February 2015 Nielsen Audio ratings

[TheBigA]

The reality is that if you're not in the Top 10, it really doesn't matter what your numbers are. You're not selling numbers, you're instead selling access to a market. Very different sales strategy. You can rationalize certain demographic leads, like Top 5 25-54, if that works for you. Or you can sell market exclusivity, like KKGO and country. But if you're airing info-mercials, you're selling market access. It's not big bucks, but it's probably a more efficient sell than individual spots. Those weekend info-mercials, no matter how annoying, are paying for the programming people hear during the week. So whether you listen to them or not, be thankful they're there. Sure it would be great if the weekday spot sales were enough to pay for the station, but they're not. The next step after infomercials is brokered ethnic 24/7. So enjoy it while you can.

 

[Thomps2525]

In my lengthy career with the Postal Service, I've talked with many business owners who send out mass mailings, usually to every residential address in the city...although realtors advertising a house for sale often choose to send their ads to only the neighborhoods nearest to that house. Most of the people who come to our office to send out bulk mailings say that a 4% response rate is average. I have no idea how KFWB's "cost-per-thousand" ad rate compares to the cost of sending a mailing to 1000 residences, nor do I know if 4% is also the average response to radio infomercials, but I'm guessing that the companies who advertise on KFWB on Sunday mornings are making their money elsewhere, not from responses to their infomercials.

 

[semoochie]

I can't imagine anybody actually listens to those paid programs and.or infomercials, but they exist on almost every talk station in the country, so even if three people are listening and they respond to what is being aired, I guess that's all that matters. I rarely listen to talk radio on Saturday and Sunday, but if I happen to catch the words...the following is a paid.... I'm gone within seconds.

With a .1 share overall, I'm curious as to how many people listen to KFWB?

155,200

 

[TheBigA]

I'm guessing that the companies who advertise on KFWB on Sunday mornings are making their money elsewhere, not from responses to their infomercials.

Keep in mind that these info-mercials air on thousands of stations, not just one.

 

[Thomps2525]

The February ratings show the population of Los Angeles population as 11,179,600. The ratings reflect each station's average number of people aged six and up who are listening in a single quarter-hour period between 6 AM and midnight. One tenth of one percent of that figure is 11,180...and that's assuming that every one of those 11,179,600 people is listening to the radio! If you take the average number of people who are listening to the radio at any given time and divide that number by 0.01, KFWB's audience might number only around 3000 or 4000. And during the Sunday-morning infomercials, maybe only 20 or 30. To make a profit, Purity Products is going to have sell their Omega 3 Fish Oil to every one of them!

 

[davideduardo]

I have no idea how KFWB's "cost-per-thousand" ad rate compares to the cost of sending a mailing to 1000 residences, nor do I know if 4% is also the average response to radio infomercials, but I'm guessing that the companies who advertise on KFWB on Sunday mornings are making their money elsewhere, not from responses to their infomercials.

Infomercials are a different beast. A mailer generally contains a short message designed to grab attention. An infomercial explains a product or service and encourages people to call and buy.

Infomercial advertisers track sales per program, and they also track what part of a program generates more calls. So they know what points and approaches work, as well as what stations and endorsers. The radio infomercials have to make money, or they don't renew.

 

[TheBigA]

KFWB's audience might number only around 3000 or 4000.

Is that cume or AQH?

 

[davideduardo]

The February ratings show the population of Los Angeles population as 11,179,600. The ratings reflect each station's average number of people aged six and up who are listening in a single quarter-hour period between 6 AM and midnight. One tenth of one percent of that figure is 11,180...and that's assuming that every one of those 11,179,600 people is listening to the radio! If you take the average number of people who are listening to the radio at any given time and divide that number by 0.01, KFWB's audience might number only around 3000 or 4000. And during the Sunday-morning infomercials, maybe only 20 or 30. To make a profit, Purity Products is going to have sell their Omega 3 Fish Oil to every one of them!

The average persons using radio is around 10% of the total population for 6-Mid. So a share of 0.1 is a rating of 0.01, or one-one hundredths of the population or around 1,200 persons.

 

[Thomps2525]

David, I already have your address. As soon as you give me your credit card number, that bottle of Omega 3 Fish Oil will be on its way.

The PPM ratings cover from 6 AM to midnight every day of the week. David, can you give us any audience figures for the weekend infomercials that have aired in the last few years on KABC, KFWB and KRLA? And BigA says that an infomercial will air on several stations nationwide. Do the companies get a "national rate" when they run an infomercial on, for example, several iHeartMedia stations...or do they pay a different rate in each city where the infomercial airs?

 

[Thomps2525]

Thank you, David. Good ol' David always come through with the numbers! So KFWB has around 1200 listeners during an average quarter-hour. So if only one percent of those 1200 is listening on Sunday morning, and if only half of those people are paying off a mortgage, that gives Mortgage Makeover an audience of six people. But that's okay---Mortgage Makeover feeds on those six people.

 

[TheBigA]

But that's okay---Mortgage Makeover feeds on those six people.

Not sure I understand your point. Do you think the client doesn't know any of this? Do you think there's something the station could do to increase the potential audience? Would you prefer the station sign off on Sunday mornings?

 

[Thomps2525]

I don't listen to KFWB on weekends so I don't really care what they do. I suppose they could be off the air on Sunday mornings and their six listeners could always tune to KRLA's Tee It Up program. Of course if half of them don't play golf, what station would the other three listeners turn to?

