Seems like a lot of the local radio experts are no longer posting on this site very often but I thought I'd throw out a question to see if a few of you could shed some light on a question. How significant are 12+ arbitron numbers in the big picture? Is it any more than bragging rights or do they matter in regard to advertising prices, etc.?
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12+ numbers
- Thread starter romanradio
- Start date
I'll tell you what I think from my 15+ years in radio-
the 'real' numbers are 25-54. Because that's whatthe majority of advertisers base their buys on.
Having said that, stations sell what they have. And if they have good 12+ numbers, that's what they sell. If they have good 18-24's, that's what they sell. So I'm sure some stations can go out and sell sheer numbers (12+)...While other stations sell their 'key' demos.
For example, since his name was raised recently on another thread- Chapman and KVIL used to be king of the Highland Park housewife. So if you're selling Simon David grocerys, that's the station you wanna buy. Not the 16 year olds listening to Kidd Kraddick. Now ratings wise, they might be similar- but it's easier to sell KVIL's 3.5 to Simon David than KISS's 3.5.
So to answer your question a lot of it is bragging rights. And it influences ad prices, but doesn't control it. Because while Simon David wants KVIL's 3.5, Oxy-Clean acne medicene wants KISS"s 3.5%. These days, it's all about what you can sell...
the 'real' numbers are 25-54. Because that's whatthe majority of advertisers base their buys on.
Having said that, stations sell what they have. And if they have good 12+ numbers, that's what they sell. If they have good 18-24's, that's what they sell. So I'm sure some stations can go out and sell sheer numbers (12+)...While other stations sell their 'key' demos.
For example, since his name was raised recently on another thread- Chapman and KVIL used to be king of the Highland Park housewife. So if you're selling Simon David grocerys, that's the station you wanna buy. Not the 16 year olds listening to Kidd Kraddick. Now ratings wise, they might be similar- but it's easier to sell KVIL's 3.5 to Simon David than KISS's 3.5.
So to answer your question a lot of it is bragging rights. And it influences ad prices, but doesn't control it. Because while Simon David wants KVIL's 3.5, Oxy-Clean acne medicene wants KISS"s 3.5%. These days, it's all about what you can sell...
The other big thing with ratings and revenue is what they call the power ratio. Basically it's the amount of revenue a station gets in comparison to their ratings. For example, let's say that the DFW market bills a million dollars total in one year. If a station has a 10 share, they should be getting 10% of that revenue, or 100K. If that's what they bill, their ratio is a 1.0. If they actually get 200K, their ratio is 2.0 and so on.
The power ratio is the indicator of how well a station is selling what they have- And WBAP and KTCK both used to have just ridiculous power ratio numbers- and while WBAP has great 12+ numbers, the ticket has figured out how to sell what they have- their 12+ numbers certainly aren't great, but they dominate men 25-54...
The power ratio is the indicator of how well a station is selling what they have- And WBAP and KTCK both used to have just ridiculous power ratio numbers- and while WBAP has great 12+ numbers, the ticket has figured out how to sell what they have- their 12+ numbers certainly aren't great, but they dominate men 25-54...
little1 said:
You forget that the advertiser determines what will get bought and sets the pricing to a great extent. On national, the agencies set marke tcost per point, and in local, give and take set the high range.
Stations do not sell 12+ because advertisers do not buy 12+. Any advertiser with any media buying skills wants to see if the station audience matches the kind of customer the store or brand or service represents. 12+ does not cut it. Taking a 12+ ranker on a call is about as funny as the guy who says, "hey, wanna buy some radio ads?"
little1 said:
It is also a reflection of how desirable the audience they have is. A 12-17 station will bet a 0.8 or lower power ratio. An Hispanic station will get 0.7 to 0.8. A standards station will get 0.2 to 0.4.
And WBAP and The Ticket both have amazingly high ratios, 1.5 for WBAP and 1.9 for Ticket. They have the ratios now, not "used to" and the one with the longest history of high ratios is WBAP.
Thanks for the good info. Speaking of ratings, I find it interesting that WBAP will promote Sean Hannity as having the top rated show from 3-6 p.m. during his show while I hear so often that RMS has such killer ratings. Is it only that RMS has ratings with men while Sean has better overall ratings? Or does Sean outrate him in all catagories?
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SmokeRing
Guest
I wonder what RSM's power ration is compared to Hannity's. And the Hardline's, for that matter.
SmokeRing said:
Shows are not, in my experience, evaluated to determine a power ratio. THis benchmark is used to determine the conversion of ratings to revenue for the station as a wole, not individual shows. Yeah, it could be done, but I have never seen it and the data is pretty useless as we do not know the market revenue by daypart to do the math. Even the total billings per station are pretty vague unless you have access to the books at each station.
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