Broadcast Data Systems (also known as Nielsen BDS, BDS or Luminate BDS) was a service that tracks radio, television and internet airplay of songs. The service, which is a unit of MRC Data, is a contributing factor to North American charts published by co-owned magazine Billboard, including the Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100, when combined with sales and streaming data from Soundscan.
BDS monitors airplay on more than 2,000 radio stations, satellite radio, and cable music channels across the United States (including Puerto Rico), Canada, and Mexico.[1] Luminate distributes BDS airplay data in their suite of music data products, including Music Connect, BDSRadio, BDS RealTime, ENcore and Musictracking.[1]
From August 2006 to its final June 2009 publication, BDS also provided chart data for R&R after Nielsen acquired the trade. On September 10, 2009, the website Radio-Info.com struck a partnership with Nielsen BDS to provide radio airplay charts and related data for over 20 formats.[2]
History
BDS was founded as Broadcast Recognition Systems by Robert Uhlmann and Hal Oppenheimer,