A market name used by Nielsen Audio is descriptive of the survey area of that market. Market names generally correspond to the name established for the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA) or Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA) by the federal government's Office of Management and Budget (OMB). However, the OMB designation may be modified by Nielsen Audio to better reflect market preference or industry usage.

Nielsen Audio's conformity with or deviation from OMB definitions is noted on the Special Notices and Station Activities page of each Radio Market Report As trend analyses may be affected by any change in market definition, it is also noted if any Metro counties have been added or deleted during the periods covered by the Target Listener Trends section of the Report.

For survey areas that do not have an official MSA, PMSA or CMSA designation, generally up to three cities may be included in the market name, listed in sequential order from largest to smallest estimated population. However, Nielsen Audio may adopt an alternative name to better reflect market preference or industry usage.

A Nielsen Audio radio market can consist of up to three geographic areas:

• Metro Survey Area (Metro or MSA)
• Total Survey Area (TSA) and, if applicable,
• Designated Market Area (DMA)

These areas are composed of sampling units which generally correspond to a single county or county equivalent, but may also consist of a portion of a county, known as a split county. Each Nielsen Audio Radio Market Report includes a map of the counties and split counties that comprise the survey area(s) applicable to that market. The map is keyed to show which counties make up the Metro, TSA and, where applicable, the DMA.