February 27, 2025
The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – along with the buckaroos from XTRENDS – are back in the saddle again with our final batch of ratings results for the JANUARY survey. As you know, this book is noteworthy for two reasons.
First, it is the month where much radio listening is reoriented after the reign of musical terror brought on by the notorious TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA.
Second, there was this NIELSEN rule change that dramatically affected how listening is reported. You may have heard about the three-minute qualifier. So far, we have seen some wild fluctuations in how market PUMM has increased across the four demographics we cover. If you’re just joining the party, we are looking at the percentage change of PUMM from the HOLIDAY book to the JANUARY survey. This one ran from JANUARY 9TH through FEBRUARY 5TH. It had a three-day weekend, lots of football, and plenty of bad weather.
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February 26, 2025
For those of you just tuning in, here’s where we are. The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – in cooperation with the masters of the algorithm from XTRENDS – have been doing our normal deep dive into the monthly PPM data. However, this particular survey comes with a twist. We are getting our first look at how the three-minute qualifier has affected the ratings.
In our first two episodes, we saw, as expected, a minimal effect on station shares in the four demographics we cover. We did expect significant PUMM growth in every market, and that is what is occurring. What has come as a surprise is the wide variations in PUMM growth we are seeing from market to market. Will that trend continue with our next batch of contestants? Read on…
The JANUARY survey ran from JANUARY 9TH through FEBRUARY 5TH and did feature a long holiday weekend and signaled a return to normal-ish listening patterns in the wake of Santa’s demise. Note that all PUMM changes are book-to-book numbers.
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February 25, 2025
The big reveal continues as The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – in close proximity to our fellow numbers nerds from XTRENDS – are back to see what AMERICA’S new radio ratings reality has produced. If you tuned in for our previous episode, you saw that the growth in market PUMM across the four demos we examined was all over the place. Will that trend continue with our latest installment? Read on.
The JANUARY survey ran from JANUARY 9TH through FEBRUARY 5TH. It contained one three-day weekend, playoff football, and some really lousy weather. Oh, yeah, it also measured listening differently than ever before.
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February 24, 2025
And so it begins. Welcome to the first book of the rest of your radio life. The JANUARY survey marks the beginning of the three-minute rule era. The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC., along with our compatriots from XTRENDS, have been anxiously awaiting this moment. Yes, we are ratings nerds.
A few housekeeping notes. The survey ran from JANUARY 9TH through FEBRUARY 5TH. There was a federally-mandated three-day weekend in there, playoff football, and some really lousy weather.
Besides our normal analysis of the numbers, we will be adding in a new wrinkle. We always show how the market cume has changed every month. As we adjust to this new reality, we will also be listing the percentage change of market PUMM by demo. For this book, we will compare it to the previous survey. In future roundups, we will look at year over year.
Let’s do this…
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February 20, 2025
One of the buzz phrases spawned by the digital age is brand safety. In the Wild West that is digital ad placement, many brands have no clue as to where their ads appear. They might think they know, but the reality is a bit fuzzy.
In his most recent newsletter, Bob Hoffman – aka The Ad Contrarian – wrote about a peer reviewed study written by Dr. Krzysztof Franaszek, the head of Adalytics. I won’t quote the entire article, but these few paragraphs should startle you:
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