This updates an earlier version with new information from Venture.
Mega Media Group said its Pulse87 in New York reached a total weekly audience of 705,000 in the first week of April, up from 671,200 in March.
Radio World has been following the story of entities that use the aural carriers of TV stations to reach listeners just off the low end of the FM dial.
Arbitron began reporting Pulse87 ratings in its Portable People Meter audience estimates in April.
Mega CEO Alex Shvarts said the company expects the number to continue to increase along with the popularity and awareness of Pulse87. The company recently signed a 10-year lease with Island Broadcasting for low-power TV station WNYZ and transmits its Pulse87 dance format on 87.7 MHz, the aural carrier for Channel 6.
Shvarts says inclusion in the PPM ratings “puts us as a viable competitor in the market and allows our sales team to compete for major advertising dollars.” Based on market information, stations with similar weekly audience estimates generated approximately $9 plus million dollars in revenue in 2008, according to the CEO.
Mega has a similar lease arrangement in Washington. We also reported in March that it had signed letters of intent to lease frequencies from Venture Technologies Group LLC, serving the Los Angeles and Chicago markets; but Venture Technologies Group Chairman Lawrence Rogow, now informs Radio World those letters of intent have expired and Venture has decided not to pursue the deal. Venture’s KSFV(LP), Los Angeles airs Spanish-language programming on 87.7 MHz and WLFM(LP), Chicago airs country programming — branded as “The L” — on 87.7 MHz.
