New York

New York is a veritable mecca for the outdoor industry, where 44 percent of consumers use public transit and more people are out and about—one of the last true pedestrian-oriented cities in the U.S. Just two weeks ago, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed a pedestrian plaza in the heart of Times Square (home to some of the biggest spectaculars in the world) to reduce traffic and provide public spaces, a plan that could serve to increase dwell time for out-of-home messages.There are more diverse forms of out of home in Gotham than anywhere else, from Times Square’s sensory overload to taxicab video, where content is provided from network TV flagships WABC (Taxi TV) and WNBC (NY10). Those on foot are likely to run into any number of street-level billboards, an increasingly popular OOH format. Cemusa is building out transit shelters in the city, including its first public toilets.Video networks are popping up everywhere, from office buildings to gyms to buses (called Super Kings), offered by Titan Worldwide, which manages many of the city transit contracts. Clear Channel’s Spectacolor operates a 40-by-40-foot high-def screen in Duffy Square with content provided by CNN. The company also has a network of five digital billboards in New Jersey. NBC Universal is providing content to video screens on New Jersey’s PATH trains via a contract with JCDecaux, which is expanding the network. Both Clear Channel Outdoor and CBS Outdoor, which own sister TV and radio divisions in the market, have a strong presence in traditional outdoor signage. Several other smaller operators also offer prime signage, including Van Wagner Communications and Lamar Advertising, which last year purchased Vista Media. Radio has finally made the switch to electronic measurement, but not without controversy. Amid threats from the New York Attorney General, the City Council, and black and Hispanic radio groups, Arbitron commercialized its portable people meter radio ratings in October. In January, Arbitron settled with New York’s AG, promising to make improvements to the service, which some claimed under-counted minority stations. Station ranks shifted under the PPM. WRKS-FM, Emmis Communications’ Urban Adult Contemporary station, fell out of the top spot to No. 10. Inner City’s Urban WBLS-FM slipped from No. 4 to No. 9. But many mainstream formats maintained rank, including CC’s WHTZ-FM (No. 2) and WLTW-FM (from No. 3 to No. 1). Other mainstream formats moved up, such as Classic Hits WCBS-FM, from No. 10 to No. 4.New York TV stations felt cheated in last November’s election due to poor candidate spending, so they’re looking to make it up from New York’s mayoral race and the governor’s race in New Jersey. Mayor Bloomberg is said to be planning to drop $100 million. WABC holds a strong grip on the top news spot in practically every daypart, but Univision’s WXTV is making a strong showing among younger demos at 6 p.m. (where it won in January) and at 11 p.m. (where it wins on weekends). The three other network flagships, WCBS, WNBC and WNYW (Fox), battle it out for second and third in early and late news.Industry observers are keeping an eye on WNBC, which has been undergoing a complete makeover: a new set design last November, technical changes and newly defined news positions. The station also announced the relaunch of its digital channel as New York Nonstop, mirroring the recent relaunch of its city-focused Web site. The market’s three largest newspapers, bleeding like the rest in the business, are beginning to take more drastic measures. Swallowing its journalistic pride, The New York Times added a front page ad, with CBS as its first taker. Newsday, boasting the 10th highest circulation in the U.S., the highest for a suburban paper, was bought last year by Cablevision for $650 million. Cablevision had to write-down the value of the acquisition by nearly 70 percent. Rumors floated that Newsday may drop its Saturday edition, but more likely is the paper’s plans to charge readers for its online product, a departure from current convention. The Wall Street Journal, now owned by News Corp. (which also owns the New York Post and a TV duopoly), is one of the few papers that does charge for its online version. Still, News Corp. was forced to take a $2.8 billion write-down for that acquisition. Over in New Jersey, the state’s two largest dailies, The Star-Ledger of Newark (which recently cut 151 of its 330 news staff) and The Record of Hackensack, will combine their statehouse bureaus in Trenton. The two papers also recently joined forces with the Northeast Consortium, which includes the Daily News of New York, the Times Union of Albany and The Buffalo News, to share content and photos.Vital Stats:* TV DMA Rank: 1* Population 2-plus: 19,846,392* TV Households: 7,433,820* TV Stations (Net/Ind/Multicast/Public): 8|17|3|7* Wired Cable Households: 6,191,670* Radio Metro Rank: 1* Population 6-plus: 16,853,500* Radio Stations (rated): 65* Newspapers (Daily/Weekly): 25|281The Numbers:Click here for demo dataClick here for media usage dataClick here for marketplace data

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Katy Bachman

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Katy Bachman