Arbitron has released the first-ever results from its new Broadcast Sporting Events custom ratings service for local radio stations. The company surveyed the Washington metro to estimate the radio audience of Major League Baseball's new Washington Nationals' opening-day game against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 5. Arbitron estimates that 164,600 persons age 18+ -- that's enough local listeners to fill Washington's RFK Stadium almost four times -- listened to some portion of the radio broadcast of the game, the pre-game or the post-game show on one of five area radio stations that carried the team's season opener. Bonneville-owned WWVZ & WWZZ-FM and WFED-AM are the Nats' DC radio flagship outlets. The game also aired on suburban DC stations WAGE/Leesburg, VA and WTRI/Brunswick, MD.It looks like an initial success, but what about the 182 game season? Will D.C. get tired of the games by July?
It is looking positive for stations to pick up the broadcast. I may tell my friends in Chambersburg, PA to maybe give the baseball games a try. They are sitting on a big Washington/Baltimore market.
