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Nielsen and Cumulus Media | Westwood One Sign Agreement for Radio Voter Ratings

3 minute read | January 2016

Nielsen’s Voter Ratings Deliver Insights About How Key Voter Segments Tune In to Radio  

New York, NY – Jan. 5, 2016 – Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN) announced today that Cumulus Media | Westwood One, a leader in the radio broadcasting industry, has signed an agreement to use Nielsen’s Voter Ratings across 18 PPM markets. 

The service will provide Cumulus Media | Westwood One with insights into how different voter segments, including those who align as Democrats, Independents, Republicans or who are unregistered voters, use and listen to their stations. Armed with these political insights, Cumulus Media | Westwood One can not only maximize their commercial inventory but also ensure that they deliver messages to the types of voters candidates and campaigns need to reach.

“Throughout my career, I have seen firsthand the power of broadcasting to make or break a candidate and a campaign,” said Steve Shaw, Westwood One President. “Radio has the largest reach of any media, plus the added benefit of formats to target voters. This new data shows radio is the best kept secret for political campaigns.”

Nielsen’s Voter Ratings service combines Nielsen Audio’s Portable People Meter (PPM) data with key voter categories data. The data are broken out by political views among Democrats, Republicans, Independents and those who are unregistered, as well as by daypart and format. Nielsen provides political ratings in the top 48 audio Metros, as well as the top 56 television designated market areas (DMAs) with reporting at the station and daypart levels. 

“The 2016 elections are well underway and billions of dollars will be spent in political advertising. Radio’s ability to localize and personalize its content to reach a broader audience is a major selling point for political agencies looking to maximize their campaign dollars and deliver an effective message,” said Matt O’Grady, Executive Vice president and managing director for local media at Nielsen. “Our Voter Ratings solution eliminates the political advertising guessing game and strategically identifies what, when and where key voter segments are listening.”

About Nielsen

Nielsen Holdings plc (NYSE: NLSN) is a global performance management company that provides a comprehensive understanding of what consumers watch and buy. Nielsen’s Watch segment provides media and advertising clients with Total Audience measurement services for all devices on which content — video, audio and text — is consumed. The Buy segment offers consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers the industry’s only global view of retail performance measurement. By integrating information from its Watch and Buy segments and other data sources, Nielsen also provides its clients with analytics that help improve performance.  Nielsen, an S&P 500 company, has operations in over 100 countries, covering more than 90% of the world’s population. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

About Cumulus Media | Westwood One

A leader in the radio broadcasting industry, Cumulus Media (NASDAQ:CMLS) combines high-quality local programming with iconic, nationally syndicated media, sports and entertainment brands to deliver premium content choices to the 245 million people reached each week through its 454 owned-and-operated stations broadcasting in 90 US media markets (including eight of the top 10), more than 8,200 broadcast radio stations affiliated with its Westwood One network and numerous digital channels. Together, the Cumulus | Westwood One platforms make Cumulus Media one of the few media companies that can provide advertisers with national reach and local impact. Cumulus/Westwood One is the exclusive radio broadcast partner to some of the largest brands in sports and entertainment, including the NFL, the NCAA, the Masters, the Olympics, the GRAMMYs, the Country Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, and Miss America.  Additionally, it is the nation’s leading provider of country music and lifestyle content through its NASH brand, which serves country fans nationwide through radio programming, NASH Country Weekly magazine, concerts, licensed products and television/video. For more information, visit www.cumulus.com.

CONTACTS

NielsenGorki De Los Santos; (646) 654-4837; gorki.delossantos@nielsen.com                              

Westwood OneJana Polsky; (212) 641-2101; jpolsky@westwoodone.com