving up to 12th largest in the country, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Nielsen projects that this market, which covers 10 counties, now has 1,710,400 television households, up from 1,671,040 TV households.
Tampa surpassed the Seattle-Tacoma TV market (1,701,950), which didn’t grow as fast during the past year.
The new ranking goes into effect in September and will be used for the 2005-2006 television season to determine ratings and advertising rates.
“It’s difficult to put a dollar figure on it because rates vary, but it means each rating point will represent more viewers, and we will get more advertising dollars,” said Eric Land, president and general manager of WFLA, Channel 8.
“It gives us bragging rights but its it’s hard to say what kind of economic impact it will have,” said Pete Nikiel, marketing and promotion director at WTSP, Channel 10. “It may not make a big difference in revenue, but if we keep growing and crack the top 10 markets, that would be really big.”
Tampa-St Petersburg is about 200,000 homes short of catching up with 11th ranked Detroit, which at 1,936,350 TV households fell from 10th place. Houston, which moved up to 10th place, has 1,938,670 TV households.
Nielsen officials say more people are relocating to the southern and western regions of the country and 60 of the 100 fastest growing counties are in the South.
“This confirms what we’ve been telling advertisers about the growth of our market,” Land said. “This could mean that some advertisers who only buy in the top 12 markets will be spending more here.”
The Tampa-St. Petersburg market includes Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Citrus, Hernando, Highlands, Hardee, Manatee and Sarasota counties.
The Miami-Fort Lauderdale market is ranked 17th, and Orlando-Daytona is ranked 20th.
The top 10 markets are: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, Dallas-Fort Worth, Washington, Atlanta and Houston.
The Tampa Tribune and WFLA are owned by Media General and share reporting and other resources.
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