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Last week RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) released the most recent radio listening data for the U.K., and they yielded some interesting results. Especially when it applies to digital listening.
Your latest Nielsen survey is released, and the first thing you do is check your station’s performance. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in a PPM or a diary market; how your station fared is the most important element of the Nielsen survey.
However, many broadcasters do not take the time to examine how well Nielsen conducted their survey. When they do, it is usually only following a down book, and they’re looking for a reason to blame Nielsen. In other words – shoot the messenger.
Regardless of your station’s results in any survey, every broadcaster – whether they are in sales, programming, or management – should be aware of how well Nielsen performed.
When PPM was new to all of us, a lot of us focused on clocks. Proper placement of commercial breaks were analyzed to maximize every quarter-hour.
Being off by just a few minutes can have a detrimental impact on your ratings, and therefore your bonus.
So what do you do?
One measure of radio’s long-term health is listening levels. On an AQH basis, how many people are tuning to radio? This can outline who is using radio and how overall listening is shifting. Previous blogs have implored radio programming and salespeople to pay attention to this important measure for their market and constantly track it.
While local market PURS (for diary markets) or PUMMs (for PPM markets) are an important measure, they are also valuable to look at nationally. In other words, what is going on with radio listening around the country?
Here the news is good…
There was a time when radio stations spent a good number of resources to get to know their listeners. Whether it was auditorium tests, focus groups, or perceptual studies, they gathered important information about their likes and dislikes. More importantly, they learned how these folks felt about their station – and about the competition.
Over the past few years, these important information-gathering activities have become less common, especially in medium to small markets. At the same time, people’s audio options have exploded. The consumer has more choices, and we know less about them. This could be harmful to your station’s long-term success.
