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Why is Thursday the day that most radio stations give away their biggest prizes???
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Re: It is related to Arbitron survey dates
> Why is Thursday the day that most radio stations give away
> their biggest prizes???
Arbitron uses a survey week that starts on Thursday and runs to Wednesday.
>
> Why is Thursday the day that most radio stations give away
> their biggest prizes???
Arbitron uses a survey week that starts on Thursday and runs to Wednesday.
>
M
Marc0n1
Guest
Re: It is related to Arbitron survey dates
> > Why is Thursday the day that most radio stations give away their biggest prizes???
> Arbitron uses a survey week that starts on Thursday and runs to Wednesday.
Here's a little more detail: After people agree to take part in an Arbitron survey, they get their diary in the mail. The diary starts on a Thursday and ends the next Wednesday, and then the next day, another Thursday, the person is supposed to mail the filled-out diary back to Arbitron.
Research has shown that many people fill out the diary on that first Thursday, and maybe on Friday, but then they tend to be less diligent over the weekend and may neglect the diary completely by Monday.
Not until the next Wednesday night or Thursday morning do they get around to filling out the diary. And in trying to remember what stations they listened to, they tend to favor the station(s) they're listening to currently.
That's why stations do their big giveaways on Thursdays. First they're aiming at the people filling out diaries on their first day, and then they're aiming at the procrastinators about to mail the diary back, who hopefully will write their station in on the previous days that weren't filled in.
> > Why is Thursday the day that most radio stations give away their biggest prizes???
> Arbitron uses a survey week that starts on Thursday and runs to Wednesday.
Here's a little more detail: After people agree to take part in an Arbitron survey, they get their diary in the mail. The diary starts on a Thursday and ends the next Wednesday, and then the next day, another Thursday, the person is supposed to mail the filled-out diary back to Arbitron.
Research has shown that many people fill out the diary on that first Thursday, and maybe on Friday, but then they tend to be less diligent over the weekend and may neglect the diary completely by Monday.
Not until the next Wednesday night or Thursday morning do they get around to filling out the diary. And in trying to remember what stations they listened to, they tend to favor the station(s) they're listening to currently.
That's why stations do their big giveaways on Thursdays. First they're aiming at the people filling out diaries on their first day, and then they're aiming at the procrastinators about to mail the diary back, who hopefully will write their station in on the previous days that weren't filled in.
Re: It is related to Arbitron survey dates
> Research has shown that many people fill out the diary on
> that first Thursday, and maybe on Friday, but then they tend
> to be less diligent over the weekend and may neglect the
> diary completely by Monday.
This is why Arbitron calls after the diarys arrive, after the first day, after the weekend and after the survey week is completed... to remind people to fill in the diary.
>
> Not until the next Wednesday night or Thursday morning do
> they get around to filling out the diary.
Actually, not true. There are a total of 5 calls placed to each household to get the diary filled in as often and as completely as possible.
> And in trying to
> remember what stations they listened to, they tend to favor
> the station(s) they're listening to currently.
Actually, they tend to favor the stations they rember, which are the ones they listen to most. The PPM tests have show that what does not get written down is incidental listening to less-than-favorite staitons... those that are called P4 and beyond. In the PPM, the average person shows listening to 6 to 7 stations a week, while in the diary, it is about 3. But the listening to the 4th through 6th stations is measured in minutes a week, not hours.
>
> That's why stations do their big giveaways on Thursdays.
> First they're aiming at the people filling out diaries on
> their first day, and then they're aiming at the
> procrastinators about to mail the diary back, who hopefully
> will write their station in on the previous days that
> weren't filled in.
Most of us who do contesting and ahve reviewed diaries realize that the listening recorded on Thursday is only slightly higher than other days, and doing this extra Tuursday stuff does not help. What really helps is reinforcing days that are between the Arbitron calls. Methodology contesting or format mechanics seldom yields benefits, and often makes the station unpleasant to listen to.
>
> Research has shown that many people fill out the diary on
> that first Thursday, and maybe on Friday, but then they tend
> to be less diligent over the weekend and may neglect the
> diary completely by Monday.
This is why Arbitron calls after the diarys arrive, after the first day, after the weekend and after the survey week is completed... to remind people to fill in the diary.
>
> Not until the next Wednesday night or Thursday morning do
> they get around to filling out the diary.
Actually, not true. There are a total of 5 calls placed to each household to get the diary filled in as often and as completely as possible.
> And in trying to
> remember what stations they listened to, they tend to favor
> the station(s) they're listening to currently.
