Quick ratings question

[oldrover]

In looking at Boston numbers, how many people does each rating point translate into... i.e., if Station X has a 5.0 rating, how many actual listeners does that represent?

 

[sp113]

In looking at Boston numbers, how many people does each rating point translate into... i.e., if Station X has a 5.0 rating, how many actual listeners does that represent?

I think you may be asking the wrong question, as there are two factors that make up ratings "share".

1-Number of people listening.
2-How long they listen.

There are stations like WBZ, that have a LOT of listeners at any given time, but they don't listen for very long spans.

There are stations like Smooth Jazz, Classical, Lite Adult Contemporary...where there are fewer listeners, but they listen for long spans of time.

Both scenarios can work. However, if can do BOTH, (which is what most stations are trying to do), you can have a ratings giant.

But to give you an idea of an answer to your question:

WMJX (Magic) has a weekly cume of about 500,000 people.

Their rating is about a 5.0

That doesn't mean a 6 share equals 600,000...or a 4.0 share equals 400,000.

 

[oldrover]

Thanks... that gives me something to work with.

 

[jane grant]

the rating system is obsolete. you can't trust the numbers. It is absurd to think that a handful of people writing in a book they might get $1.00 for represent 3-4 million people.

 

[sp113]

the rating system is obsolete. you can't trust the numbers. It is absurd to think that a handful of people writing in a book they might get $1.00 for represent 3-4 million people.

Spoken like someone who a.) doesn't have any ratings, or b.) doesn't understand the current arbitron system.

1.) It's much more than a handful.

2.) It's a different sample every month...so if your so-called 'handful' are not representative, then compare it to the next month...or next book,. After you do that, you see that the 'handful' is quite representative.

3.) Do you have a better system? If it was so obsolete, advertisers wouldn't embrace it. Right now it's the best system we have. And if you want to be sucessful in radio, you will have to accept that.

 

[JIBGUY]

The number of diaries counted in a market like Boston-metro (3.8 million people) isa around 3,000 to 4,000 per quarter-year. Statistically, such a 1% sample, is quite acceptable, and satifies all the statistics-critics. However, if a 1% sample is implemented in a market like Hamptons Long Island or Lewiston, Bangor or Portland Maine, the sample-size is made up of so few diaries, making stations in smaller markets jump around an awful lot, even tho there are 20+ to 25+ stations in each of those latter-mentioned markets. - And it is better than any other current form of audience measurement.

 

[argytunes]

argy agrees with JIBGUY!

The size of the market usually determines the number of diaries that are sent out. And to take things one step further...not everybody who receives one is willing to fill all (or even a portion) of it out! :

With so many choices (both from satellite and local radio stations), it amazes me that there are still a few GM's, PD's, SM's and AE's who still believe that most of us listen to one particular radio station!

Definitely a misconception....especially when it comes to a good talk show host and a bad one...and an uninformed on-air music personality vs one who knows the music that the station plays, and how much talking he (or she) should buffer it with!

argytunes

 

[sp113]

...not everybody who receives one is willing to fill all (or even a portion) of it out! :

The group with the worst response rate is young men...18-24-ish.

In that group, the diaries that they DO get back are weighted more to make up for the poor return rate. Each respondent is worth more.

With so many choices (both from satellite and local radio stations), it amazes me that there are still a few GM's, PD's, SM's and AE's who still believe that most of us listen to one particular radio station!

I don't know of any PD, GM, SM who thinks people listen only one particular radio station. One of the most common breakdowns of the book is "sharing"....stations look to see what other stations they are sharing with...and are very aware that radios have dials.

Although, most people have a 'favorite' station...or a station that might by default get most of their listening. (The infamous "P1".)

Some of the specialty formats, big band, classical, jazz, etc....have people who are much more likely to stay on one station all the time.

 

[argytunes]

Some of the speciality formats, big band, classical, jazz, etc....have people who are much more likely to stay on one station all the time

And yet...don't you find it interesting how few radio station pd's want to "try something different" when it comes to a format alteration or (at the very least) tweaking up the music?

