We're movin' on up.
The Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York television market continues to grow, according to the Nielsen estimates of TV households.
The size of our viewing market has grown to the 39th largest in the nation, with more than 743,000 households. That's up from No. 41 a year ago. So we are now in the neighborhood of San Antonio (No. 37) and West Palm Beach, Fla. (38), and bigger than Birmingham, Ala. (40), Las Vegas (42) and New Orleans (51).
According to estimates, market Nos. 1 through 5 are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Dallas-Fort Worth respectively.
Nielsen collects data through national samples and two government surveys: the Residential Energy Consumption Survey and the Survey of Income and Program Participation.
In the past six years, our designated market area, which is geographically broad and economically diverse, has risen eight places in the rankings. TV stations can use the market rankings to attract national advertisers.
According to the January 2010 estimates, 99 percent of Pennsylvania households have televisions, and 72 percent of those homes have cable. In Lancaster County, 97 percent of households own at least one TV.
New radio station: The e-mail started off: "Are you aware of a radio station in Gap?"
My answer: "No."
But WLRI-LP 92.9, "93 FM," is a lower-power FM station licensed to serve Gap. It airs an all-news format and covers eastern Lancaster and western Chester counties. Though the station is not currently on the airwaves, station founder Christian McLaughlin, of Gap, hopes WLRI will be back on the air by March. Right now, you can hear its news and programs by streaming online at wlri93fm.com.
McLaughlin said the stream is dropped between noon and 2 p.m. to download programming.
The nonprofit station relies on volunteers to gather news, weather and even traffic updates. It covers community events and school board and municipal meetings. WLRI picked up the reading of the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era newspaper after the Susquehanna Association for the Blind and Vision Impaired discontinued the service. McLaughlin said the plan is to read the newspaper over the air when they are back on the air.
WLRI's lineup also includes the syndicated shows "Democracy Now," with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, and the "Thom Hartmann Program."
The Sharks bite: Michael Schiavone, a Lancaster County resident, convinced investors to support his product when he appeared on ABC's "Shark Tank," a reality show that features entrepreneurs pitching proposals to business tycoons in an attempt to get them to invest.
Schiavone pitched his product, the Caffeindicator, a litmus-type tester incorporated into a sweetener packet that changes color in the presence of caffeine, and reached a deal with the tycoons for $200,000 and a 25 percent stake in his company.
New lottery drawing on WGAL: The multistate Mega Millions lottery drawing premiered Feb. 2 on WGAL-TV 8. The drawing will air at 11:20 p.m. Tuesday and Friday during the late-evening news.
WGAL also moved the Wednesday and Saturday night broadcasts of the Powerball drawing from 10:59 p.m. to 11:20 p.m.