Nielsen Moves Seattle To 11th, Cancels Three Markets In Latest Rankings.

Nielsen’s latest ranking of radio markets served includes three fewer in its total, soon to be four with the earlier-announced discontinuing of Puerto Rico in December 2026.

For this year, what used to be 243 measured markets is now 240, with the recently-announced cancellation of market 161, Bowling Green, KY, effective with the Fall 2026 survey, along with earlier cancellations of market 78, Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL and 144, Burlington, VT-Plattsburgh, NY.

Among the top 50 markets, there’s been some shuffling in the rank order based on metro 12+ population. Seattle-Tacoma, which had ranked 12th, moves up to 11th, switching places with Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood, which had stood just outside of the top 10. Also within the top 20, Denver-Boulder moves from 18th to 17th, swapping spots with Puerto Rico for the latter market’s final months of measurement.

Elsewhere in Nielsen’s top 50, markets 26 and 27 also trade places, putting Austin now ahead of Salt Lake City-Ogden-Provo, while Nashville moves in front of San Jose, the two now ranked at 39 and 40, respectively. A pair adjacent to the New York market – Hudson Valley, NY and Middlesex-Somerset-Union, NJ – now rank at 41 and 42, the reverse of where they stood before.

There’s also a three-station shift near the bottom of Nielsen’s top 50, as both Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point, NC and Oklahoma City move up one spot, now at 47 and 48, while West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL, which had ranked 47th, now slips to 49th.