Having an in-house announcer or hiring a free-lancer to scream and yell the same liners over and over again might be appear to be consistant, but don't you find this approach can get VERY TIRED/VERY QUICKLY? ???

argytunes

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Some of the speciality formats, big band, classical, jazz, etc....have people who are much more likely to stay on one station all the time

And yet...don't you find it interesting how few radio station pd's want to "try something different" when it comes to a format alteration or (at the very least) tweaking up the music?

By specialty formats, he meant stations that specialize in one "specialty" genre of music all the time, such as an all-classical, all-jazz or all-folk station, etc... that fans can tune into at any time and expect the same type of music, not stations that mix them up. Fans of those genres will listen to the station that specializes in their type of music all day. These stations have set formats, they know what their listeners expect, and they generally don't try throwing "different" stuff at them, just as the stations with the more major mainstream formats also don't.

An illustration is public radio folk station WUMB, whose numbers are very low, but their TSL among those listeners that they do have is very high. Their fans of contemporary folk and acoustic-based music turn the station on in the morning, and leave it on as their background all day long.

It's been shown in the ratings time and again lately that stations that try mixing it up and offering (really) "different" stuff fail in the ratings. The small amount of people who respond to the "oh, wow" factor are far outweighed by all the tune-outs from the "Hey, this isn't the sound I expected to hear" or the "I don't know this song" factors. Sometimes a little "tweaking" can help a bit, but what may be boring and repetitive to many of us chronic radio listeners and deeper music afficionados is exactly what the majority of casual mainstream listeners want.

 

[sp113]

And yet...don't you find it interesting how few radio station pd's want to "try something different" when it comes to a format alteration or (at the very least) tweaking up the music?

You mean, as in..."Rolling the dice"?

Radio programming is strategy.

When was the last time you played chess, and said "You know what? I'm just gonna roll the dice and move a chesspeice around and see where it gets me". When you play chess, you make thought out strategic moves. Because every move provides new space for your competitor to move in to take your King/Queen.

When generals make war plans, do they "roll the dice"? i.e.."Heck, why don't we just march down the middle and see what happens!"

Radio is very competitive, and every step you make (somes even minor steps) can give your oponent an edge.

You only "try something different" when you have strategic reasons to do so.

The PD is gambling with ratings...and therefore his stations revenue....and by extension his job! ;-)

 

[argytunes]

sp113...

I wonder if your rules regarding the roll of the dice apply to radio stations that come in at 3rd place or higher?

It would seem to me that those types of stations would have considerably more to gain (in listeners as well as advertiser support) when a PD uses his "acquired knowledge" to try something different?

Then again...not everybody is cut out to be a Program Director! Especially if they're convinced that the only thing that's important is handling the 'administrative chores' and contributing a sweeper liner or two? So if a broadcaster assumes this type of position...."creativity" or "creative programming" doesn't count for much of anything, does it?

Has the Program Director position merely become an adminstrative title? ???

I always find it amusing that opponents (your term) do more "copycatting" when a competitive radio station comes up with a programming idea that works! And suddenly wants to take FULL CREDIT for it! :

argytunes

 

[webcastboy]

SP113:

3.) Do you have a better system? If it was so obsolete, advertisers wouldn't embrace it. Right now it's the best system we have. And if you want to be sucessful in radio, you will have to accept that.

Well, yes. It's called the Portable People Meter.

And for some reason, both advertisers and stations have fought like hell against it. I suspect it's because the current diary system's accuracy is such a joke that it's allowed the strongest to "manipulate the system" (for lack of a less-conspiracy-theory-ish phrase) to maintain their profits. The PPM threatens to paint a far more accurate picture of listening habits that will very likely drastically shift the ratings layout.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Then again...not everybody is cut out to be a Program Director! Especially if they're convinced that the only thing that's important is handling the 'administrative chores' and contributing a sweeper liner or two? So if a broadcaster assumes this type of position...."creativity" or "creative programming" doesn't count for much of anything, does it?

The sad fact is that, especially with musical programming, only a small minority of radio listeners today want to hear "creative programming". The majority of listeners to mainstream commercial radio want to feel secure that they will hear only the familiar, the tried and true, and the same old same old whenever they turn on the radio. Most PD's are painfully aware of that fact, and that leaves them with little else to do but administration, and tweaking liners and sweepers.