YAKIMA, Wash. -- Country station KXDD-FM is No. 1 among Yakima Valley listeners in the spring 2010 ratings period.

That's according to Arbitron, the longtime Baltimore-area radio audience measurement company.

But these days, Arbitron doesn't provide much beyond bragging rights for the station and the five others owned by New Northwest Broadcasters.

The Seattle-based company decided to turn to Sammamish-based Eastlan Ratings to determine listener trends for its 31 stations, which span over six Pacific Northwest cities. It switched over for the fall 2009 ratings period.

"Arbitron is very spendy," said Dewey Boynton, who is New Northwest Broadcasters' operations manager in Yakima and morning show host for KXDD. "There are certain inadequacies in the methodology that concern everybody."

New Northwest Broadcasters' decision brings a new audience measurement system into the Yakima market. Like Arbitron, Eastlan provides radio ratings for the Yakima market twice a year --in the fall and in the spring. But the two use different systems to get those ratings, which may yield different results.

Ratings are used by radio stations to track listener trends. Demographic data, which measure radio station audience by age and gender, are used to draw potential advertisers looking to reach a specific target market.

Stations have been frustrated by Arbitron, whose operation dates back to the late 1940s. The biggest issue is Arbitron's survey sample, which radio station operators say is too small, and too expensive.

"People are always looking for an alternative radio ratings system," said Bob Burke, vice president/manager director for Friday Morning Quarterback or FMQB, a trade publication for the radio industry. "Many stations and companies question the measurements of Arbitron."

Arbitron is by far the nation's largest ratings company. Arbitron provides data to more than 2,000 radio stations from nearly 300 markets nationwide.

Eastlan, which was founded in 1999, provides data to a fraction of that base -- it has more than 450 radio station customers in more than 90 markets nationwide.

But it continues to grow its market share among small- and medium-sized markets with its promise to provide a larger sample size for a lower price.

According to local radio stations, the sample size for Arbitron in Yakima is about 500-600 participants. Those surveyed receive a diary where they record their listening habits every 15 minutes for a week. They then return the diary to Arbitron.

The sample size of Eastlan is about 1,000 people. Participants recall their listening habits by answering questions during a single phone call.

Eastlan president and CEO Mike Gould says this method will better reach radio listeners who may not do well under the diary system, such as those with little or no reading and writing skills.

"The more complicated the process, the less likely people will do it," Gould said.

On its website, Eastlan promises savings in the tens of thousands of dollars for some radio station companies.

In general, Eastlan's bids for its service could be as much as 35 percent to 50 percent lower than Arbitron's, Gould said. The rate will vary depending on a variety of factors, such as duration of the contract.

With many smaller market stations trying to cut budgets, Eastlan's lower-priced offering is certainly appealing, said Cheryl A. Salomone, the Yakima market manager for Townsquare Media, a Greenwich, Conn.-based company that owns six Yakima stations.

It has a multiyear contract with Arbitron through 2012. With New Northwest Broadcasters subscribing to Eastlan, Townsquare Media will have a few years to see how well the new ratings system works in the Yakima market, Salomone said.

The two companies own nearly half of the commercial radio stations operating in the Yakima market, which is ranked No. 204 nationwide.

Arbitron declined to comment for this story.

Despite Eastlan's efforts, Arbitron remains a big player in this market and is working to remain competitive, Burke said.

One example is Arbitron's Portable People Meter, a new technology that measures participants' listening habits by using a sound-sensitive device that detects musical sounds.

Using sound detection, the device then records which radio stations the participant is listening too, eliminating the need to recall it on paper.

But that technology is not available in small markets such as Yakima and still comes with its own separate set of issues, Burke said.

Regardless, Arbitron continues to be the audience measurement of choice for national advertisers.

"People still use Arbitron because it's the tried-and-true service," Salomone said.

Yakima advertising firm Smith, Phillips & DiPietro is among those who still use Arbitron ratings, said partner Rob Phillips.

But unlike national advertising firms and its nationwide clients, who have to use ratings to advertise in a local market thousands of miles away, local firms have more tools to use when making their media buying decisions, Phillips said.

"We live in the market and we work in the market and we deal with the radio stations. We have a feel (for who radio stations are) reaching and who their customers are," he said. "The surveys give us a good base, but it's not our only criteria."

Some radio companies avoid ratings altogether.

While KMNA-FM, a Spanish-language radio station broadcast in Prosser, has had strong showings during the last few Arbitron ratings periods, its Los Angeles parent company Luna Communications has chosen not to subscribe to those ratings.

Gonzalo Cortez, general manager for the company in Prosser, said he believes that it costs $25,000 a year to subscribe to Arbitron ratings for just one station.

Luna Communications also operates two other Spanish-language stations in the Yakima Valley -- KLES-FM, a Mexican regional station, and KZLR-AM, an ESPN sports network affiliate.

The stations find other ways of tracking listeners, such as counting the number of people who show up for a live broadcast at a local business or the people who call the station daily.

"(Ratings are) important, but there is a lot of money involved," he said.

According to Gould, even larger radio companies will choose not to subscribe to any ratings system. But he will point out to those companies that most potential advertisers want hard numbers to know exactly what kind of market they are reaching.

"Can a radio station be successful without ratings? Absolutely," Gould said "Is it the norm? No."

With two competitors in the Yakima market, it's too early to tell which service will be more authoritative.

Boynton, the operations director for New Northwest Broadcasters, believes it will take a few more ratings periods to gauge the success of moving to a new radio audience measurement company.

Salomone, of Townsquare Media, which uses Arbitron ratings, said there could be confusion among advertisers with two different ratings systems in place, especially if they provide conflicting data.

"Both companies have some validity," she said.

Burke believes that it's up to the radio companies themselves to promote the value of whatever numbers they have available.

"(If) you as a radio station are able to show adequate measurement of audience, you would think that client would value that information and purchase advertising," he said.

* Mai Hoang can be reached at 509-577-7685 or mhoang@yakimaherald.com.