Gray Television has signed up Rentrak to measure ratings for its KAKE Wichita and WIBW Topeka. Both stations remain Nielsen subscribers too.
Rentrak now has four Wichita stations subscribing to its ratings service, and a total of 36 stations in 18 TV markets.
KAKE General Manager Dan Wall said Rentrak is "an additional source" of ratings info for the station, not a replacement for Nielsen. "The main reason is to see what Rentrak has to offer," he says. "So far it's been pretty exciting."
Rentrak says its StationView Essentials is well suited for measuring elusive viewer engagement. "Rentrak is excited to begin working with Gray Television and we are most pleased to increase our TV station count in the Wichita market as well as adding WIBW Topeka to our roster of client stations," said Rentrak Senior V.P. of Local Market Sales Steven Walsh. "Gray Television will now have a distinct competitive advantage by using the StationView Essentials service in order to sell not only the size of their audiences, but also the level of viewer engagement."
Rentrak has been increasing its presence at the station level. Cowles Media signed up for Rentrak at six of its stations in June. Sinclair and Post-Newsweek have also signed up to try the service at select stations.
