Broadcasting (Apr - June 1960)

TV HOMES: THE ARB AND NIELSEN VERSIONS The buyers and sellers of television time now have two different sets of figures to measure the same thing — the percentage of television penetration and number of television homes in each county in the U.S. Both sets of figures bear the same date — January 1960 — but they vary dramatically in some counties, and they were obtained by different means. The American Research Bureau’s, being released today (June 20), are based on a minimum of about 200 telephone interviews per county except in the case of counties to be “clustered,” in which case the minimum was 100 interviews per county (“clustered” counties are adjacent and homogeneous counties first totaled in groups of two each). ARB says the homes were selected carefully to make the sample representative, and that the number of interviews throughout the U.S. totaled almost 500,000. Regional television estimates of the U.S. Census Bureau, plus updated telephone ownership estimates from AT&T, were then applied to eliminate differences in tv penetration as between telephone and non-telephone homes and produce the results reprinted below. The Nielsen estimates, released a week earlier (Broadcasting, June 13), represent a second updating of the base figures published in the Nielsen company’s Nielsen Coverage Study No. 3 in 1958. Television growth patterns, based on information compiled “in the maintenance and recruiting of thousands of homes for Nielsen research operations,” were applied to former non-owners of television, county by county, to make current estimates. Both ARB and Nielsen use Sales Management estimates of total homes. Here, for the convenience of Broadcasting readers, the ARB and Nielsen estimates are reproduced side by side. ALABAMA Total Nielsen % Nielsen ARB % ARB Yuma 14,100 74 10,360 77 10,800 State Total 357,200 83 297,940 81 288,300 County Homes Tv Homes Tv Homes Tv Homes Tv Homes 4,100 57 2,320 70 2,900 ARKANSAS Baldwin 12,600 82 10,300 64 8,100 Arkansas 5,300 74 3,920 75 4,000 Barbour 6,400 55 3,500 65 4,200 Ashley 5,900 65 3,860 75 4,400 Bibb 3,600 64 2,300 58 2,100 Baxter 2,300 52 1,200 65 1,500 Blount 6,900 75 5,210 61 4,200 Benton 10,200 63 6,450 62 6,300 Bullock 3,200 59 1,890 56 1,800 Boone 4,000 63 2,500 76 3,000 Butler 5,700 61 3,470 66 3,700 Bradley 3,100 62 1,930 66 2,100 Calhoun 25,100 80 20,070 75 18,800 Calhoun 1,300 63 810 69 900 9,300 6,440 56 5,200 Carroll 3,200 59 1,870 66 2,100 4,000 71 2,830 77 3,100 Chicot 5,300 65 3,470 73 3,900 Chilton 6,700 65 4,380 64 4,300 Clark 5,100 66 3,370 77 3,900 Choctaw 4,300 54 2,330 75 3,200 Clay 5,700 63 3,580 71 4,000 Clarke 5,900 56 3,310 61 3,600 Cleburne 2,000 53 1,050 70 1,400 Clay 3,200 62 1,970 62 2,000 Cleveland 1,600 62 1,000 64 1,000 Cleburne 2,800 71 1,980 57 1,600 Columbia 6,800 65 4,440 82 5,600 Coffee 9,600 60 5,790 64 6,100 Conway 3,600 66 2,370 71 2,600 Colbert 12,100 58 7,000 69 8,300 Craighead 11,800 81 9,570 76 9,000 Conecuh 4,200 57 2,390 56 2,300 Crawford 5,900 61 3,580 68 4,000 Coosa 2,000 61 1,230 56 1,100 Crittenden 11,600 77 8,980 70 8,100 Covington 9,300 60 5,590 64 5,900 Cross 4,700 69 3,240 69 3,200 3,600 63 2,270 61 2,200 Dallas 3,000 66 1,990 69 2,100 Cullman 12,000 87 10,470 65 7,800 Desha 5,300 61 3,250 73 3,900 Dale 5,900 61 3,610 60 3,500 Drew 3,500 64 2,240 75 2,600 Dallas 14,400 66 9,500 69 9,900 Faulkner 5,800 68 3,930 78 4,500 De Kalb 11,300 64 7,240 70 7,900 Franklin 2,400 59 1,420 50 1,200 Elmore 6,600 69 4,520 62 4,100 Fulton 2,000 60 1,200 53 1,100 Escambia 7,800 5,360 69 5,400 Garland 14,700 78 