Striking Nielsen data point about audience losses

[garfradio]

This morning's Inside Radio has a story quoting John Miller from Nielsen talking about the results for the 3 minute rule.

Three-Minute Rule Brings Higher Listening Levels In All Markets.

The real-world results of Nielsen’s move from a five- to a three-minute qualifier needed for quarter-hour credit are now being digested, but preliminary results show ratings in PPM markets were

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Miller explained that while tests last May showed a larger 20% bump in ratings, the smaller results seen last month may have to do with January being a traditionally lighter listening month for radio. He said it may also be impacted by the 8% to 9% attrition Nielsen sees each year of people leaving the medium.

Seems like that's a missed headline. With an 8-9% annual movement away from the medium, it doesn't take many years for measured usage to cut in half. And then in half again.

 

[yeoldeschool]

Has anyone produced any visual graphs of these losses since FM's peak? Or would that be too traumatic for anyone to bear the sight of?

 

[TheBigA]

With an 8-9% annual movement away from the medium, it doesn't take many years for measured usage to cut in half. And then in half again.

Keep in mind that's an average number. Specific local numbers may differ. It's affecting some stations more than others. So if you see a classical station in the Top 5 for the first time, that's because the relative listening to other formats has dropped because of device usage. Classical listeners tend to be the ones who are more likely to listen at home and for long periods. But this is why Nielsen is adjusting its metric. The 6+ numbers publicly released are tracking station share. If the usage numbers drop, the station share is still based on 100%. That's why this hasn't come up before.

Radio companies and stations are aware usage numbers are dropping. That's why they're adjusting their budgets to correspond to where the listeners are and where they're most likely to get advertiser support. The other half of this discussion is growth in digital. As I've said several times, iHeart reported that it's digital division is close to half of company revenues. It's close to overtaking broadcast. It might happen this year. When it does, you'll continue to see budget adjustments. No sense spending the same money on broadcast if the audience is someplace else.

 

[davideduardo]

Here are the facts...

In Y2K in a pure diary world, average Time Spent Listening by adults was between 18 and 21 hours, depending on the market. The lowest was New York City... because so many people use public transit and don't listen to radio in tunnels and subways and the like. The highest were long commute time markets, like LA and SF.

The PPM was more precise in measuring, so by 2010 we saw TSL in the PPM markets drop to about 11 to 12 hours. Stations were not losing audience; the meter was just better at defining listening times.

The internet and streams have reduced the TSL to 5 to 6 hours on average. So the PPM took a third of all listening levels and streaming cut the remaining average listening time in half.

But those that still listen to radio listen more than 5 hours. The fact that a percentage listen not at all or much, much less does not detract from the fact that a huge percentage of Americans still listen quite a lot.

 

[TheBigA]

More details about device usage in the latest Edison Research study:

Edison’s Infinite Dial Shows Growing Role Digital Audio Is Playing.

Broadcast AM/FM radio continues to hold the biggest share of in-car audio consumption, while consumption of online audio and podcasting continue to reach new heights. Those are some of the

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