Moneyball: Classic Hits/Classic Rock P1 Deep Dive

Last week we shared a deep dive into findings concerning Country radio P1s from the latest NuVoodoo national study, Ratings Prospects Study 26. With less than a month to go until the fall book, we’ll continue this week with a deep dive into P1s for Classic Hits and Classic Rock radio.

Just as we’d seen last week looking at Country P1s, when we look at how important various media and digital presences are in their lives, only YouTube, Google, Amazon, and Facebook rank ahead of the favorite music radio station of Classic Rock P1s.

While some would expect Classic Rock and Classic Hits P1s to behave identically, radio rises in rank compared to other media choices among Classic Hits P1s. YouTube and Amazon lose considerable importance among the Classic Hits P1s. It’s a different mind set.

Classic Rock and Classic Hits are equally likely to be the last thing their respective P1s heard in the car, each format coming in at 63% here – the choice of about 5 P1s in 8. What surprised us was how different the experiences of the other P1s are, with about a quarter of the Classic Rock P1s having last used streaming audio, such as Spotify, and the Classic Hits P1s spread around streaming, podcasts, satellite, and audiobooks.

Asked their top three reasons for listening to the radio, among Classic Rock P1s most say because it’s free, though nearly 2 in 5 cite Weather – with smaller numbers agreeing it’s habit, for the companionship, or traffic reports.

Classic Hits P1s are wired differently. Just a third cite radio being free, with slightly higher numbers citing weather and news – and emergency information making their top five ranking.

While some station owners are wondering if they really need to continue offering service information (weather, traffic, news) in this digital age, if you’re running a Classic Hits or Classic Rock format, there’s a pretty good chance that your listeners expect those elements to be there.

Asked why they tune out or change stations, commercial breaks are third on the list among Classic Rock P1s and second on the list for Classic Hits P1s. The top tune out for both groups is, “Talk about things that don’t interest me.” While it’s likely that includes the talk they hear in the commercial breaks, it underscores the need to keep talk breaks and promo content focused.

It also underscores the need to filter every bit of talk content on the station through the ears of the listener. Why would it be interesting to them? How does it benefit them? What can you do to bring the content more into focus for the listener?

Note too that among Classic Hits P1s, talent being insulting or hurtful pulls into their top five tuneouts. While there are sure to be exceptions among the wide range of morning and signature talent in the format, remember that they’re there for mood enhancement.

Asked about music formats they hear almost as much as their favorite, about half the P1s for either Classic Rock or Classic Hits cite the other format and about a third of either P1 group say they listen nearly as much to Adult Hits (think Jack and others like it). Classic Rock P1s next name Hard Rock – likely the station/format that had been their P1 choice in the past.

While for Classic Hits P1s, Country and AC tie as their third most likely P2 format. You can find the specific P2 station choices for your station if you’re a Nielsen subscriber. If you know where listeners are likely to go if they punch out of your station, you can anticipate what they’re likely to hear there … and how to be in the best position when they tune back to your brand.

With the fall book less than a month away, it’s still possible to plan fall marketing campaigns. It’s NuVoodoo’s experience finding the right people and our technology making potent use of Connected TV that enables us to stretch station budgets. Email me at leigh@nuvoodoo.com for a quick response.

If you’re worried about where you ended up in the spring book, NuVoodoo has library tests and tactical perceptual studies starting at $9500. An email to me at leigh@nuvoodoo.com will get you a quick response.