Actually, they tend to favor the stations they rember, which are the ones they listen to most. The PPM tests have show that what does not get written down is incidental listening to less-than-favorite staitons... those that are called P4 and beyond. In the PPM, the average person shows listening to 6 to 7 stations a week, while in the diary, it is about 3. But the listening to the 4th through 6th stations is measured in minutes a week, not hours.
>
> That's why stations do their big giveaways on Thursdays.
> First they're aiming at the people filling out diaries on
> their first day, and then they're aiming at the
> procrastinators about to mail the diary back, who hopefully
> will write their station in on the previous days that
> weren't filled in.
Most of us who do contesting and ahve reviewed diaries realize that the listening recorded on Thursday is only slightly higher than other days, and doing this extra Tuursday stuff does not help. What really helps is reinforcing days that are between the Arbitron calls. Methodology contesting or format mechanics seldom yields benefits, and often makes the station unpleasant to listen to.
>
M
Marc0n1
Guest
Re: It is related to Arbitron survey dates
> > Research has shown that many people fill out the diary on
> > that first Thursday, and maybe on Friday, but then they
> tend
> > to be less diligent over the weekend and may neglect the
> > diary completely by Monday.
>
> This is why Arbitron calls after the diarys arrive, after
> the first day, after the weekend and after the survey week
> is completed... to remind people to fill in the diary.
> >
> > Not until the next Wednesday night or Thursday morning do
> > they get around to filling out the diary.
>
> Actually, not true. There are a total of 5 calls placed to
> each household to get the diary filled in as often and as
> completely as possible.
>
> > And in trying to
> > remember what stations they listened to, they tend to
> favor
> > the station(s) they're listening to currently.
>
> Actually, they tend to favor the stations they rember, which
> are the ones they listen to most. The PPM tests have show
> that what does not get written down is incidental listening
> to less-than-favorite staitons... those that are called P4
> and beyond. In the PPM, the average person shows listening
> to 6 to 7 stations a week, while in the diary, it is about
> 3. But the listening to the 4th through 6th stations is
> measured in minutes a week, not hours.
> >
> > That's why stations do their big giveaways on Thursdays.
> > First they're aiming at the people filling out diaries on
> > their first day, and then they're aiming at the
> > procrastinators about to mail the diary back, who
> hopefully
> > will write their station in on the previous days that
> > weren't filled in.
>
> Most of us who do contesting and ahve reviewed diaries
> realize that the listening recorded on Thursday is only
> slightly higher than other days, and doing this extra
> Tuursday stuff does not help. What really helps is
> reinforcing days that are between the Arbitron calls.
> Methodology contesting or format mechanics seldom yields
> benefits, and often makes the station unpleasant to listen
> to.
----------------------------------------------------------
In past years I was contacted by Arbitron and filled out their diaries. They asked me if I worked in radio. I said no, and that was that: just one example of their rigorous "screening" and methodology.
How many of you out there got your hands on diaries this easily? And, because the lazy methodology sends extra diaries to everyone in your "household" rather than to random listeners, how many of you suddenly had more residents living with you?
I gave them the names of my kids who'd moved out, plus the names of my two goldfish.
I have no memory of being contacted more than one time after their initial "screening."
> > Research has shown that many people fill out the diary on
> > that first Thursday, and maybe on Friday, but then they
> tend
> > to be less diligent over the weekend and may neglect the
> > diary completely by Monday.
>
> This is why Arbitron calls after the diarys arrive, after
> the first day, after the weekend and after the survey week
> is completed... to remind people to fill in the diary.
> >
> > Not until the next Wednesday night or Thursday morning do
> > they get around to filling out the diary.
>
> Actually, not true. There are a total of 5 calls placed to
> each household to get the diary filled in as often and as
> completely as possible.
>
> > And in trying to
> > remember what stations they listened to, they tend to
> favor
> > the station(s) they're listening to currently.
>
> Actually, they tend to favor the stations they rember, which
> are the ones they listen to most. The PPM tests have show
> that what does not get written down is incidental listening
> to less-than-favorite staitons... those that are called P4
> and beyond. In the PPM, the average person shows listening
> to 6 to 7 stations a week, while in the diary, it is about
> 3. But the listening to the 4th through 6th stations is
> measured in minutes a week, not hours.
> >
> > That's why stations do their big giveaways on Thursdays.
> > First they're aiming at the people filling out diaries on
> > their first day, and then they're aiming at the
> > procrastinators about to mail the diary back, who
> hopefully
> > will write their station in on the previous days that
> > weren't filled in.
