Ratings question

[Matthew Reed]

Sid Schweiger wrote:

>>> Didn't Willhight mostly specialize in smaller markets that Arbitron
> didn't rate?<<
>
> I believe that's the case, and they may also explain why they failed.
> Small market radio stations have historically learned to sell their
> product without having ratings to fall back on.

This raises a question that has often occurred to me. Large market 
stations seem to rely heavily on ratings to sell advertising and make 
programming changes. How do small market stations make a decision to 
change formats (or at least justify that decision) without the ratings 
data to back it up? Is it purely arbitrary or are there any other 
indicators about the popularity of a format for listeners or advertisers?

---
Matthew Reed
mkr@northcountrymercantile.com