Where Have All the Good Meterkeepers Gone?

As usual, summer took a toll on average daily in-tab in PPM markets across the country. Hopefully we’re seeing a rebound with the October book that’s releasing this week. It’s the first “all fall” book, running from September 8 through October 5.

Whichever direction your market’s in-tab is going, what does it mean for your station?

Lower in-tab could have a positive or negative effect on your numbers due to weighting. Weighting is meant to make the data more representative of the population. However, when applied to small sample sizes, weighting can yield some abnormal results. Your fate is sometimes in the hands of a very small group of meterkeepers.

What is MOST IMPORTANT is being able to determine, with as much confidence as possible, what actually caused your ratings to change from book to book.

• Did you gain or lose heavy listeners?
• How has your recycling been trending?
• Did holidays, weather, or other events affect you more than your competition?
• Which quarter-hours are you winning and losing?

These are just a few questions that you NEED to answer each month. If you’re curious about what you might discover, or if you think you’d like a second opinion on your ratings, let the Ratings Experts at Research Director, Inc. conduct a free ratings analysis.

As Benjamin Franklin said, “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” In this case, the only investment needed is a conversation.

(FINE PRINT: You must be a Nielsen Audio subscriber in good standing. Your Market Manager or Operations/Program Director will need to submit an authorization form to Nielsen that allows us to access your data. In some cases, you could incur a sales tax charge from Nielsen for allowing Research Director, Inc. to access the data. Contact us for more information.)