>
> Most of us who do contesting and ahve reviewed diaries
> realize that the listening recorded on Thursday is only
> slightly higher than other days, and doing this extra
> Tuursday stuff does not help. What really helps is
> reinforcing days that are between the Arbitron calls.
> Methodology contesting or format mechanics seldom yields
> benefits, and often makes the station unpleasant to listen
> to.
----------------------------------------------------------
In past years I was contacted by Arbitron and filled out their diaries. They asked me if I worked in radio. I said no, and that was that: just one example of their rigorous "screening" and methodology.
How many of you out there got your hands on diaries this easily? And, because the lazy methodology sends extra diaries to everyone in your "household" rather than to random listeners, how many of you suddenly had more residents living with you?
I gave them the names of my kids who'd moved out, plus the names of my two goldfish.
I have no memory of being contacted more than one time after their initial "screening."
Re: violating Arbitron contact and station policy.
>-----------------------------------------
>
> In past years I was contacted by Arbitron and filled out
> their diaries. They asked me if I worked in radio. I said
> no, and that was that: just one example of their rigorous
> "screening" and methodology.
Arbitron depends mostly on honesty (which you have flunked) and the contract with each subscribing station to keep "media households" out of the sample. Companies I know have a policy that employees can not accept diaries and that contacts by Arbitron should be reported.
In addition, Arbitron has a filter in the diary tabulation software that flags any diary with huge listening to one station that appears abnormal. They have a variety of procedures to verify or throw out such diaries, and they have, in the past, caught cheaters this way.
>
> How many of you out there got your hands on diaries this
> easily?
Since most of us know we have a company or station policy against taking the survey, we don't.
> And, because the lazy methodology sends extra
> diaries to everyone in your "household" rather than to
> random listeners, how many of you suddenly had more
> residents living with you?
I have never heard of that one. In any case, just as in TV measurement, diarykeepers are recruited by household for a purpose: it captures household data at the placement level and a household survey tends to reinforce compliance as the whole family unit is participating and this improves returns.
>
> I gave them the names of my kids who'd moved out, plus the
> names of my two goldfish.
You seem to be proud of having cheated and, probably, broken you station's internal policies. You definitely violated thier Arbitron contract.
>
> I have no memory of being contacted more than one time after
> their initial "screening."
Then you are probably lying about the whold thing. Something, in summation,, to be proud of, huh
>
>-----------------------------------------
>
> In past years I was contacted by Arbitron and filled out
> their diaries. They asked me if I worked in radio. I said
> no, and that was that: just one example of their rigorous
> "screening" and methodology.
Arbitron depends mostly on honesty (which you have flunked) and the contract with each subscribing station to keep "media households" out of the sample. Companies I know have a policy that employees can not accept diaries and that contacts by Arbitron should be reported.
In addition, Arbitron has a filter in the diary tabulation software that flags any diary with huge listening to one station that appears abnormal. They have a variety of procedures to verify or throw out such diaries, and they have, in the past, caught cheaters this way.
>
> How many of you out there got your hands on diaries this
> easily?
Since most of us know we have a company or station policy against taking the survey, we don't.
> And, because the lazy methodology sends extra
> diaries to everyone in your "household" rather than to
> random listeners, how many of you suddenly had more
> residents living with you?
I have never heard of that one. In any case, just as in TV measurement, diarykeepers are recruited by household for a purpose: it captures household data at the placement level and a household survey tends to reinforce compliance as the whole family unit is participating and this improves returns.
>
> I gave them the names of my kids who'd moved out, plus the
> names of my two goldfish.
You seem to be proud of having cheated and, probably, broken you station's internal policies. You definitely violated thier Arbitron contract.
>
> I have no memory of being contacted more than one time after
> their initial "screening."
Then you are probably lying about the whold thing. Something, in summation,, to be proud of, huh
>
K
KMRichards
Guest
Re: violating Arbitron contact and station policy.
> In addition, Arbitron has a filter in the diary tabulation
> software that flags any diary with huge listening to one
> station that appears abnormal. They have a variety of
> procedures to verify or throw out such diaries, and they
> have, in the past, caught cheaters this way.
25+ years ago, the General Manager of the station I worked at managed (by not being honest with the phone screener) to get his hands on an Arbitron diary. He split the listening between our AM and FM stations and gleefully sent it in, expecting a big payoff in the book.
