MediaBuyerPlanner: A year after Katrina, with about half of its pre-flood population, New Orleans has fallen from the 46th largest radio DMA to 58th as of last spring.
The research, compiled by Zehnder Communications, also shows that The Times-Picayune has lost about 30 percent of its circulation, Mediaweek reports. In nearby Biloxi-Gulfport, Miss., the radio DMA ranking has fallen from 139th to 143rd, according to Arbitron.
The population of Orleans Parish is 214,486, or 47 percent of the pre-Katrina level. One problem for advertisers is how to reach consumers, as many of them live in one media market while working in another.
Advertisers are hearing that more attention is being paid to news and weather broadcasts in the current hurricane season. Longer commutes have also made radio a more attractive buy.
The reports noted demographic shifts, such as an increase in median age in New Orleans from 37.7 years pre-Katrina to 41.6 years now. While the Hispanic population has remained steady at 6 percent, the black population has declined from 37 percent pre-Katrina to 22 percent now (some African-American radio broadcasts are down as much as 50 percent). Whites account for 73 percent of the population, up 14 percentage points since the storm.
One of the greatest difficulties for media planners and buyers has been the lack of ratings data. Nielsen has not issued a television ratings book since July 2005. Arbitron issued its eagerly anticipated ratings two weeks ago.
Related stories:
- Spike Lee’s Katrina Documentary Airs on HBO
- Arbitron to Include Satellite Ratings in Reports
- Tribune Adds Newscast to New Orleans Stations
- Nielsen to Resume Ratings in New Orleans Next Feb.
- Newspapers Stay Focused on Katrina, Up for Pulitzers
- As New Orleans Rebuilds, So Does Media Market
- Glad Named Mardi Gras’ First Corporate Sponsor
- Mardi Gras Sponsors to Help Hurricane Victims in ‘Recovery Room’
- Saints Return to Superdome
- MediaBuys to Handle Search for Mardi Gras Sponsors
- Katrina Smacks Down Media Spending
- Nielsen, Arbitron Report on Gulf Coast
- Baton Rouge Agencies Pull Together for Post-Katrina Colleagues
- Media Outlets Plan to Stay in New Orleans ‘Indefinitely’
- TV Rebuild in New Orleans Could Take Months
- Insiders Speculate on New Orleans’ Ad Economy
- Arbitron Ponders Katrina’s Effect on Surveys
- DM Industry Suffers Hit from Katrina
