SYRACUSE and UTICA -- Market rankings for the 2012-2013 television season have been announced by Nielsen, the company that measures TV viewership nationwide. Nielsen says both markets have fewer viewers, but both are maintaining last year's rankings.
The ratings giant says Syracuse had 386,090 television-watching households for the 2011-2012 season, but that estimate dropped to 377,550 households for the new season. Despite the drop, Syracuse retains its ranking as the 84th largest television market in the nation, between Champaign / Springfield / Decatur, Illinois at #83, and Madison, Wisconsin at #85.
The Syracuse market includes Onondaga, Oswego, Madison, Cortland, Tompkins, Cayuga and Seneca Counties. The market also includes the western portion of Oneida County, including the City of Rome -- even though Rome is remarkably closer to Utica than Syracuse.
Utica's television market includes eastern Oneida County, along with all of Herkimer and Otsego Counties. For the previous season, Nielsen estimated there were 104,750 television-watching households in the market. For the new season, that estimate is down to 102,890. Utica retains its ranking as #172 in the country, as several markets above and below Utica also experienced similar declines in population.