Re: Musical Chairs
> Sorry to bring this up again, but about 50,000 of the
> most affluent, best educated readers of the weekly
> Nashville Scene have voted this station #1 for the
> past decade. I agree it's a favorite on the row,
> but there is more individual loyalty to that station than
> any other in Nashville, just a small percentage of
> the overall population "gets it."
>
> They just don't get the diaries I guess. Quirky and
> unconventional for sure, just like the station.
> Looking at the overall Nashville demo, it gets the
> people that "count the most" according to media buyers
> who look at the ratings and don't buy it.
Okay, this is going to be a rant, but I just can't let these statements slide.
I've moved on, but I spent several years as a media buyer, and I can tell you there is no bigger joke than a Best of [City] "poll." Every year, when ballots are published, employers send their employees on company time to every rack they can find to grab stacks of papers. They are then asked to complete and send in ballots voting for their company, thereby stuffing the ballot boxes. Many businesses who routinely are found in the top categories will post signs on their windows and doors urging people to vote for their business. And all so they can win a top ranking and PAY for the privilege of using the poll ranking in their advertising. Yes, I said PAY. You see, the whole thing is an advertising gimmick, right from the moment the top vote-getters earn the "right" to advertise in the Best of [City] issue. And what isn't about advertising is about circulation, for those thousands of issues that get picked up when ballots are printed get counted to offset those other weeks when there's still plenty in the bins the day before the new issue comes out.
Plot the local "Best of" winners on a map. Where are the majority of businesses located? In the business districts surrounding our colleges. This tells you who's actually reading the paper, either by individual voting or by "mass employee voting." These aren't the most educated people in the community, these are the people just in the process of earning their education. And college students aren't the most affluent people I've ever run into. But the age group college students fall into is the age group that is most likely to listen to 100. They, and the row, which is conveniently located close to most of the same businesses. These are the people in Nashville "who count the most" ONLY to these particular businesses. People who are truly affluent and are truly among the educated really could care less.
Of course, if the people listening to 100 are truly educated, they really could figure out something as simple as an Arb diary. Nothing hard about it. But that's not who's listening. These are the same people who read the Scene. So if I have a client nightclub with bands and beer, I'll buy space in the Scene to draw the college crowd. Otherwise, there are many more targeted places to advertise to the affluent and the educated.
And there is definitely not more individual loyalty to 100 than there is to Gerry House, or to WTN, or 92Q, or the Zone. Listeners to all those shows and stations are much more fiercely loyal. Alternative listeners are much more likely than House, WTN, 92Q, or Zone listeners to plug up to an iPod and turn their alternative stations off. I think you'll find more people in the greater Nashville area do indeed "get it." That's why 100's ratings are low, and that's why so many Scenes are picked up and used merely for cover by those who get caught without their umbrellas during a rainstorm.
