(White Plains, NY) February 20, 2012 – According to Arbitron, Little Rock, AR is the 84th largest radio market with a population of 570,100.

• In 1722, French explorer Jean-Baptiste Benard de la Harpe landed near a small rock formation on the south bank of the Arkansas River, which he called la Petite Roche ("the little rock"). The "little rock" was used by early river traffic as a landmark and a well-known river crossing.

• Little Rock used the nickname, City of Roses, until 2006, when they decided to become “The Rock.”

• The city has two major universities the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

• Major corporations headquartered in Little Rock include Dillard's Department Stores, Windstream Communications and Acxiom.

• In pro sports, they have the Arkansas Travelers, an AA professional Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Arkansas Rhinos of the North American Football League. In college sports, Little Rock is home to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Trojans.

• Some famous people from Little Rock include: NFL’s Jamaal Anderson, WKRP’s Frank Bonner, TV personality Chelsea Clinton, MLB’s Torii Hunter, owner of the Cowboys Jerry Jones, General Douglas MacArthur and bands Evanescence and Ho-Hum have roots in Little Rock.

LITTLE ROCK SPOT TEN

In Little Rock last week the #1 radio advertiser was STATE FARM with 366 spots. THE HOME DEPOT was #2 airing 352 ads, while STEVE LANDERS CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP hit #3 with 327 spots. OAKLAWN (Jockey Club) rode into #4 from #7 airing 315 announcements and GEICO was #5 with 283 spots. SONIC was #6 with 261 commercials, while KROGER moved from #14 to #7 with 255 ads. COLONIAL WINES & SPIRTS was #8 pouring out 247 spots and DIRECT GENERAL CORPORATION (Insurance) was #9 with 242 spots. LOWE’S landed at #10 with 238 spots.

HOME FURNISHING SPOT TEN

NATIONAL STATISTICS -

This is a highly competitive category with PIER 1 IMPORTS holding the top spot with 6,894 spots. THE DUMP was #2 with 1,443 ads, while BOB’S DISCOUNT FURNITURE was #3 with 1,309 commercials. ASHLEY FURNITURE HOMESTORE leaps from #38 nationally to #4 last week running 1,195 spots. GALLERY FURNITURE holds steady at #5 airing 721 spots, while R.C. WILLEY landed in #6 with 710 spots. LA-Z-BOY was #7 with 634 ads and ART VAN FURNITURE sat at #8 with 608 spots. IKEA was #9 airing 599 spots, while PENNY MUSTARD was #10 with 526 spots.

NATIONAL SPOT TEN

NATIONAL STATISTICS -

GEICO commands the #1 position with 34,257 spots. THE HOME DEPOT delivered #2 with 28,568 ads, while MCDONALD’S was #3 running 26,983 spots. AUTOZONE was #4 with 26,863 spots and STATE FARM moved from #8 to #5 with 18,815 spots. Interesting tidbit: Four Insurance companies are in the top twenty: GEICO #1; STATE FARM #5; ALL STATE #11; and PROGRESSIVE #18.

Posted: February 20, 2012