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TV Ratings Reference

Nielsen Local Television Market Universe Estimates

Categories: TV Ratings Reference

Written By

September 10th, 2008

These are Nielsen estimates of local television market size as of January 1, 2009 and used throughout the 2008-2009 television season effective September 27, 2008.

Update: Here is a list of all the local broadcast television stations in the US.


Rank Designated Market Area (DMA) TV Homes % of US
1 New York  7,433,820 6.495
2 Los Angeles  5,654,260 4.940
3 Chicago  3,492,850 3.052
4 Philadelphia  2,950,220 2.578
5 Dallas-Ft. Worth  2,489,970 2.175
6 San Francisco-Oak-San Jose  2,476,450 2.164
7 Boston (Manchester)  2,409,080 2.105
8 Atlanta  2,369,780 2.070
9 Washington, DC (Hagrstwn)  2,321,610 2.028
10 Houston  2,106,210 1.840
11 Detroit  1,926,970 1.684
12 Phoenix (Prescott)  1,855,930 1.622
13 Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota)  1,822,160 1.592
14 Seattle-Tacoma  1,819,970 1.590
15 Minneapolis-St. Paul  1,730,530 1.512
16 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale  1,546,920 1.352
17 Cleveland-Akron (Canton)  1,524,930 1.332
18 Denver  1,524,210 1.332
19 Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn  1,466,420 1.281
20 Sacramnto-Stkton-Modesto  1,399,520 1.223
21 St. Louis  1,249,820 1.092
22 Portland, OR  1,175,100 1.027
23 Pittsburgh  1,156,460 1.010
24 Charlotte  1,122,860 0.981
25 Indianapolis  1,114,970 0.974
26 Baltimore  1,102,080 0.963
27 Raleigh-Durham (Fayetvlle)  1,080,680 0.944
28 San Diego  1,066,680 0.932
29 Nashville  1,016,290 0.888
30 Hartford & New Haven  1,014,990 0.887
31 Kansas City  937,970 0.819
32 Columbus, OH  925,840 0.809
33 Salt Lake City  919,390 0.803
34 Cincinnati  915,570 0.800
35 Milwaukee  905,350 0.791
36 Greenvll-Spart-Ashevll-And  858,050 0.750
37 San Antonio  818,560 0.715
38 West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce  779,430 0.681
39 Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk  741,420 0.648
40 Birmingham (Ann and Tusc)  739,750 0.646
41 Harrisburg-Lncstr-Leb-York  738,880 0.646
42 Las Vegas  728,410 0.636
43 Norfolk-Portsmth-Newpt Nws  718,020 0.627
44 Albuquerque-Santa Fe  689,120 0.602
45 Oklahoma City  687,300 0.600
46 Greensboro-H.Point-W.Salem  685,110 0.599
47 Jacksonville  674,860 0.590
48 Memphis  673,770 0.589
49 Austin  667,670 0.583
50 Louisville  667,230 0.583
51 Buffalo  631,120 0.551
52 Providence-New Bedford  622,580 0.544
53 New Orleans  602,740 0.527
54 Wilkes Barre-Scranton  594,570 0.519
55 Fresno-Visalia  574,900 0.502
56 Little Rock-Pine Bluff  567,060 0.495
57 Albany-Schenectady-Troy  556,750 0.486
58 Richmond-Petersburg  550,240 0.481
59 Knoxville  547,930 0.479
60 Mobile-Pensacola (Ft Walt)  537,810 0.470
61 Tulsa  529,540 0.463
62 Ft. Myers-Naples  509,530 0.445
63 Lexington  503,260 0.440
64 Dayton  483,790 0.423
65 Charleston-Huntington  479,750 0.419
66 Flint-Saginaw-Bay City  465,790 0.407
67 Roanoke-Lynchburg  461,420 0.403
