Posts in "Hot Topics"
May 20, 2025
Filed Under: Hot Topics
Well, dear friends, here we are again, digging through the dirt of the radio ratings trenches. APRIL has been a rollercoaster of numbers, surprises, and the usual drama, which pretty much sums up every survey. Just when you thought you could predict the winners and losers, the universe throws a curveball or a sweeper. Honestly, I don’t know the difference.
This specific 28-day segment began on APRIL 3RD and concluded on APRIL 30TH. It featured some rather important religious holidays, baseball was being played for real, and you were likely having some pleasant discussions with your accountant.
The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – along with our partners in data from XTRENDS – are here with all the juicy details.
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May 19, 2025
Filed Under: Hot Topics
Welcome to the APRIL survey. That glorious month of… well, unpredictability. Just when you think you can finally pack away those bulky winter coats and embrace the gentle caress of spring, April swoops in with a mischievous grin and a bipolar weather forecast. One day it’s sunshine and daisies, the next it’s a surprise hailstorm, just to keep you on your toes. Because who needs consistency, right?
Except, of course, when it comes to ratings. And that’s where we enter the chat. The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – in a close order formation with the masters of the algorithm from XTRENDS – bring you another action splattered edition of the ratings wars.
This book ran from APRIL 3RD through the 30TH and featured Passover, Easter Sunday, and National Zipper Day—for those of you that celebrate. Here’s what happened:
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May 15, 2025
Filed Under: Hot Topics
For those of you keeping score at home, last week’s missive compared Q1 2024 with Q1 2025 to see how the change in Nielsen’s reporting procedures affected radio listening. We covered six demos across all the major dayparts. If you missed that one, there will be a link at the end of this article.
This time we are once again teaming up with the wizards from XTRENDS to see how the new rules affected different formats. We focused on total week and Adults 18-49 and 25-54. The data was compiled from 48 of the 49 PPM markets. We also list how many stations were included in each format group.
Here’s the chart:
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May 8, 2025
Filed Under: Hot Topics
By now you’ve seen data comparing the first quarter of 2025 with Q4 of 2024 which shows how the new three-minute qualifier has changed the ratings landscape.
We decided to take a different tack on this by comparing Q1 2024 with Q1 2025 to (hopefully) get a more apples-ish to apples-ish comparison. We also wanted to go a bit deeper into the data so we partnered with the math mavens from XTRENDS to look at dayparts and demos. In our comparison we examined six demographics: Persons, Men and Women for both 18-49 and 25-54. We looked at the changes in AQH Persons, Cume Persons and Average Weekly Time Exposed (OK, TSL).
This was based on the market totals from 48 of the 49 PPM markets that are available to us.
The chart below lays out all the data. Here are a few takeaways:
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May 1, 2025
Filed Under: Hot Topics
For years, perhaps decades, the radio industry has been lamenting the loss of revenue. We have seen other platforms – primarily digital – eat our collective lunch for far too long. Unfortunately, the lament we hear all too often is – “we’re waiting for revenue to turn around.”
This feels like Forrest Gump waiting at the bus stop. Radio revenue is not going to turn around unless we make it happen.
If you’ve read this far you likely believe in the power of radio. The power to entertain. The power to inform. And our power as an advertising medium.
What are we doing – collectively and at the market level – to leverage these superpowers to make radio great again?
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April 25, 2025
Filed Under: Hot Topics
Welcome to part four of our MARCH madness. The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – along with the sharp sabermetricians from XTRENDS – have checked with legal and we can use the term “madness” when discussing this survey because the NCAA is absorbed with much bigger issues. Also, since we did not capitalize it, we think we’re in good shape.
If you’ve been following along, you know that the effects of the new three-minute rule – now in its third big month! – have varied widely from market to market and demo to demo. We will continue to highlight this change in this and future roundups.
This survey ran from MARCH 6TH through APRIL 2ND. Times changed, as did the seasons, and brisket was served in a couple of different ways.
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April 24, 2025
Filed Under: Hot Topics
The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – in a committed relationship with the data darlings from XTRENDS – are back to regale you with more radio ratings brouhaha. What’s all this brouhaha, you say? First, it’s a word that is not used often enough for our tastes. Second, this survey completes a full quarter’s worth of results in the new three-minute multiverse.
As with any true multiverse, the realities have varied widely from market to market. As is our custom we will highlight market PUMM changes from both the previous book and last year. This will cover the four basic food, er, demo groups. There is no “one size fits all here” so make sure you delve into your own market to see what has changed.
The MARCH book ran from MARCH 6TH through APRIL 2ND. The clocks sprung forward, spring was also sprung, and there were celebrations for both PURIM and a saint that was never formally canonized (we looked that one up).
Here we go…
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April 23, 2025
Filed Under: Hot Topics
As we traipse through the latest ratings jungle, we find ourselves knee-deep in numbers that only a true data aficionado could love. But fear not, dear friends, for we are here to guide you through the murky waters of MARCH’s radio ratings with nothing less than fervent gusto.
The Ratings Experts at RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC., alongside XTRENDS’ mystical data wizards, have brewed up a concoction of insights that will make your head spin faster than a QRK turntable at 78 RPM. So grab your metaphorical machete and join us as we hack our way through the underbrush of percentages, shares, demos and mixed metaphors.
This book ran from MARCH 6TH through APRIL 2ND. We boldly sprang forward into spring, many were feasting on kreplach and, for some, turning green was a thing. Shall we proceed?
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April 22, 2025
Filed Under: Hot Topics
Welcome to the MARCH survey! Like you, the Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – along with those savvy mathematicians from XTRENDS – have been anxiously awaiting this moment for the last 28 days.
Why? Glad you asked. This completes the first quarter of data using the new three-minute qualifier. As has been our custom, we will be highlighting the change in market PUMM in the four demos we cover, comparing MARCH to both the previous survey and 2024. For the most part, we have seen consistent year-over-year PUMM gains, but they have varied wildly from market to market and demo to demo. Will that trend continue? You’ll have to keep reading to find out.
This book ran from MARCH 6TH through APRIL 2nd. Both the clocks and the season changed, we celebrated PURIM and, lastly, many pretended to be IRISH as an excuse to day drink. Now, on with the countdown…
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April 17, 2025
Filed Under: Hot Topics
For as long as any of us have been involved with radio there is one constant complaint that is heard at every level – it’s all Nielsen’s fault. (It was Arbitron’s fault, too, but Nielsen bought that intellectual property).
Of course, radio people generally gripe about Nielsen when they have a bad book or run of books. The diaries or the meters were in the wrong places or hands. The sample isn’t large enough. Either way, the problem is not with our stations.
I admit, in my days as a Program Director I often fell into that trap. As I have spent more time analyzing Nielsen data and working with clients, I have come to a few realizations.
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