But they're winning in their target demo

[michael hagerty]

Obviously high ratings in targeted demographics is very important. But you can't underestimate how important total listenership is across the board. High ratings in as many demographics as possible is the ideal solution. Otherwise Arbitron wouldn't be so busy measuring total listenership at all. A smart station places value on every single listener. Not just on listeners in a specific age range or gender.

You would think that would be the case, but it's not.

First, it's very difficult to find points of commonality in terms of music and presentation between different demos. What will succeed with one demo may be rejected or only tolerated by another.

Arbitron isn't busy measuring total listeners. The number is a byproduct of the combined demos, and since it is of no value to the vast majority of advertisers, is given away for free by Arbitron, which aggressively protects the use of demographic breakouts, limiting their distribution to Arbitron subscribers only (in theory...clearly, stuff leaks).

And if you're not careful, your mass audience can bite you...often driving up your average listener age and making the station less attractive to ad agency time buyers, who control the vast majority of advertising dollars in the top 100 markets.

 

[HHH]

Obviously high ratings in targeted demographics is very important. But you can't underestimate how important total listenership is across the board. High ratings in as many demographics as possible is the ideal solution. Otherwise Arbitron wouldn't be so busy measuring total listenership at all. A smart station places value on every single listener. Not just on listeners in a specific age range or gender.

There is a thing called Word of mouth. A listener totally out of your stations demo can easily spread the word to two or three friends who your station would love to grab as what would be considered "valuable listeners." Don't ever discard ANY LISTENER. That would be ignorant. Just because a person works in radio or is in a management position at a radio station does not necessarily mean that they are any good at their job. A good amount of them are probably horrible at it. It's a very bad idea to start mouthing off about how not everybody matters. Those are the Management types who lack common sense.

EVERY LISTENER MATTERS.

While certainly every listener matters, the idea of "high ratings in as many demographics as possible is the ideal solution" is hardly gonna happen. Show me a format that is simultaneously top-rated in 12-17, 18-34, 18-49, 25-54, and 55+ male and female.

Come on!

You pick an important demo (just like the advertisers do!) and win it. Period.

And again, demos rule. And they better be under 55.

I absolutely guarantee you that if you were #1 6+, but the majority of your audience was over 55 years old, you would be changing format.

 

[michael hagerty]

Obviously high ratings in targeted demographics is very important. But you can't underestimate how important total listenership is across the board. High ratings in as many demographics as possible is the ideal solution. Otherwise Arbitron wouldn't be so busy measuring total listenership at all. A smart station places value on every single listener. Not just on listeners in a specific age range or gender.

There is a thing called Word of mouth. A listener totally out of your stations demo can easily spread the word to two or three friends who your station would love to grab as what would be considered "valuable listeners." Don't ever discard ANY LISTENER. That would be ignorant. Just because a person works in radio or is in a management position at a radio station does not necessarily mean that they are any good at their job. A good amount of them are probably horrible at it. It's a very bad idea to start mouthing off about how not everybody matters. Those are the Management types who lack common sense.

EVERY LISTENER MATTERS.

While certainly every listener matters, the idea of "high ratings in as many demographics as possible is the ideal solution" is hardly gonna happen. Show me a format that is simultaneously top-rated in 12-17, 18-34, 18-49, 25-54, and 55+ male and female.

Come on!

You pick an important demo (just like the advertisers do!) and win it. Period.

Right. And you don't win 25-54 by appealing to 25, 54 and everything in between. You aim for the center (39 and a half) and hit that, which gets you 35-44, with a smaller ripple effect picking up some (only some) listeners as young as 30 and as old as 50...and smaller ripples older and younger than that.