When said payoff didn't come, I asked a friend at another station to find out from Arbitron what anomalies had occured in that survey period. The answer included the exclusion of said diary; had Arbitron found out that our GM had been the diarykeeper (luckily for him, he used his previous on-air name rather than his real one professionally), we probably would have been listed below the line with a footnote. As David will attest, that can be the kiss of death for agency buys.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
> In addition, Arbitron has a filter in the diary tabulation
> software that flags any diary with huge listening to one
> station that appears abnormal. They have a variety of
> procedures to verify or throw out such diaries, and they
> have, in the past, caught cheaters this way.
25+ years ago, the General Manager of the station I worked at managed (by not being honest with the phone screener) to get his hands on an Arbitron diary. He split the listening between our AM and FM stations and gleefully sent it in, expecting a big payoff in the book.
When said payoff didn't come, I asked a friend at another station to find out from Arbitron what anomalies had occured in that survey period. The answer included the exclusion of said diary; had Arbitron found out that our GM had been the diarykeeper (luckily for him, he used his previous on-air name rather than his real one professionally), we probably would have been listed below the line with a footnote. As David will attest, that can be the kiss of death for agency buys.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
Re: violating Arbitron contact and station policy.
> > In addition, Arbitron has a filter in the diary tabulation
>
> > software that flags any diary with huge listening to one
> > station that appears abnormal. They have a variety of
> > procedures to verify or throw out such diaries, and they
> > have, in the past, caught cheaters this way.
>
> 25+ years ago, the General Manager of the station I worked
> at managed (by not being honest with the phone screener) to
> get his hands on an Arbitron diary. He split the listening
> between our AM and FM stations and gleefully sent it in,
> expecting a big payoff in the book.
The good thing is that in most markets, one or two diaries will not make a difference. If you go to the biggest markets, like LA with 7500 diaries per survey, a family-full of medium listening "media diaries" will not change anything since the top stations 5 stations get between 900 and 1200 diaries, so each one is, on average, worth 0.001 share points.
Even a small station like Indie gets over 150 diaries, and it is conceivable that 5 from one family could nudge it from, say, a 0.3 to a 0.4 if it were nearly there to begin with.
Overall, in big markets, the only place such diaries would have any effect would be in very low rated stations.
In markets like, let's say, Fresno, with 1600 diaries, the top station got 250. A mid range station gets about 150. So a tiny effect could be seen in such a case, but it is not going to be major. And if someoen gets 5 or 6 diaries and fills out 400 quarter hours per week to one station in each, Arbitron's software is going to demand a review and the household will probgably be nuked.
This is a case where cheating has literally no gain but has lots of downside, starting with discovery and delisting. A good broadcaster may even fire a person for doing this.
> > In addition, Arbitron has a filter in the diary tabulation
>
> > software that flags any diary with huge listening to one
> > station that appears abnormal. They have a variety of
> > procedures to verify or throw out such diaries, and they
> > have, in the past, caught cheaters this way.
>
> 25+ years ago, the General Manager of the station I worked
> at managed (by not being honest with the phone screener) to
> get his hands on an Arbitron diary. He split the listening
> between our AM and FM stations and gleefully sent it in,
> expecting a big payoff in the book.
The good thing is that in most markets, one or two diaries will not make a difference. If you go to the biggest markets, like LA with 7500 diaries per survey, a family-full of medium listening "media diaries" will not change anything since the top stations 5 stations get between 900 and 1200 diaries, so each one is, on average, worth 0.001 share points.
Even a small station like Indie gets over 150 diaries, and it is conceivable that 5 from one family could nudge it from, say, a 0.3 to a 0.4 if it were nearly there to begin with.
Overall, in big markets, the only place such diaries would have any effect would be in very low rated stations.
In markets like, let's say, Fresno, with 1600 diaries, the top station got 250. A mid range station gets about 150. So a tiny effect could be seen in such a case, but it is not going to be major. And if someoen gets 5 or 6 diaries and fills out 400 quarter hours per week to one station in each, Arbitron's software is going to demand a review and the household will probgably be nuked.
This is a case where cheating has literally no gain but has lots of downside, starting with discovery and delisting. A good broadcaster may even fire a person for doing this.
J
JohnnyMorganWXJX
Guest
Re: violating Arbitron contact and station policy.
> This is a case where cheating has literally no gain but has
> lots of downside, starting with discovery and delisting. A
> good broadcaster may even fire a person for doing this.
Dear counsel,
Since I'm on a non-comm on a volunteer basis, let's assume that I get screened. Am I obligated to inform them of such fact, or is it a commercial requirement?
I seek your sage advice.
