Virus and vacation Ratings

[secondchoice]

Here are the July 2020 release of 6+ ratings.:

https://ratings.****************/content/arb047

With the virus and summer vacations who really knows how meaningful these are trend wise, but one interesting number is Star 94. A lot of folks have been talking about a flip but Star is only .2 behind Q 99.7 and .1 behind Power 96. They have gone from 1.6 to 2.7 since April. Could this be the start of a three way old fashion radio war? All three are within two tenths of a point of each other. Or is there enough difference between CHR and Hot AC that only Power and Q are really after each other and Star really is not a factor in CHR?

 

[jabba17]

Here are the July 2020 release of 6+ ratings.:

https://ratings.****************/content/arb047

With the virus and summer vacations who really knows how meaningful these are trend wise, but one interesting number is Star 94. A lot of folks have been talking about a flip but Star is only .2 behind Q 99.7 and .1 behind Power 96. They have gone from 1.6 to 2.7 since April. Could this be the start of a three way old fashion radio war? All three are within two tenths of a point of each other. Or is there enough difference between CHR and Hot AC that only Power and Q are really after each other and Star really is not a factor in CHR?

I don't know if daypart information is available, but I have heard that AM drive ratings are down across the board, and possibly PM drive as well. That would really hurt stations that depend on drivetime for their listenership.

Anecdotally, I always heard that the Fish was really seasonal--dropping listeners over the summer (and of course a surge for Christmas). The summer swoon was attributed to less family carpooling. I wonder if that applies to other stations that cater to that demo, such as AC/CHR.

 

[TheBigA]

According to this, listenership is about 90% of normal nationally:

https://radioink.com/2020/08/10/listeners-coming-back-to-radio/

 

[deejaywestbrook]

According to this, listenership is about 90% of normal nationally:

https://radioink.com/2020/08/10/listeners-coming-back-to-radio/

Oh wow… well we all know, Atlanta is a strange market. Lol

 

[gregg75]

I like these ratings. They are better than the usual and more truer in my opinion. The River with it's not quite "we play anything" format is kicking ass for an oldies based station. Interesting that the formats of the biggest HD stations (not on their own stick) is a tie between Urban Oldies WAMJ HD2 and Rhythmic CHR WWWQ HD3.

 

[davideduardo]

I like these ratings. They are better than the usual and more truer in my opinion. The River with it's not quite "we play anything" format is kicking ass for an oldies based station. Interesting that the formats of the biggest HD stations (not on their own stick) is a tie between Urban Oldies WAMJ HD2 and Rhythmic CHR WWWQ HD3.

Keep in mind that the data you see is not properly called "ratings" but share and represents the percentage of actual radio listeners tuned to a station. Even if listening is off by 50%, the total share is still 100.

Advertisers don't look at share. They look at ratings. There are no publicly available ratings listings.

And the shares Nielsen releases are for 6+ or 12+. No advertiser ever looks at that.

 

[secondchoice]

Keep in mind that the data you see is not properly called "ratings"

We know the 12+ have no monetary value or Nielsen wouldn't release them. The confusion is if you go to the Radio Online web site:

https://ratings.****************/content/arb047

They are labeled "Nielson Audio Ratings". The first tab at the top of the site is labeled "ratings menu"

Everywhere I worked we just called them "numbers".


It's kind of like the "black box" reporters always talk about after a plane crash. These devices are usually a florescent orange or yellow with strips to make them easy to find.

 

[davideduardo]

They are labeled "Nielson Audio Ratings". The first tab at the top of the site is labeled "ratings menu"

Everywhere I worked we just called them "numbers".

6

The distinction between rating and share was really not as important when the listening levels were stable. But in the last 6 months we saw persons using radio decline as much as 50% in the early months of the virus, so shares are a percentage of a much smaller number of listeners. In some cases, a 9 share in April actually represented fewer listeners than a 5 share in February.

People continue to use radio, but there are so many alternatives today that the amount of time spent with the medium is much less.

 

[secondchoice]

6

The distinction between rating and share was really not as important when the listening levels were stable. But in the last 6 months we saw persons using radio decline as much as 50% in the early months of the virus, so shares are a percentage of a much smaller number of listeners. In some cases, a 9 share in April actually represented fewer listeners than a 5 share in February.

People continue to use radio, but there are so many alternatives today that the amount of time spent with the medium is much less.

That's why I named it "Vacation and Virus". In the past, summer ratings were not thought of as important as fall because with our public schools interested in enriching Georgia Power by starting school in August and incurring huge electric bills try to air condition the schools there is only a 8 to 10 week "summer vacation" window for families to take a summer vacation which I will bet a cup of Burger King effects the audience even without the virus

The virus has an effect on AM and PM drive in Atlanta with a of folks working at home (if they still have a job). I had to go a clients downtown bank lobby's safety deposit box room to take pictures of a bunch of bonds that he inherited from his parents to determine value. I got finished at 4:45 and drove at the speed limit (or better) all the way home on a Friday in June.

If anybody can figure out the financial effects of the virus, the election, and 5 G in a year or two they could very wealthy.