April 22, 2025
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
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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April 10, 2025
Being a compelling and entertaining on-air radio personality is one of the most difficult jobs in the entertainment industry. Those individuals not only need to shine “in the moment” multiple times an hour/shift, but they also have more content responsibilities than ever before. Their lives extend beyond the break into social channels, videos, podcasts and, all too often, voice tracking several other stations. They are self-contained content machines.
The radio industry loves to lean into the “live and local” theme, even as they heap more responsibilities upon fewer personalities. We know – for a fact – that personalities are one of the biggest differentiating factors in how listeners choose a radio station. Personalities are the emotional glue that binds the audience to the brand. Sales also loves these performers for the endorsement dollars they can generate.
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April 3, 2025
To convince advertisers to pay more for radio campaigns, stations need to demonstrate higher value, better targeting, and stronger ROI. Here’s how:
- Prove Radio’s Effectiveness with Data
- Use Nielsen ratings, qualitative data from Scarborough/The Media Audit/Simmons MRI, audience segmentation, and attribution studies to show reach and engagement.
- Provide case studies proving how radio drives foot traffic, web visits, and conversions.
- Highlight radio’s high ad recall compared to other media.
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March 27, 2025
Since today is baseball’s opening day, it is appropriate to say we are rounding third and headed for home as we wrap up the FEBRUARY survey. Another set of data points are on deck as we examine how this whole three-minute rule – NIELSEN’s version of the pitch clock – has affected radio listening. The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. – along with our double play partners from XTRENDS – will focus on share rank, as usual. However, we will also continue to look at how PUMM has been affected on a book-to-book and year-to-year basis. This is our version of inside baseball.
The FEBRUARY book ran from FEBRUARY 6TH through MARCH 5TH. There was a long government-sponsored weekend in there, the end of the football season and plenty of the winter doldrums. The play by play begins now ….
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