Good Karma and Nielsen

[JJSPC]

As some have speculated, Good Karma has indeed stopped purchasing the Nielsen book in their markets.

Good Karma Brands Drops Nielsen - RadioInsight

Good Karma Brands is the latest operator to drop Nielsen's ratings services. Good Karma CEO Craig Karmazin told Newsday that the company cancelled its subscription as of January 1 as part of a company-wide strategy as it is now focusing on. other measurements such as podcast downloads to gauge...

radioinsight.com

 

[Rusty Muck]

It was kinda inevitable. Good Karma hasn't subscribed to Nielsen in Cleveland since 2007, and the contracts ending were inherited from Scripps (Milwaukee) or Disney (everywhere else).

 

[TheBigA]

Lance got confirmation from something observed here last month:

https://www.radiodiscussions.com/threads/wtmj-and-wkti-missing-from-nielsen-january-ratings.770160/

We may see more of this as formats tighten their targets, making their need to appear in the ratings book less useful. GKB is doing more digital content, and that's where their interest will be.

 

[Rusty Muck]

Craig Karmazin once referred to the then-Arbitron ratings as the product of “a telemarketing agency” in a 2008 Crain’s Cleveland Business article. And that was well before WKNR ventured into social media and digital platforms.

If Arbitron was not worth the added expense even in 2008, why would that have changed with Nielsen in 2024? Good Karma is simply removing money-bleeding expenditures that would have made sense only for a company like Disney, where the stations were merely budget line items.

 

[TheBigA]

It's an important issue. As broadcasting moves from it's traditional platform to a more diverse package of digital outlets, the need for the PPM is less important. I know owners can see the demographics of the people who use any of their digital products, from social media to YouTube videos. That's what's important in PPM. Not who wins the ratings, but the actual demographics of who is using the content. Nielsen doesn't measure podcasts or non-linear content such as produced highlights from sports events. That's what GKB does. It makes perfect sense to me.

 

[boombox4]

It's an important issue. As broadcasting moves from it's traditional platform to a more diverse package of digital outlets, the need for the PPM is less important. I know owners can see the demographics of the people who use any of their digital products, from social media to YouTube videos. That's what's important in PPM. Not who wins the ratings, but the actual demographics of who is using the content. Nielsen doesn't measure podcasts or non-linear content such as produced highlights from sports events. That's what GKB does. It makes perfect sense to me.

And if listeners download the app onto their phone, the owners can see all sorts of stuff, maybe even a little bit of keylogging. Who knows?

The point being that getting your app on someone's phone is a big deal, as an app can be a convenient data mining tool, something that can help a media service target ads to certain demos and individuals.