The Big Report (which included cheater Paul Byrd) tripled ratings at WFAN and ESPN 1050

NEW YORK -- "January 8, 2008: Sen. George Mitchell held a press conference at 2 p.m. ET on December 13 to unveil his report on steroid use in Major League Baseball, and CBS Radio's Sports WFAN-AM/New York and crosstown ESPN affiliate WEPN-AM, which both carried the press conference live, saw significant ratings gains that hour, Arbitron reports.

• The Portable People Meter showed that WFAN had an AQH audience of 90,200 men 25-54 during the 2-3 p.m. hour on December 13, compared to an average of 27,600 during that hour in the preceding 12 Thursdays. During the hour before the press conference, WFAN had a AQH audience of 56,600 men 25-54, and it picked up 66,600 men in that demo the hour after.

At WEPN, the peak audience of 43,100 men 25-54 during the hour of the press conference was three times greater than its average audience of 27,600 in that demo for the 2-3 p.m. hour of the preceding six Thursdays. During the 1-2 p.m. hour, before the press conference, WEPN had a men 25-54 AQH audience of 28,800, and it saw 29,200 in the hour after the conference.

• "The press conference was a huge generator of listening for both radio stations," said Arbitron Manager/Custom & Sports Research Mason Meyer. "In addition, these types of Portable People Meter audience reports will help demonstrate the value of radio to advertisers and agencies. Radio can deliver significant audiences while people are out-of-home, especially for event listening.""

From RadioInk.com, 1/8/08, "MLB Steroid Report Boosts Ratings on New York Sports Stations."

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