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PROUDLY EMBRACING ITS NICKNAME AS "THE LIVE MUSIC CAPITAL OF THE World," Texas state capital Austin has carved out its own unique footprint, despite the fact that its larger and flashier sibling cities Dallas, Houston and San Antonio often attract more of the spotlight. None of those other cities, however, enjoys such a thriving rock and blues scene, which gave rise to stars like the late Stevie Ray Vaughan. Every year, thousands crowd Austin's Sixth Street (home to numerous bars and clubs) and other areas for the annual South by Southwest music festival.
A rush of new construction, including hotels, retail outlets, restaurants and upscale condominiums, has Austin's downtown percolating. Just west of Austin is an expansive region known as the Hill Country, which offers resorts and a plethora of outdoor recreation.
One of the leading high-tech hubs in America-nearly every park and restaurant is Wi-Fi enabled-Austin is home to computer giant Dell, based just outside town in an area known as Round Rock.
With a population of 656,562, Austin is the nation's 16th-largest city (and the fourth-largest in Texas). That puts it at 53 in DMA rank with 589,360 TV households and 40 in spot TV revenue rank, according to BIA Financial Network. TV ad revenue climbed 8 percent from 2003 to 2004, from an estimated $123.8 million in 2003 to $133.7 million in 2004, before flattening out in 2005 with zero growth, according to BIA. BIA projects Austin's spot outlook to jump 10 percent from 2005 to $147.1 million in 2006.
Belo Corp.'s ABC affiliate KVUE is the revenue leader in the market, having taken in an estimated $38 million in 2004, which gives it a 28.4 percent slice of the local spot TV marketplace, according to BIA. KVUE was followed by LIN Television's NBC affiliate KXAN-TV at $28.4 million, CBS TV's owned-and-operated KEYE-TV at $26.5 million and Fox Television Stations' O&O KTBC at $25.4 million. However, with a duopoly and LMA in the market, LIN's 2004 revenue share was 30.2 percent, according to BIA.
KVUE is the market's longtime, overall news leader, although the ratings race has tightened considerably in recent years. The three 10 o'clock late-news competitors finished in a virtual tie in the November sweeps. However, Patti C. Smith, KVUE...