For years, radio stations in Texarkana lived and died by the ratings book. Now, it is totally up to you!
If you were around during the heyday of Nielsen Audio, or even Arbitron before that, you probably remember the bragging rights — who was number one, who was climbing, and who mysteriously “forgot” to mention their position that month.
But here’s something most folks don’t realize:
Texarkana isn’t even a rated market anymore.
Sometime around 2020, the folks at Nielsen quietly stopped measuring Texarkana as an official radio market. No more books. No more monthly rankings. No more official scoreboard.
And just like that… the game changed.
Back when ratings still existed, it was pretty well understood that stations like Kicker 102.5 and Hot 107.1 were often battling it out at the top, with a handful of others fighting for position behind them.
But here’s the truth insiders will tell you:
Even back then, the numbers didn’t always tell the whole story.
Texarkana was what’s called a diary market — meaning ratings depended on a relatively small group of people writing down what they listened to. Not exactly a perfect system.
And depending on which company you asked — Nielsen or Eastlan — you might get a completely different version of who was “winning.”
Without official ratings, something interesting has happened:
Local radio has gone back to being… local again.
Stations are now being judged by:
- Community involvement
- Social media presence
- Streaming numbers
- Podcast downloads
- And most importantly — listener loyalty
And in a town like Texarkana, that still counts for a lot.
Corporate radio is just getting weirder.
If you’ve spent any time on big national radio websites lately, you’ve probably noticed something strange.
You’ll click on what you think is a local station page… and suddenly you’re reading:
“Top 5 Hamburger Restaurants in El Paso”
…on a station that supposedly serves Arkansas and Texas.
That’s because a lot of corporate-owned stations are now part of massive content networks run by companies like iHeartMedia and Townsquare Media.
Instead of local voices, you’re getting:
- Copy-and-paste articles
- Out-of-market content
- Algorithms deciding what shows up in your feed
It’s radio… but it ain’t local radio.
Here’s the good news:
Texarkana still has a few real people behind the mic.
Local DJs. Local talk shows. Local coverage of events that actually matter here — not in Dallas, not in El Paso, but right here at home.
And thanks to modern technology, you don’t have to be in your car to listen anymore.
You can catch your favorite stations:
- On mobile apps
- Through smart speakers
- Via live streaming
- Even as podcasts
Local radio didn’t disappear — it just moved into your pocket.
So let’s make this fun.
Back when ratings were a thing, stations fought over who was #1.
Now?
You decide.
Who are your Top 5 radio stations in Texarkana — past or present?
Because in a world where nobody’s officially keeping score anymore…
The only ratings that matter are yours.
