Work in radio? News-talk? Programmer? Jock? Morning guy/woman/team? Promotions genius? You’ll love this.
<blockquote>
From Radio & Records, December 8, 2005
During the second day of the annual Arbitron Consultant's Fly-In, Arbitron VP John Snyder delivered an eye-opening presentation based on results from the company's ongoing Houston trial that demonstrated how the PPM can expose the immediate effects certain programming has on listening.
One example showed the steady drop-off one station saw after changing its morning show team; share had been a steady, weekly 0.9 before the switch, and dropped off steadily each week during the first month of the new team. Snyder said that example should serve as a warning against waiting too long to make changes if a show isn't working.</blockquote>
-Nice. Hire a new morning team, give ‘em a month and blow ‘em out if it’s ‘not working.’ Next!
<blockquote>
Snyder also stressed that the reliability of data recorded by the PPM can help stations more accurately measure how certain promotions and special content, like interviews and guest appearances, are working out. He pointed to big jumps in ratings that one Houston station recorded during a concert ticket giveaway; while cume stayed about the same, ratings rose at the times of day when tickets were being handed out. He also pointed out the immediate ratings jump one AC station saw after launching a direct mail and telephone marketing campaign. On the flip side, he showed how one station's ratings were damaged by a weeklong charity fundraiser it held.</blockquote>
So much for public service and “broadcasting in the public interest, convenience and necessity”
<blockquote>
In the end, Snyder said the PPM can track these kinds of results more accurately than Arbitron's current diary system, and said the radio industry must move towards electronic measurement if it wants to compete against other media with more modern measurement systems. "How does radio get better with better measurement? By giving the people who spend what they want," he said. "Ask yourselves, 'Over next five years, is it possible that nothing will do more for the health of radio than better measurement?'"</blockquote>
As to the mental health of the programmers, jocks and support personnel, that’s another story. Half the people in radio are certifiably neurotic as it is. The PPM may make the remaining 50% equally neurotic.
Read a story like this from a trade rag and you can easily envision the day when jocks are completely replaced by big-voiced promos and bumpers hacking up trite slogans and positioning statements put together by one mad scientist PD sitting in his office with Selector, Pro-Tools and AudioVault, working desperately to keep his gig. Ya’ gotta love technology. “We have found the enemy and they is us.”
<blockquote>
From Radio & Records, December 8, 2005
During the second day of the annual Arbitron Consultant's Fly-In, Arbitron VP John Snyder delivered an eye-opening presentation based on results from the company's ongoing Houston trial that demonstrated how the PPM can expose the immediate effects certain programming has on listening.
One example showed the steady drop-off one station saw after changing its morning show team; share had been a steady, weekly 0.9 before the switch, and dropped off steadily each week during the first month of the new team. Snyder said that example should serve as a warning against waiting too long to make changes if a show isn't working.</blockquote>
-Nice. Hire a new morning team, give ‘em a month and blow ‘em out if it’s ‘not working.’ Next!
<blockquote>
Snyder also stressed that the reliability of data recorded by the PPM can help stations more accurately measure how certain promotions and special content, like interviews and guest appearances, are working out. He pointed to big jumps in ratings that one Houston station recorded during a concert ticket giveaway; while cume stayed about the same, ratings rose at the times of day when tickets were being handed out. He also pointed out the immediate ratings jump one AC station saw after launching a direct mail and telephone marketing campaign. On the flip side, he showed how one station's ratings were damaged by a weeklong charity fundraiser it held.</blockquote>
So much for public service and “broadcasting in the public interest, convenience and necessity”
<blockquote>
In the end, Snyder said the PPM can track these kinds of results more accurately than Arbitron's current diary system, and said the radio industry must move towards electronic measurement if it wants to compete against other media with more modern measurement systems. "How does radio get better with better measurement? By giving the people who spend what they want," he said. "Ask yourselves, 'Over next five years, is it possible that nothing will do more for the health of radio than better measurement?'"</blockquote>
As to the mental health of the programmers, jocks and support personnel, that’s another story. Half the people in radio are certifiably neurotic as it is. The PPM may make the remaining 50% equally neurotic.
Read a story like this from a trade rag and you can easily envision the day when jocks are completely replaced by big-voiced promos and bumpers hacking up trite slogans and positioning statements put together by one mad scientist PD sitting in his office with Selector, Pro-Tools and AudioVault, working desperately to keep his gig. Ya’ gotta love technology. “We have found the enemy and they is us.”