Xperi has expanded the reach of its DTS AutoStage Broadcaster Portal just a few days after the Media Rating Council (MRC) revoked the accreditation of Nielsen’s radio measurement service in more than a dozen markets.
This week, Xperi said its comparable measurement solution is now online in more than 550 markets after expanding by 246 markets. The company signed on 173 small and mid-size markets into its product — areas that Xperi said have historically received little to no audience measurement coverage in the past.
Xperi said the additional markets contribute approximately 1 million vehicles to its measurement platform, bringing the total to 7.7 million vehicles across the United States. The DTS AutoStage platform measures more than 48 million hours of in-vehicle AM/FM radio listening each month, according to Xperi.
The announcement comes ahead of a trade show where Xperi is set to demonstrate several of its products.
“Until now, reliable radio data has mostly been a ‘big-market’ advantage,” Joe D’Angelo, the Senior Vice President of Commercial Strategy and Partnerships at Xperi, said in a statement. “The AutoStage Broadcaster Portal changes that by bringing actionable listening insights to broadcasters who have never had them.”
Newly covered markets include Grand Junction, Colorado; Altoona, Pennsylvania; Ithaca, New York; and Key West, Florida. Xperi said each newly added market includes listening data from at least 1,600 vehicles. North Carolina and Texas experienced the largest individual state expansions, with 17 additional markets each. In Ohio, the platform’s market coverage more than doubled, while Cheyenne, Wyoming, received access to the service for the first time.
Xperi said the expanded coverage means its platform now publishes radio listening data in more than twice as many markets as any competing audience measurement service. Broadcasters can access basic audience information through the portal’s free Standard tier, while paying customers receive additional reporting and analysis capabilities.
The company has also introduced weekday and weekend station rankings and enhanced reports designed for sharing with advertisers and other business partners through its Premium tier.
Cumulus Media became the first commercial customer of the Premium service in July; the radio broadcaster has been involved in a legal dispute with Nielsen over business practices related to audience measurement. Xperi said Zoellner Media Group and Seven Mountains Media have also recently subscribed to the Premium service.
The expansion comes as radio broadcasters continue evaluating alternatives to Nielsen’s traditional audience measurement services, particularly in smaller markets where comprehensive ratings information has historically been unavailable or limited.
