» WTOP Debuts Custom Commute: It's another innovative product for the Bonneville all-newser's website users that allows commuters to choose views from specific traffic cameras along the routes they use to get to and from work. Users can actually see their commute before hitting the road, giving them an opportunity to make time saving choices. "While traffic in this region is a problem for everyone we realized that on a day-to-day basis it is a very personal issue," said John Meyer, Director/New Media for WTOP. "We wanted to provide a tool, on an individual level, that helps ease the frustrations of a commute." Next up: a mobile version of the service for 'smartphones.' You can check out "Custom Commute" HERE.

» Mike & Mike Blow Out Email Box: On this morning's show the ESPN Radio morning hosts asked listeners to submit their best six-word essay via email for a chance to qualify to win a round of golf as part of a foursome that includes former NBA great Michael Jordon, pop star Justin Timberlake and another celebrity duffer TBA. In less than one hour Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic received 5,350 unique emails to the show's inbox -- that's an average of about 97 emails per minute! And what was the content of today's qualifying round winning essay? "Mike's right and Mike is wrong."

» Nielsen Returns To Radio Ratings: The media research company has been selected by Cumulus and 17 overlapping Clear Channel stations to survey radio listening in 50 small markets beginning in 2009. Nielsen will use a diary-based system during an eight week, once a year survey that will be conducted in March and April with results expected to be released in August. Participants will be recruited via Nielsen's randomly selected home address sampling vs. using telephone numbers, and an e-diary is expected to be rolled out sometime in 2010. Nielsen is the recognized leader in TV audience measurement and also surveys radio in a dozen countries worldwide. However the company has not surveyed radio in the U.S. in nearly 40 years.

» A Step Back To The 1960s: That's the take of Arbitron CEO Steve Morris on the aforementioned Nielsen diary-based radio ratings plans. "Once a year measurement is a step backward," he said in a statement released earlier today. "Advertisers have told us that radio markets need more than a once-a-year survey in order for stations to maintain accountability and recapture revenue from out-of-home, Internet and online media. We are committed to continuously improving our services for the benefit of the radio industry in markets of all sizes and we have already initiated an aggressive program of enhancements to our diary service." Those enhancements include the addition of cell-phone only households, greater incentives for 18-34 diary participants, enhanced qualitative and consumer questions, and accelerated development and deployment of electronic and online alternatives to the paper and pencil diary in all markets.

» Stuck On Stickers:President of Dallas-based MediaSense and 34-year radio programming veteran and ratings guru Bob Michaels says he's skeptical of Nielsen's plans to use pre-printed station "stickers" to record listening in their newly announced diary survey. "The sticker diary might work in Australia where there are so few stations, but a sticker diary is unworkable in the U.S. with over a hundred stations showing in the typical market," he said. "In the U.S. there are ten times as many stations that might show up in diaries as compared to Australia." Michaels cited several market examples to demonstrate his point including Melbourne-Titusville (#97) where 112 stations show in a Maximi$er ranker; Oxnard-Ventura (#117) where 71 stations show; and Lexington-Fayetteville (#105) where 109 stations rank. "In the smallest Cumulus market -- Bismarck, ND (#286) -- 45 radio stations appear in Maximi$er," said Michaels. "It will be interesting to see how they handle some of these issues which have come up before for Arbitron as they investigated various survey options for medium and small markets."

» Foneshow Adds Geo-Targeting: The Portland, ME-based provider of telephone accessed short-form audio has added a new tool that enables radio station affiliates and advertisers to target local markets. The just-unveiled feature allows affiliates and advertisers to target and customize pre and post-roll content by a variety of geographic data including area code, zip code, range, or fractional zip code. "With geo-targeting, an individual in Los Angeles who subscribes to a certain show will hear a pre and post-roll sweeper that applies to their local affiliate, while a subscriber in Seattle will hear the sweeper for their corresponding affiliate," said Foneshow founder and CEO Erik Schwartz. "We are delighted to add another level of personalization for our publishers and subscribers."