May 15, 2025
For those of you keeping score at home, last week’s missive compared Q1 2024 with Q1 2025 to see how the change in Nielsen’s reporting procedures affected radio listening. We covered six demos across all the major dayparts. If you missed that one, there will be a link at the end of this article.
This time we are once again teaming up with the wizards from XTRENDS to see how the new rules affected different formats. We focused on total week and Adults 18-49 and 25-54. The data was compiled from 48 of the 49 PPM markets. We also list how many stations were included in each format group.
Here’s the chart:
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May 8, 2025
By now you’ve seen data comparing the first quarter of 2025 with Q4 of 2024 which shows how the new three-minute qualifier has changed the ratings landscape.
We decided to take a different tack on this by comparing Q1 2024 with Q1 2025 to (hopefully) get a more apples-ish to apples-ish comparison. We also wanted to go a bit deeper into the data so we partnered with the math mavens from XTRENDS to look at dayparts and demos. In our comparison we examined six demographics: Persons, Men and Women for both 18-49 and 25-54. We looked at the changes in AQH Persons, Cume Persons and Average Weekly Time Exposed (OK, TSL).
This was based on the market totals from 48 of the 49 PPM markets that are available to us.
The chart below lays out all the data. Here are a few takeaways:
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May 1, 2025
For years, perhaps decades, the radio industry has been lamenting the loss of revenue. We have seen other platforms – primarily digital – eat our collective lunch for far too long. Unfortunately, the lament we hear all too often is – “we’re waiting for revenue to turn around.”
This feels like Forrest Gump waiting at the bus stop. Radio revenue is not going to turn around unless we make it happen.
If you’ve read this far you likely believe in the power of radio. The power to entertain. The power to inform. And our power as an advertising medium.
What are we doing – collectively and at the market level – to leverage these superpowers to make radio great again?
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April 25, 2025
Welcome to part four of our MARCH madness. The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – along with the sharp sabermetricians from XTRENDS – have checked with legal and we can use the term “madness” when discussing this survey because the NCAA is absorbed with much bigger issues. Also, since we did not capitalize it, we think we’re in good shape.
If you’ve been following along, you know that the effects of the new three-minute rule – now in its third big month! – have varied widely from market to market and demo to demo. We will continue to highlight this change in this and future roundups.
This survey ran from MARCH 6TH through APRIL 2ND. Times changed, as did the seasons, and brisket was served in a couple of different ways.
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April 24, 2025
The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – in a committed relationship with the data darlings from XTRENDS – are back to regale you with more radio ratings brouhaha. What’s all this brouhaha, you say? First, it’s a word that is not used often enough for our tastes. Second, this survey completes a full quarter’s worth of results in the new three-minute multiverse.
As with any true multiverse, the realities have varied widely from market to market. As is our custom we will highlight market PUMM changes from both the previous book and last year. This will cover the four basic food, er, demo groups. There is no “one size fits all here” so make sure you delve into your own market to see what has changed.
The MARCH book ran from MARCH 6TH through APRIL 2ND. The clocks sprung forward, spring was also sprung, and there were celebrations for both PURIM and a saint that was never formally canonized (we looked that one up).
Here we go…
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For those of you keeping score at home, last week’s missive compared Q1 2024 with Q1 2025 to see how the change in Nielsen’s reporting procedures affected radio listening. We covered six demos across all the major dayparts. If you missed that one, there will be a link at the end of this article.
