Archive
July 18, 2024
Filed Under: Hot Topics
There’s a pretty popular Kenny Chesney song called “The Road and the Radio.” We can call this missive, “The Restaurant and the Radio.” Or maybe, “Road to the Restaurant”? We’ll think about a good title and get back to you. Here’s one thing we are sure of, though: a majority of radio listening happens in the car. Our medium has often been referred to as a “point of purchase” contact. Consumers are on the move, running errands, and spending money. Many of these trips involve going out to eat. Read More…
July 2, 2024
Filed Under: Hot Topics
As we prepare to celebrate the 248th birthday of these United States, we thought it would be appropriate to talk about how radio has affected the course of our nation.
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June 27, 2024
Filed Under: Hot Topics
We have a few suggestions that might improve Nielsen’s upcoming digital diary service. The first thing broadcasters want to talk about is sample size. Let’s be real. Sample sizes will only increase if radio is willing to pay for it. Clearly, this is a non-starter.
Rather, these suggestions are for the upcoming digital diary. I will state up front that I have zero knowledge about how this is being set up or utilized. So every suggestion may already be in the works. Think of this as me trying to predict the NBA draft – it’s all conjecture. With that said, here are a few suggestions:
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June 20, 2024
Filed Under: Hot Topics
Even if you’re only paying cursory attention to the political landscape, you know that this year’s races are going to be historic. This is not a bold statement, as every presidential election has the potential to bring about huge societal changes. Add to this the fact that, at least at the top of the ticket, the current polls say this year’s race is in the “pick ‘em” category.
This column is not about politics, however. It is about the power of radio. According to a recent Nielsen study, radio could be the secret weapon in the political advertising wars. Read More…
June 6, 2024
Filed Under: Hot Topics
With apologies to Charles Dickens and the Tale of Two Cities, we’re analyzing the best of times and the worst of times … well, actually decades …
If you haven’t seen it yet, I encourage you to scroll through the crosstabs from the recent YouGov study. You likely saw the headlines in trades about the respondents’ attitudes towards radio (more on that in a bit). However, the entire study probed a wide variety of topics and was organized along a best/worst axis.
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May 23, 2024
Filed Under: Hot Topics
You’ve probably read the recent report from Alan Burns & Associates about what women want from radio. If you haven’t then I urge you to do so – especially if you are programming a station that targets women.
Being the data geeks that we are, this comprehensive report was a wealth of information about the radio wants and desires for women. What struck me was that their overall feeling about AM/FM radio was positive.
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May 9, 2024
Filed Under: Hot Topics
Recently, Fred Jacobs’ #TBT column was an ode to the Program Director. One of his essential points – to me – was that you should never get too high or too low when the book comes out. I used to tell my staff that ratings were like a baseball season – don’t celebrate a five-game winning streak any more than you lament dropping a weekend series. You are in it for the long haul.
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April 25, 2024
Filed Under: Hot Topics
For far too long, radio has been playing fourth fiddle to the digital realm as far as an advertising platform is considered. Now I’m not here to say that including digital as part of a comprehensive advertising campaign is something to be avoided. On the contrary, if a business is not ranking high in search nor gathering first-party data to communicate with their customers, they will have a hard time flourishing.
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April 11, 2024
Filed Under: Hot Topics
You probably saw The Ad Bargain study released last week about the effectiveness and relevance of audio, excuse me, radio ads. While it seems the main emphasis of the study is to pump up podcasting, there were several of nuggets that pertain to the original audio medium – radio. Read More…
April 4, 2024
Filed Under: Hot Topics
We recently ran across an article from the Christian Music Broadcasters that preached the value of using your zip codes. In this context, they are referring to a station’s database. While this is a more stable data set than the Nielsen PPM panel, there are opportunities to use both databases to a station’s advantage. Read More…