11,420 76 11,100 Etowah 27,200 79 21,610 71 19,200 Grant 2,200 64 1,410 74 1,600 Fayette 4,100 62 2,560 58 2,400 Greene 6,300 63 3,960 70 4,400 Franklin 5,900 63 3,690 57 3,400 Hempstead 4,800 61 2,940 66 3,200 Geneva 6,000 54 3,230 59 3,600 Hot Spring 5,900 64 3,790 67 3,900 Greene 3,200 52 1,680 69 2,200 Howard 2,400 70 1,670 69 1,700 Hale 4,300 53 2,260 45 1,900 Independence 5,800 66 3,820 72 4,200 Henry 4,100 57 2,350 66 2,700 Izard 2,100 53 1,110 62 1,300 Houston 14,400 70 10,100 72 10,400 Jackson 7,400 66 4,870 71 5,200 Jackson 8,800 66 5,760 62 5,500 Jefferson 23,600 73 17,290 75 17,800 Jefferson 179,500 90 161,390 80 144,200 Johnson 3,600 60 2,150 62 2,200 Lamar 3,800 66 2,500 57 2,200 Lafayette 2,700 61 1,650 71 1,900 Lauderdale 16,500 59 9,650 70 11,500 Lawrence 4,300 68 2,930 55 2,400 Lawrence 6,300 64 4,060 57 3,600 Lee 4,600 68 3,110 62 2,800 Lee 11,200 68 7,620 68 7,600 Lincoln 3,200 64 2,040 67 2,100 Limestone 9,400 66 6,200 57 5,400 Little River 2,400 70 1,670 74 1,800 Lowndes 3,000 56 1,690 55 1,600 Logan 3,800 59 2,240 59 2,200 Macon 4,900 62 3,060 61 3,000 Lonoke 5,700 74 4,230 75 4,300 Madison 27,800 67 18,560 71 19,800 Madison 2,700 59 1,580 51 1,400 Marengo 6,700 58 3,860 59 4,000 Marion 1,300 57 740 53 700 Marion 6,000 59 3,540 63 3,800 Miller 9,700 85 8,240 78 7,600 Marshall 13,100 70 9,140 73 9,600 Mississippi 17,200 79 13,560 75 12,900 Mobile 78,200 88 69,030 77 60,200 Monroe 4,000 68 2,700 59 2,400 Monroe 5,700 54 3,090 64 3,600 Montgomery 1,500 61 920 66 1,000 Montgomery 46,400 87 40,300 75 34,800 Nevada 2,300 66 1,520 67 1,500 Morgan 14,500 79 11,410 66 9,600 Newton 1,300 59 760 65 800 Perry 3,900 64 2,500 52 2,000 Ouachita 8,200 67 5,490 75 6,100 Pickens 5,100 58 2,970 63 3,200 Perry 1,300 70 910 66 900 Pike 7,000 63 4,410 64 4,500 Phillips 11,900 69 8,260 66 7,800 Randolph 5,000 64 3,190 65 3,300 Pike 2,000 61 1,220 64 1,300 Russell 11,600 74 8,620 70 8,200 Poinsett 6,900 78 5,380 69 4,800 Saint Clair 6,000 76 4,530 67 4,000 Polk 3,100 61 1,890 69 2,100 Shelby 8,200 86 7,060 66 5,400 Pope 6,100 60 3,650 64 3,900 Sumter 3,900 57 2,240 52 2,000 Prairie 2,800 74 2,080 66 1,800 Talladega 16,400 81 13,270 76 12,400 Pulaski 78,100 82 64,320 80 62,700 Tallapoosa 8,700 69 5,990 69 6,000 Randolph 3,000 60 1,800 64 1,900 Tuscaloosa 25,500 80 20,400 65 1 6,500 St. Francis 8,700 73 6,360 67 5,900 Walker 13,000 88 11,410 72 9,300 Saline 6,900 70 4,820 79 5,500 Washington 2,600 54 1,410 61 1,600 Scott 1,800 59 1,060 61 1,100 Wilcox 4,500 54 2,430 55 2,500 Searcy 2,400 56 1,340 62 1,500 Winston 3,600 61 2,190 63 2,300 Sebastian 18,500 84 15,630 80 14,900 State Total 838,600 76 638,230 71 592,300 Sevier Sharp 2,400 1,700 69 53 1,660 900 78 60 1,900 1,000 ARIZONA Stone 1,600 52 840 64 1,000 Union 13,900 73 10,090 79 11,000 Apache 6,100 46 2,810 47 2,800 Van Buren 1,900 66 1,250 68 D300 Cochise 11,600 62 7,140 70 8,100 Washington 14,900 68 10,100 63 9,400 Coconino 9,300 52 4,860 74 6,900 White 10,500 69 7,270 68 7,200 Gila 6,700 66 4,390 76 *5,100 Woodruff 3,500 2,410 82 2,900 Graham 3,300 58 1,910 66 2,200 Yell 3,100 59 1,830 80 2,500 Greenlee Maricopa 3,100 182,800 58 91 1,800 165,930 70 84 2,200 154,200 State Total 482,100 71 344,100 72 349,200 Mohave 2,100 46 960 66 1,400 CALIFORNIA Navajo 9,500 47 4,420 66 6,300 Pima 80,500 90 72,490 85 68,100 Alameda 293,600 90 264,240 91 266,300 Pinal 17,300 86 14,890 75 1 3,000 Alpine 100 66 70 68 70 Santa Cruz 3,400 61 2,070 66 2,300 Amador 2,900 71 2,050 85 2,500 Yavapai 7,400 53 3,910 67 4,900 Butte 25,300 81 20,550 84 21,200 BROADCASTING, June 20, 1960 (SPECIAL REPORT) 71