June 17, 2025
The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – along with the intrepid data diviners from XTRENDS – are back to regale you with more stories and sagas from the MAY survey. There were the requisite number of triumphs and tragedies, victories and defeats along with the mind-numbing regularity of the same old trends. Fortunes rose and fell based on a small percentage of the population. Yes, it’s a system that causes those outside of our industry to cock their heads like a curious dog. But it’s what we signed up for.
The book ran from MAY 1ST through the 28TH. It was an odd weather month that culminated in a three-day holiday weekend. Let us begin…
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June 16, 2025
Ah, MAY—the month that can’t decide whether it wants to be spring or summer. It’s the time when allergies wage war with your sinuses, and the promise of warmer weather is just enough to lure you outside, only for you to realize you’re woefully unprepared for the sudden downpour. Somehow, MAY manages to be both charming and infuriating, like a radio host that talks over your favorite song.
This was also the rare month when the calendar matched NIELSEN’s approximations as the survey ran from MAY 1ST through the 28TH. We all saluted Mom and there was a three-day federal holiday contained within the 28 day sweep.
The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – in close cooperation with our cohorts at XTRENDS – present, for your dining and dancing pleasure – MAY.
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June 12, 2025
Time Waits For No One
Your time is valuable—and it’s finite. Today’s radio programmers are juggling more responsibilities than ever. While we often joke about our ability to multi-task, the reality is that no one can truly master multiple tasks at once. There’s always something else pulling at our attention.
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June 5, 2025
That seems to be the “phrase that pays” so far in 2025. On that topic, did you see the article in Inside Radio last week about programmatic advertising? As is often the case, it highlighted the power and pitfalls of digital advertising.
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May 29, 2025
We’re now four surveys into the new reality of the three-minute qualifier in PPM markets, and one thing is clear: radio has benefited from this new reporting procedure. If you’re a faithful follower of this missive, you know we compared Q1 2024 with Q1 2025 and found that, across several demos, all the major dayparts, and the most common formats, AQH is up in double digits. (If you haven’t seen those comparisons, the links are below.)
So, what’s next? What can Nielsen do to provide an even more accurate account of radio listening? Read More…
