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My cousin Stella cheats. No, not on her husband William, who’s a terrific mechanic.
Despite being a very responsible parent and adult, despite having an accounting degree and a great job as a result of her education, she cheats. No, not on the balance sheet.
She cheats on her age. Always has. When she was a kid, she’d tell everybody she was older. When she was 17, she was sneaking into bars with bogus ID and proof. She could get away with it, because Stella was always, how shall I say, gifted. And she knew most of the bouncers in the bars along Seneca street and Abott road.
Now that she’s older and just crosse over the 50 mark, she shaves (more than) a few years off the calendar. Once again, she can get way with it because she’s taken care of herself, runs a few miles each day, doesn’t smoke and doesn’t drink anywhere near as much as when she was sneaking into bars as a kid.
So what’s all this have to do with the radio board?
About two months ago, Stella received an Arbitron Rating Diary. Like most 45+ women, she dutifully made entries in it to record what station she heard during the day. Like most people, she filled it in after the fact because, between taking her kids to soccer, music lessons, girl scouts and everything else, she didn’t have the time to fill in the diary while she actaully listened to the radio. So she wrote down the radio stations she thought she’d listened to or heard during the day and approximated the times.
Does any of this sound familiar to you guys who work in the business?
Before she mailed it back to Arbitron, I asked her if I could look at it. You’d have thought I’d asked to see her credit report. No way!
I asked her what stations she wrote down. If WYRK and Star 102.5 get a nice bump in 35-44 (ahem, cough, cough) Women, they can thank Stella.
I'd never considered this when I was in the business, but I now wonder, how many women shave a few years off their ages, and what effect this might have on the numbers.</font>
My cousin Stella cheats. No, not on her husband William, who’s a terrific mechanic.
Despite being a very responsible parent and adult, despite having an accounting degree and a great job as a result of her education, she cheats. No, not on the balance sheet.
She cheats on her age. Always has. When she was a kid, she’d tell everybody she was older. When she was 17, she was sneaking into bars with bogus ID and proof. She could get away with it, because Stella was always, how shall I say, gifted. And she knew most of the bouncers in the bars along Seneca street and Abott road.
Now that she’s older and just crosse over the 50 mark, she shaves (more than) a few years off the calendar. Once again, she can get way with it because she’s taken care of herself, runs a few miles each day, doesn’t smoke and doesn’t drink anywhere near as much as when she was sneaking into bars as a kid.
So what’s all this have to do with the radio board?
About two months ago, Stella received an Arbitron Rating Diary. Like most 45+ women, she dutifully made entries in it to record what station she heard during the day. Like most people, she filled it in after the fact because, between taking her kids to soccer, music lessons, girl scouts and everything else, she didn’t have the time to fill in the diary while she actaully listened to the radio. So she wrote down the radio stations she thought she’d listened to or heard during the day and approximated the times.
Does any of this sound familiar to you guys who work in the business?
Before she mailed it back to Arbitron, I asked her if I could look at it. You’d have thought I’d asked to see her credit report. No way!
I asked her what stations she wrote down. If WYRK and Star 102.5 get a nice bump in 35-44 (ahem, cough, cough) Women, they can thank Stella.
I'd never considered this when I was in the business, but I now wonder, how many women shave a few years off their ages, and what effect this might have on the numbers.</font>
