Has anyone (Arbitron, etc.) conducted research recently to disprove the 70 percent listening in the home, 30 percent listening in the car findings? 70 percent in the home seems high, especially by today's standards.
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The 70 to 30 Ratio
- Thread starter Pete Pyeatt
- Start date
That has to have changed over time. The only radio I have in my house is a clock radio that hasn't been turned on in a couple of years, heck I can't even find my old stereo, the speakers that were plugged into it are now run through a console attached to a computer. Morning info at home comes from the tube and I don't listen to radio until I'm in my truck
Pete Pyeatt said:
Of course you don't conduct research to "prove" or "disprove" anything--research exists to find out the truth, whatever that might be. If you go into it with a bias, the results will be skewed, and therefore, useless.
Pete Pyeatt said:
In the diary, used in nearly 300 markets prior to PPM and in nearly 250 markets still, listening location is registered for every incident of listening in every diary.
On average about 30% to 34% in car, then about 30% to 32% each at home and at work, and the rest is "other" such as in a park, at the beach, jogging, etc.
The PPM only knows at home and away. 30% is at home. Same ratio of home to away.
In a few places, like New York City, in car was only about 24% in the diary, due to all the public transportation. Supposedly congested places like LA had no difference from places like Tucson or Rochester.
CTHank said:
n = 1
Arbitron bases location information on millions and millions of listening incidents a year.
CTHank said:
He just said the statistical evidence is calculated from millions of documented samples and you dismiss it all based on one person's anectdotal observations... your own.
It reminds me of when I was in high school. All the kids said they listened to the new album rock station. But when the ratings came out, the Top 40 slammed them. Apparently my classmates were saying they listened to the rock station to be cool. But in the privacy of their own radio diary they revealed that top 40 was still their guilty pleasure.
or... there was a sampling error.
Probably not though. It's such an important issue, I'm sure they've researched it fully.
I know I rarely listen in the home. Prairie Home Companion; that's about it now that Beatle Breakfast has gone away. I also know I always lie to telephone surveys.
Probably not though. It's such an important issue, I'm sure they've researched it fully.
I know I rarely listen in the home. Prairie Home Companion; that's about it now that Beatle Breakfast has gone away. I also know I always lie to telephone surveys.
People do still listen at home. Now I know this is anecdotal evidence too, but it's applicable to more than just me. I find myself listening most while cleaning house, backyard bbqs, or during a good NPR program if I have time.
fredcantu said:
No Fred I didn't dismiss it and I understand how statistics work, what I did was simply question it and yes it was based on my own anecdotal observations and what I said was that based on my observations and my discussions with people I know in the mornings when they are at home getting ready for work or school, the TV is on, or their kids are using their phones to talk with their friends, or someone is on the computer and if a radio was on it was only the clock radio that got smacked when it went off as the alarm to wake the family up. When I hosted a morning show a few years ago, we would always ask the callers where they were calling from and the vast majority were in their car, does that mean that everyone was? No, but you will never convince me that the majority of the radio audience in the morning is people at home.
Now you can go back 40 years for your own observations about people lying about listening to rock, but I am willing to wager that if you start making random calls to households in the mornings and take a survey asking if they were listening to the radio, the answer would be no.
CTHank said:
Even in the supposedly drive-time heavy Los Angeles market, the PPM measures 30% of listening at home. The PPM knows, electronically, when it is at home and when it is away, There is no doubt that there is a huge amount of radio listening at home.
DavidEduardo said:
I couldn't disagree with this more. There is just too much competition at home. Watching digital cable/satellite, with it's 800 channels of "narrowcasting" niches, surfing the web or text messaging trumps listening to a radio station at home.
The majority of local radio listening is done in the car.
If someone does happen to turn on a radio station at home, say, while cleaning the house or doing homework/work assignments, they're not really "listening." They are missing the messages of the advertisers. When they are in the car, listening to those same advertisers, they are in the car, focused, hanging on every word of the advertiser. My advertising dollars go farther with folks listening in the car. That's why I care more about a radio station's signal reach in a car than from a handheld radio.
Pete Pyeatt said:
Hanging on every word? You mean they aren't thinking about their driving or what they're going to do at their destination or what happened to them at work? The human brain can mentally tune out that commercial cluster and focus on other things until the show starts up again. We can scientifically verify that the message was heard. But we can't say anything about whether the message actually got through.
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