Warmest,
JM
p.s. Was phone sampled once--about 11 years ago--on my radio listening habits, but never got a written diary. I bet it was that Hooper outfit.
> This is a case where cheating has literally no gain but has
> lots of downside, starting with discovery and delisting. A
> good broadcaster may even fire a person for doing this.
Dear counsel,
Since I'm on a non-comm on a volunteer basis, let's assume that I get screened. Am I obligated to inform them of such fact, or is it a commercial requirement?
I seek your sage advice.
Warmest,
JM
p.s. Was phone sampled once--about 11 years ago--on my radio listening habits, but never got a written diary. I bet it was that Hooper outfit.
Re: violating Arbitron contact and station policy.
>
> Since I'm on a non-comm on a volunteer basis, let's assume
> that I get screened. Am I obligated to inform them of such
> fact, or is it a commercial requirement?
I would assume that most stations would have some kind of written policy that combines diary participation and on air references to surveys.
That said, non-coms probably pay little attention to this stuff, and Arbitron probably pays little attention to non-coms. The reality is that I guess it does not matter in such cases.
Arbitron's principal concern is ratings distortion and b9ias caused by on air mentions. Media diaries have so seldom been afactor, I think most of thier efforts are in keeping the "vote for me" on air mentions from happening.
> I seek your sage advice.
Since non-coms don't appear in trends or the printed book, there is not much that Arbitron can do or much of a club that can be held over folks' heads.
> p.s. Was phone sampled once--about 11 years ago--on my radio
> listening habits, but never got a written diary. I bet it
> was that Hooper outfit.
Hmm... Hooper expired in '72, Pulse in '78 or '79, but you had Birch and Strategic doing phone surveys, plus lots of stations screening for call out or related perceptual in-house research, so it could have been anyone!
>
>
> Since I'm on a non-comm on a volunteer basis, let's assume
> that I get screened. Am I obligated to inform them of such
> fact, or is it a commercial requirement?
I would assume that most stations would have some kind of written policy that combines diary participation and on air references to surveys.
That said, non-coms probably pay little attention to this stuff, and Arbitron probably pays little attention to non-coms. The reality is that I guess it does not matter in such cases.
Arbitron's principal concern is ratings distortion and b9ias caused by on air mentions. Media diaries have so seldom been afactor, I think most of thier efforts are in keeping the "vote for me" on air mentions from happening.
> I seek your sage advice.
Since non-coms don't appear in trends or the printed book, there is not much that Arbitron can do or much of a club that can be held over folks' heads.
> p.s. Was phone sampled once--about 11 years ago--on my radio
> listening habits, but never got a written diary. I bet it
> was that Hooper outfit.
Hmm... Hooper expired in '72, Pulse in '78 or '79, but you had Birch and Strategic doing phone surveys, plus lots of stations screening for call out or related perceptual in-house research, so it could have been anyone!
>
J
JohnnyMorganWXJX
Guest
Re: violating Arbitron contact and station policy.
> Hmm... Hooper expired in '72,
That was such a shame because "Hooperated...Superrated" was a classy jingle from "the Boss" KEWB, Oakland.
> Hmm... Hooper expired in '72,
That was such a shame because "Hooperated...Superrated" was a classy jingle from "the Boss" KEWB, Oakland.
A Grey Area of Arbitron Violations
> > Hmm... Hooper expired in '72,
>
> That was such a shame because "Hooperated...Superrated" was
> a classy jingle from "the Boss" KEWB, Oakland.
>
Here's a grey area: what if your friend gets a diary and you work for say, WWPH, and your friend knows you work at WWPH, so he says that he listens to 107.9 FM all the time in his Arbitron diary? Will that count against the station? What if you secretly told him to mention he listens to the Great 108 all the time?<P ID="signature">______________
17-year-old radio geek
Location: Princeton Junction, NJ
AIM: KewlDude471
WWPH 107.9 FM: http://wwph1079fm.no-ip.org</P>
> > Hmm... Hooper expired in '72,
>
> That was such a shame because "Hooperated...Superrated" was
> a classy jingle from "the Boss" KEWB, Oakland.
>
Here's a grey area: what if your friend gets a diary and you work for say, WWPH, and your friend knows you work at WWPH, so he says that he listens to 107.9 FM all the time in his Arbitron diary? Will that count against the station? What if you secretly told him to mention he listens to the Great 108 all the time?<P ID="signature">______________
17-year-old radio geek
Location: Princeton Junction, NJ
AIM: KewlDude471
WWPH 107.9 FM: http://wwph1079fm.no-ip.org</P>
- Status