Radio Ratings

[cliffjumper]

I see there are like 10 pages on the KXNO/Perrault thread.

I have always wondered how Radio (and T-V) figure out their ratings. Can anyone give me a short tutorial on this? How do Radio/T-V stations know how many people are listening and what percent of the market they have? I even see where they even know what age groups that listen etc.

Do they give a "black box" to a cross section demographic?

How do they do this and where do you go to see these ratings of local stations - etc?

Thanks and Go Hawks!

 

[DuffMan]

I see there are like 10 pages on the KXNO/Perrault thread.

I have always wondered how Radio (and T-V) figure out their ratings. Can anyone give me a short tutorial on this? How do Radio/T-V stations know how many people are listening and what percent of the market they have? I even see where they even know what age groups that listen etc.

Do they give a "black box" to a cross section demographic?

How do they do this and where do you go to see these ratings of local stations - etc?

Thanks and Go Hawks!

Unfortunately radio ratings are very non techincal and IMO not very accurate. Because people listen to radio all over the place (car, shower, home, office, and now cellphones and ipod) they don't rely on a "black box" or recording device.

They still sample the old fashioned way by sending out paper diaries that you either write in or place stickers in indicating what station you listened to, for how long, and when. Rating companies then try and extrapolate from that data what the ratings are. It's very dependant on the person listening to accurately fill it out and on the survey size and distribution to be correct.

There is new technology out there PPM's or portable people meters but thus far no one is using them (at least in this market).

 

[cliffjumper]

Thanks DuffMan

So basically -- it's complete BS.

When KCCI comes on and says they are the highest rated newscast etc. It could be because 10 people filled out a questionnaire and put KCCI versus 8 people for WHO.

Now that you say that - I did get one of those surveys once and the only people I could ever see taking the time to fill it out would be senior citizens who have nothing to do. The things was like 10 pages long -- it went in the circular file.

 

[clicheusername3]

Unfortunately radio ratings are very non techincal and IMO not very accurate. Because people listen to radio all over the place (car, shower, home, office, and now cellphones and ipod) they don't rely on a "black box" or recording device.

They still sample the old fashioned way by sending out paper diaries that you either write in or place stickers in indicating what station you listened to, for how long, and when. Rating companies then try and extrapolate from that data what the ratings are. It's very dependant on the person listening to accurately fill it out and on the survey size and distribution to be correct.

There is new technology out there PPM's or portable people meters but thus far no one is using them (at least in this market).

Haha please tell me you are joking about the "sticker method" you mentioned above? Was that implemented in the 1930's because the ratings services were finding that the people they sent the surveys to could not obtain an adequate writing utensil?

 

[DuffMan]

Haha please tell me you are joking about the "sticker method" you mentioned above? Was that implemented in the 1930's because the ratings services were finding that the people they sent the surveys to could not obtain an adequate writing utensil?

Actually the sticker method is "new technology" in the radio ratings world. The thought is the data will be more accurate as it will be easier for people to put in a sticker than it would to write something in. It also solves the problem of people that can't write legibly or write down incorrect call letters (believe it or not that's a big problem).

And yes there are numerous problems with survey methods and it's almost impossible to get the right mix of people to get true figures. One big problem in the past is one major rating company (there are two, Aribtron is the big dog and been around for decades and Nielson the new kid on the block who uses the fancy stickers) refused to consider cellphone only households which basically eliminated 50% of people under the age of 25.

Bottom line the official ratings can be used to indicate trends in some cases and can certainly tell you who the power players are in any particular market but to think they are 100% accurate would be a mistake.

 

[99topdawg]

The Nielsen company sends people a diary of what they listen to. The household gets a diary for every person over the age of 12. For every listening diary that is returned, they send $15. I was a "household" a couple of months ago, which is how I know.

 

[djwoody98]

All the Iowa radio markets are still diary, PPM is only in the largest of markets for now A market like Omaha/CB is basing their numbers on 1500-1750 diaries surveyed 4 times a year, not just a few. And keep in mind with a sports station you could be #10 in overall listenership but #1 with 25 to 54 year old men. So there are lots of claims.

 

[cliffjumper]

"Not just a few".
1500 -1750 in a metro area of about 750K or so? That seems pretty small to me - but maybe thats the Norm.