68 Tucson (Sierra Vista)  456,030 0.398
69 Wichita-Hutchinson Plus  450,930 0.394
70 Green Bay-Appleton  444,210 0.388
71 Des Moines-Ames  432,410 0.378
72 Honolulu  429,940 0.376
73 Toledo  425,890 0.372
74 Springfield, MO  421,960 0.369
75 Spokane  416,630 0.364
76 Omaha  411,520 0.360
77 Portland-Auburn  410,890 0.359
78 Paducah-Cape Girard-Harsbg  393,260 0.344
79 Columbia, SC  393,170 0.343
80 Rochester, NY  390,590 0.341
81 Syracuse  388,000 0.339
82 Huntsville-Decatur (Flor)  386,520 0.338
83 Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur  386,000 0.337
84 Shreveport  385,770 0.337
85 Madison  378,740 0.331
86 Chattanooga  366,780 0.320
87 Harlingen-Wslco-Brnsvl-McA  349,910 0.306
88 Cedar Rapids-Wtrlo-IWC&Dub  346,330 0.303
89 South Bend-Elkhart  334,720 0.292
90 Jackson, MS  334,650 0.292
91 Colorado Springs-Pueblo  334,390 0.292
92 Tri-Cities, TN-VA  332,840 0.291
93 Burlington-Plattsburgh  331,320 0.289
94 Waco-Temple-Bryan  329,690 0.288
95 Baton Rouge  326,390 0.285
96 Savannah  319,160 0.279
97 Davenport-R.Island-Moline  309,600 0.270
98 El Paso (Las Cruces)  308,080 0.269
99 Charleston, SC  307,610 0.269
100 Ft. Smith-Fay-Sprngdl-Rgrs  297,920 0.260
101 Johnstown-Altoona-St Colge  293,860 0.257
102 Evansville  292,220 0.255
103 Greenville-N.Bern-Washngtn  289,050 0.253
104 Myrtle Beach-Florence  285,010 0.249
105 Tallahassee-Thomasville  282,390 0.247
106 Lincoln & Hastings-Krny  281,290 0.246
107 Ft. Wayne  275,350 0.241
108 Reno  271,080 0.237
109 Youngstown  268,930 0.235
110 Tyler-Longview(Lfkn&Ncgd)  265,200 0.232
111 Springfield-Holyoke  262,850 0.230
112 Boise  262,290 0.229
113 Sioux Falls(Mitchell)  260,190 0.227
114 Lansing  258,650 0.226
115 Augusta  253,950 0.222
116 Peoria-Bloomington  248,510 0.217
117 Traverse City-Cadillac  247,650 0.216
118 Montgomery-Selma  247,230 0.216
119 Eugene  242,790 0.212
120 Fargo-Valley City  241,120 0.211
121 SantaBarbra-SanMar-SanLuOb  240,190 0.210
122 Macon  239,820 0.210
123 Lafayette, LA  230,670 0.202
124 Monterey-Salinas  225,350 0.197
125 Bakersfield  220,730 0.193
126 Yakima-Pasco-Rchlnd-Knnwck  216,780 0.189
127 La Crosse-Eau Claire  215,610 0.188
128 Columbus, GA (Opelika, AL)  213,980 0.187
129 Corpus Christi  197,290 0.172
130 Chico-Redding  197,280 0.172
131 Amarillo  192,090 0.168
132 Rockford  188,860 0.165
133 Columbus-Tupelo-West Point  188,740 0.165
134 Wilmington  187,480 0.164
135 Wausau-Rhinelander  184,220 0.161
136 Monroe-El Dorado  179,190 0.157
137 Columbia-Jefferson City  179,010 0.156
138 Topeka  175,940 0.154
139 Duluth-Superior  173,180 0.151
140 Medford-Klamath Falls  171,830 0.150
141 Beaumont-Port Arthur  165,440 0.145
142 Palm Springs  159,240 0.139
143 Lubbock  158,070 0.138
144 Salisbury  157,940 0.138
145 Wichita Falls & Lawton  157,820 0.138
146 Erie  157,610 0.138
147 Albany, GA  156,800 0.137
148 Joplin-Pittsburg  156,560 0.137
149 Sioux City  154,900 0.135
150 Anchorage  150,620 0.132
151 Panama City  147,520 0.129
152 Terre Haute  145,450 0.127
153 Bangor  145,100 0.127