 

[davideduardo]

Thank you, David. Good ol' David always come through with the numbers! So KFWB has around 1200 listeners during an average quarter-hour. So if only one percent of those 1200 is listening on Sunday morning, and if only half of those people are paying off a mortgage, that gives Mortgage Makeover an audience of six people. But that's okay---Mortgage Makeover feeds on those six people.

Sunday 6 to 10 AM AQH listening is 1,500 persons, and the share is much higher than the total 7- day average... maybe they should do infomercials all week!

 

[semoochie]

The February ratings show the population of Los Angeles population as 11,179,600. The ratings reflect each station's average number of people aged six and up who are listening in a single quarter-hour period between 6 AM and midnight. One tenth of one percent of that figure is 11,180...and that's assuming that every one of those 11,179,600 people is listening to the radio! If you take the average number of people who are listening to the radio at any given time and divide that number by 0.01, KFWB's audience might number only around 3000 or 4000. And during the Sunday-morning infomercials, maybe only 20 or 30. To make a profit, Purity Products is gaoing to have sell their Omega 3 Fish Oil to every one of them!

Benale asked how many people listen to KFWB and I gave the answer, 155,200. He didn't specify AQH, only how many people listen, which is "cume".

 

[Thomps2525]

Cume represents the number of people who listen for at least five minutes in a given week. That's different people---One man who listens several times a week will count as only one listener. There is the cume and the AQH (average quarter-hour) and TSL (time spent listening) and each of those can be broken down by dayparts and by the age and/or sex of the listeners. Stations tend to publicize whichever numbers make them look better. I wonder if we'll ever find out how many women in the 18-to-34 age group have bought Omega 3 Fish Oil after listening to the infomercial on KFWB.

David, which stations have the highest TSL numbers? And which format, in general, tends to have the highest TSL?

 

[semoochie]

Cume represents the number of people who listen for at least five minutes in a given week. That's different people---One man who listens several times a week will count as only one listener. There is the cume and the AQH (average quarter-hour) and TSL (time spent listening) and each of those can be broken down by dayparts and by the age and/or sex of the listeners. Stations tend to publicize whichever numbers make them look better. I wonder if we'll ever find out how many women in the 18-to-34 age group have bought Omega 3 Fish Oil after listening to the infomercial on KFWB.

David, which stations have the highest TSL numbers? And which format, in general, tends to have the highest TSL?

OK, I suppose it's possible to listen for less than five minutes in a given week but it would be pretty hard to track those people and it strikes me as a complete waste of time to try and serve them.

 

[Thomps2525]

semoochie, you answered a question which I did not ask. As for your first assumption, I do listen to one particular station for fewer than five minutes a week. Two or three times a week, I'll turn it on just to hear what song is playing and I invariably turn the station off within a few seconds because I'm sick of every song they play. (I'm sure you know which station I'm referring to.) And I never said anything about trying to track the people who listen fewer than five minutes a week. Such people are not counted in a station's cume. I should have been more clear about the definition of "cume": It's the number of people who listen to a particular station for a minimum of five consecutive minutes in a given week. I believe those five minutes also have to fall within a single quarter-hour. David or K.M. can tell us if that's correct.

 

[davideduardo]

semoochie, you answered a question which I did not ask. As for your first assumption, I do listen to one particular station for fewer than five minutes a week. Two or three times a week, I'll turn it on just to hear what song is playing and I invariably turn the station off within a few seconds because I'm sick of every song they play. (I'm sure you know which station I'm referring to.) And I never said anything about trying to track the people who listen fewer than five minutes a week. Such people are not counted in a station's cume. I should have been more clear about the definition of "cume": It's the number of people who listen to a particular station for a minimum of five consecutive minutes in a given week. I believe those five minutes also have to fall within a single quarter-hour. David or K.M. can tell us if that's correct.

In PPM, to be considered a cumer of a station, one has to have detected listening in a minimum of five discreet minutes in any single quarter hour. The minutes need not be consecutive.

In the diary, 5 continuous minutes in a quarter hour makes a diarykeeper a cumer and gives the station on single quarter hour credit.

 

[davideduardo]

OK, I suppose it's possible to listen for less than five minutes in a given week but it would be pretty hard to track those people and it strikes me as a complete waste of time to try and serve them.

That is a valid observation.

In the PPM, on average (it varies from one station to another, but not by much) 50% of your cume listeners give 92% of the average quarter hour listening. The other 50% are accidental listeners of some kind.

An accidental listener would be someone exposed for a quarter hour or two a week in a business, in the workplace of a co-worker, in the car with a person with different preferences, etc.

Your point about serving those listeners is valid. In most cases, they did not "want" to listen to your station anyway, but their PPM picked up the accidental exposure to your programming.

This is also why you have teens seeming to listen to KRTH and Seniors seeming to listen to KIIS nor Power.

So, if you really want to know the "useful" cume of a station, reduce the reported 12+ cume by about half.

Many of us, when perusing Nielsen numbers, look only at listening by people who spend an hour a week or more with us. The Nielsen software allows us to see that for all the granular divisions by age, gender and ethnicity.

 

[semoochie]

In PPM, to be considered a cumer of a station, one has to have detected listening in a minimum of five discreet minutes in any single quarter hour. The minutes need not be consecutive.

In the diary, 5 continuous minutes in a quarter hour makes a diarykeeper a cumer and gives the station on single quarter hour credit.

Wow, it looks like I was wrong about this for about 30 years but now, I'm right! I always thought it was at least five minutes in an average week.