Radio market research survey & Bob Rivers

[GenXRadio]

Ok, so I just participated in a radio market research study on Monday & Tuesday.
Since I haven't actually worked at a station in any capacity in almost 2 years I figured there would be no conflict of interest and I could lend some valuable input.
It turns out that it was a music study where you sit with a little box and turn a volume switch up or down from 0-100 when you heard a snippet of a song.
There were a bunch of stations represented on a sheet too to which you would use as answers to questions they had as well, KISW, KZOK, KJAQ, KPLZ, KWJZ, KJR FM, KNDD.
So they ask a few questions about who plays the most music in our estimation, who plays the most commercials then they ask a series of questions specifically about Bob Rivers and if we know which station he's on now, also if our listening habits would change at all now that Bob is at a new station.
It was all very interesting, they started out saying they were brought into town by a group of stations wanting to know what our musical tastes were (all men in both sessions of the study, a 5:00 one and an 8:00 one, 2 days in a row about 20 or so participants aged I would say between late 20's to early 50's) but then at the very end they hit us with the Rivers questions which at that point threw me off for a bit but then it seemed to become a bit more clear.
Anyhow, just thought I'd share that, not a whole lot to react to but CC spending money to already track Rivers progress in the market so early in his return is a bit premature don't you think?

 

[Dick Skinner]

It wasn't a survey to track awareness of Bob's recent move, Gen. It was a music test for KJR. And if you've spent the money to recruit all these respondents, why not tack on a question about Rivers? Not premature at all really...it's a typical practice. If I'd invested in the show, I'd want to know if anyone knew about it yet.

 

[TVradioguru]

Doing research after launch to ensure you're on the right track is a solid strategy. In fact, you do research when formulating a change or addition, develop the base, then make slight corrections as needed or validate the decisions are correct.

Don't assume that the research being done was actually being conducted by Clear Channel. Sometimes it is commissioned by the competition to see how much impact the competitor is having with a new morning show.

 

[notalent]

That assumes that there is a morning show left in Seattle that can compete with Bob Rivers...

 

[radioguy123]

All men means a music test for a male format station or someone looking to get into the arena. Also all screener stations were male rock or pop leaning stations except KPLZ, which was probably in the grouping just for the morning show data. Could easily CBS JACK/KZOK study, or Entercom KISW/KNDD study, or Clear Channel.

 

[davideduardo]

It wasn't a survey to track awareness of Bob's recent move, Gen. It was a music test for KJR. And if you've spent the money to recruit all these respondents, why not tack on a question about Rivers? Not premature at all really...it's a typical practice. If I'd invested in the show, I'd want to know if anyone knew about it yet.

A classic hits station will research 35-54 most likely, and would test men and women.

A 25-49 or even 25-54 would indicate some form of rock and when coupled with an all-male recruit, it is most certainly rock. 25-54 is very broad. It is more likely that the demo was tighter than appearances indicate.

Perceptual questions in a music test are very normal. The Rivers questions were likely to determine if there were any audience shifts stemming from the change. Keep in mind that the PPM shows an average of around 6 stations used each week by each person, so tracking other station usage and the impact of morning shows is normal and usual.

 

[davideduardo]

It turns out that it was a music study where you sit with a little box and turn a volume switch up or down from 0-100 when you heard a snippet of a song.

The device is generally referred to as a "dial" and the snippets are universally called "hooks" and are the most recognizable part of a song. 8 seconds has been considered to be the maximum length before there is fatigue in a test, and most people have set their dial witin 4 to 5 seconds anyway.

If the dial box was gray, the dial knob had a red top and it had a red, single line LCD display the test was done by Broadcast Architecture, a now independent research company.

There were a bunch of stations represented on a sheet too to which you would use as answers to questions they had as well, KISW, KZOK, KJAQ, KPLZ, KWJZ, KJR FM, KNDD.

These are generally referred to as "cume questions" and are used to determine how different sharing combinations are reflected in song preferences. Cross tabulation of the results is quite extensive in station presentations.

It was all very interesting, they started out saying they were brought into town by a group of stations wanting to know what our musical tastes were

If the test was over two nights, with a 2;15 session in each, it's likely that you scored about 1200 songs. Such a test is for one single station, and by the "core" of the music you heard, you can probably answer the question of "which station plays more of those songs than any other" and you know who paid for it. All tests include songs outside the playlist...

(all men in both sessions of the study, a 5:00 one and an 8:00 one, 2 days in a row about 20 or so participants aged I would say between late 20's to early 50's) but then at the very end they hit us with the Rivers questions which at that point threw me off for a bit but then it seemed to become a bit more clear.
Anyhow, just thought I'd share that, not a whole lot to react to but CC spending money to already track Rivers progress in the market so early in his return is a bit premature don't you think?

The Rivers tracking was an add-on perceptual... tracking requires a base number, or you don't know later whether there is improvement or not.

 

[SandyG]

Speaking of Bob Rivers....is it just me or is the new show really bad? It's just not funny. I know they had some technical glitches in the beginning, but WOW...just not the same old show. Thoughts?

 

[notalent]

I remember on previous stations wondering what the big deal about the Bob Rivers show was, tried to listen and found it to be a bore.

Listened for the first time on KJR FM and found it to be quite interesting and even compelling, however it was not a comedy show.

I for one am glad when I hear a morning show that does not have the gaggle of laughing stooges guffawning to the hosts every utterance.

So oddly SandyG I have the opposite reaction as you do.

 

[JustaLissner]

The thing I've noticed since the show moved to KJR is that Bob seems to be dominating the phone interviews. The rest of the cast disappear until the interview is over for the most part. They need to get Spike in there being his goofy self more.

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

Bob had a comedy reputation at one point but "grew" into his revised target (CHR tends to be teens, classic rock older male) as he jumped formats. Certainly his songs and his wit represent the comedy ... but I agree that the strength of his program is that it is NOT a 'dumbed down' presentation. Comedy, when it happens, is natural .. and the rest of the time it's access to people and topics that you might never think about on your own. The fact that he did that kind of show shows their team is capable of thinking beyond the "all stations behave this way" box and is what, in my mind, made them so successful.

What blows me away is some of the guests they book are some of the most amazing people on the planet -- even though not well known in general fame circles. For example, once I was amazed they had Hal Blaine (#1 session drummer) as a guest and he was fascinating. I am a fan of his ... and had no idea that people would actually BOOK the guy as a morning guest!

Am also a fan of the way they repurpose things for the web ... to guarantee that if you missed something worthwhile when it aired, still relevant. One of the first talent teams to really "get" that idea and make it work every single day.

 

[neumann sennheiser]

Hal Blaine! There's a name! He's the drummer most never heard of but everybody's heard. He was an integral part of Phil Spector's "wall of sound"...played on dozens of number one songs from "I get Around" to "Bridge Over Troubled Water" to Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night" to "I Think I Love You" by the Partridge Family for crying out loud.
Back on topic now, I echo most of the sentiments scribed by Boy Blue regarding Bob Rivers although, I would say that the show hasn't quite yet found it's legs on the new frequency ( and I miss Moira) but hey, it's only been a month and they were all languishing for, what, six months.
Still the best morning radio show in this market.

 

[GeorgeJ.]

GenX, so give us a little info on the songs they were testing....KZOK type Classic Rock, or "classic hits" of the type that KJR-FM would play these days...?

What were the wimpiest songs tested? And the hardest?

Just seems that maybe this was a music test for KZOK and they were also curius as to how bad Bob Rivers would hurt them now that he's back on the air at KJR-FM...Or could have been KJR-FM's music test.. The songs tested may give more of a clue..