154 Rochestr-Mason City-Austin  144,700 0.126
155 Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill  142,570 0.125
156 Odessa-Midland  141,560 0.124
157 Binghamton  138,930 0.121
158 Minot-Bismarck-Dickinson  136,730 0.119
159 Wheeling-Steubenville  133,700 0.117
160 Gainesville  129,960 0.114
161 Sherman-Ada  128,100 0.112
162 Idaho Fals-Pocatllo(Jcksn)  124,220 0.109
163 Biloxi-Gulfport  121,750 0.106
164 Yuma-El Centro  115,650 0.101
165 Abilene-Sweetwater  115,310 0.101
166 Missoula  111,340 0.097
167 Hattiesburg-Laurel  110,330 0.096
168 Clarksburg-Weston  109,150 0.095
169 Utica  106,280 0.093
170 Billings  106,030 0.093
171 Quincy-Hannibal-Keokuk  103,910 0.091
172 Dothan  100,950 0.088
173 Jackson, TN  98,050 0.086
174 Rapid City  96,450 0.084
175 Elmira (Corning)  96,090 0.084
176 Lake Charles  95,410 0.083
177 Watertown  94,960 0.083
178 Harrisonburg  92,900 0.081
179 Alexandria, LA  89,630 0.078
180 Marquette  89,290 0.078
181 Jonesboro  80,900 0.071
182 Bowling Green  80,260 0.070
183 Charlottesville  76,600 0.067
184 Grand Junction-Montrose  73,360 0.064
185 Meridian  72,280 0.063
186 Lima  70,690 0.062
187 Greenwood-Greenville  70,050 0.061
188 Laredo  68,110 0.059
189 Lafayette, IN  67,070 0.059
190 Butte-Bozeman  65,480 0.057
191 Great Falls  64,910 0.057
192 Bend, OR  64,830 0.057
193 Parkersburg  63,760 0.056
194 Twin Falls  63,540 0.056
195 Eureka  60,900 0.053
196 San Angelo  54,980 0.048
197 Casper-Riverton  54,340 0.047
198 Cheyenne-Scottsbluff  54,120 0.047
199 Mankato  52,230 0.046
200 Ottumwa-Kirksville  51,270 0.045
201 St. Joseph  46,840 0.041
202 Fairbanks  37,110 0.032
203 Zanesville  32,550 0.028
204 Presque Isle  31,270 0.027
205 Victoria  31,260 0.027
206 Helena  27,040 0.024
207 Juneau  25,250 0.022
208 Alpena  17,520 0.015
209 North Platte  15,250 0.013
210 Glendive  3,940 0.003
  NSI Total U.S.  114,456,650 100.000

Copyright © 2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.

(8) Comments - Add Yours!

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  1. Annabella
    Posted September 10, 2008 at 5:59 PM

    I really don’t trust the Neilsen ratings.I think FOX pays them to say some shows “won” the night.Like Prison Break to keep it on the air so it makes money over seas but in reality the show isn’t doing well or coming in 1 place like they state.

  2. Robert Seidman
    Posted September 10, 2008 at 6:29 PM

    I really don’t trust crazy conspiracy theorists who would post a comment like that on *THIS* post. There’s no good place for conspiracies, but that comment would have made far more sense on this post.

  3. Julia
    Posted September 11, 2008 at 8:49 AM

    Thanks for this. I will have to bookmark it, since I take very poor notes in class, and our book has the 2005-2006 markets, and I think the prof wants us to memorize the Florida markets for this year.

  4. Shem
    Posted April 3, 2009 at 3:16 PM

    Do people study to work for Nielsen?

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