• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, March 11, 2010

The battle between incumbent radio ratings firm Arbitron and newcomer Nielsen brought another win for the latter this week, with Nielsen's announcement that it has signed up another client for its sticker-based diary ratings system serving mid-sized markets.

Sunrise Broadcasting has signed a deal for Nielsen's diary radio ratings for four stations in upstate New York's Newburgh-Middletown market: WGNY-AM, WDLC-AM, WGNY-FM and WTSX-FM. The stations, which include oldies and hot adult contemporary formats, are all located in and around the mid-Hudson Valley.

Since its launch in June 2008, Nielsen's new radio ratings service for mid-sized markets has posed a growing threat to Arbitron, which for many years enjoyed a de facto monopoly in radio ratings.

In addition to Sunrise, Nielsen has also signed up various mid-size market stations owned by Clear Channel, Cumulus, ESPN Radio, Maverick Media and Black Crow.

Nielsen claims that its sample covers 98% of the measured population, including a more representative proportion of cell phone-only households than what Arbitron provides. Nielsen also claims that its sticker-based diary ratings deliver more accurate data than Arbitron's diaries, which require panelists to write down what radio stations they listen to.

In response, Arbitron is moving up its schedule for introducing more cell-phone-only households in samples.