Archive
November 29, 2023
Filed Under: Hot Topics
The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC., with incredible backroom support from the numbers crunchers from XTRENDS, return refreshed and anew, ready to tackle another slate of radio ratings results. Doesn’t it seem that once you’ve parsed a book and reacted to its results, you’re smacked in the face by a new set of numbers? This one is called NOVEMBER, though it actually began on OCTOBER 12TH and ended on NOVEMBER 8TH. It featured a lot of people dressing like TAYLOR SWIFT, the absurd turning back the hands of time, and an election day. We will now reveal the details…
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November 28, 2023
Filed Under: Hot Topics
As you slowly recover from your self-induced food coma, The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – in close proximity with the alchemists of the algorithm from XTRENDS – bring you another scintillating edition of the radio ratings follies. This time we dissect the remains of the NOVEMBER survey, which ran from OCTOBER 12TH through NOVEMBER 8TH – so calling it by its given name is a bit of a misnomer. The noteworthy events of this time frame included the tricking of treats, the ridiculous exercise of falling back and a mid-term election. Other than that, it was business as usual, at least for radio. Here’s what happened…
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November 16, 2023
Filed Under: Hot Topics
You likely read Warren Kurtzman’s recent post on the Tuesday’s With Coleman blog (if not, the link is below). The gist of the article was that any radio station’s marketing to heavy meter keepers is a fool’s errand.
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November 9, 2023
Filed Under: Hot Topics
One of the largest line items in any radio station’s budget is labeled “Nielsen”. Whether you’re in a diary or a PPM market it is important to know what changes are occurring with the ratings process. Nielsen is very open about this and releases both proprietary (Client Only) and public information.
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October 30, 2023
Filed Under: Hot Topics
Welcome back for more ratings tomfoolery. Or is it folderol? Perhaps brouhaha. The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – along with our compatriots at XTRENDS – have yet to reach a consensus on this. We probably need to spitball it or hold a brainstorming session. Maybe bring out the whiteboard. We’ll just let that marinate for a while as we dive into the OCTOBER survey. This one ran from SEPTEMBER 14TH and concluded on OCTOBER 11TH. It featured ROSH HASHANAH, YOM KIPPUR, the official change of the seasons and a federal holiday that rarely generates a three-day weekend. Here we go…
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October 26, 2023
Filed Under: Hot Topics
For far too long radio has played third fiddle to network television. As we have gotten dinged by all the pure play streaming services, network TV still rakes in its unfair share of ad spending, even though the networks, outside of news and sports programming, are getting killed by the likes of Netflix and its ilk.
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October 19, 2023
Filed Under: Hot Topics
Are you having difficulties convincing an advertiser that you are the right station for reaching their target consumer? This is even harder if you are not a top ranked station. What can you do to prove the value of your listeners? We have a few ideas for you …
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October 12, 2023
Filed Under: Hot Topics
This blog is not going to be about navel gazing or lamenting how time slips through our fingers while we waltz through life. No, this is about an existential threat to radio.
We know – for a fact – that listening levels are down about 20% in PPM markets. We don’t know where it went or when (or if) it will come back. What we are sure of is that one of the contributing factors to this decline is in Time Spent Listening (TSL). Yes, we know it’s actually Average Weekly Time Exposed (AWTE) but we are old school. Read More…
October 6, 2023
Filed Under: Hot Topics
Oh look – it’s bonus ratings coverage. Like extra innings or overtime. Actually, The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC., after huddling with our partners in data from XTRENDS, decided to add five more markets to our monthly mix. That makes this the debut of our extended ratings coverage. We know, be still your beating heart. As a reminder, the SEPTEMBER survey ran from AUGUST 17TH through SEPTEMBER 13TH. It had that laboriously long holiday weekend, folks figuring out what to pack for school lunches, and the return of tailgate parties. Let us introduce you to our new tranche of markets:
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October 5, 2023
Filed Under: Hot Topics
The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. in a tight-knot formation with the math mavens from XTRENDS are back to wrangle more SEPTEMBER data. We slice, dice, parse and – occasionally – squeeze the numbers to give you a deep look into the top markets. This is the only ratings recap that goes beyond the publicly available 6+ figures. While we cannot give you the exact shares of demos beyond the big, you can usually catch our drift about what is happening below the surface. This survey began on AUGUST 17TH and reached its demise on SEPTEMBER 13TH. Notable events during that time were a long weekend, the return of school car pools, and the onset of the football season. Let us begin… Read More…
