The news that America’s most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, did not see his shadow arrived as this is being written – predicting an early spring. At the same time, America’s 146th most famous groundhog, Nielsen Ned, also failed to see his shadow, predicting that the spring ratings would start on March 28 – about seven…

We’re digging through the data collected from over 3,200 14-54s nationwide in our latest NuVoodoo Ratings Prospects Study as we prepare to give clients first looks at the complete data before we release it more widely. It’s our way of giving back to a business we love and a future we’re very much invested in…

The 23rd in our series of twice-annual Ratings Prospects Studies has just finished fielding. In the weeks ahead we’ll be sharing the latest results first with clients and then more widely across the industry. While we track results on some points we’ve asked before, first party data is a major focus of this new study. We’ll…

The spring ratings period starts in about 10 weeks. As we noted last week, we’re still at the point where we feel we have plenty of time to make programming tweaks, get promotional plans made, and marketing plans set. Sometimes, however, changes in the ratings become wrinkles in those plans. Is that decline in a…

The spring ratings period starts in about 11 weeks. We tell ourselves that’s plenty of time to get marketing and promotional plans set and programming tweaks laid in, but the reality is things go quickly at this time of year. Even if you already have your fall ratings results, you may still be working through…

In the TV era, radio’s distinction was that it’s live and local, right? Though, even in the heyday of the DJ era, most of the “local” programming consisted of pre-recorded music. But radio gave more time to its on-air talent (especially in the days before PPM) and that allowed some greater amount of “local” content.…

Looking ahead to a fresh NuVoodoo Ratings Prospects Study in the New Year – which is six weeks away – we were looking at things we’d asked about in past studies but haven’t updated recently. In 2024 it will be ten years since we asked respondents which of two descriptions was closer to how they…

The Cambridge Dictionary defines “anodyne” as “intended to avoid causing offense or disagreement, especially by not expressing strong feelings or opinions.” That adjective often came up when describing network TV programming in the 1960s and 1970s, programming that was created under the theory of least objectionable programming. The concept of least objectionable or least offensive…

Holiday decorations are appearing in stores. Christmas music is appearing on the radio. Starbucks is serving peppermint mochas. All of these add up to one thing: it’s budget season for radio stations. Of course, most managers and programmers are being asked to trim budgets; to do more with less; to make the hard choices. Some…

When we worked for Clear Channel years ago – and back when perceptual study presentations were conducted on location, instead of on Zoom – we found ourselves among a group of more than a dozen PDs and regional programming honchos convened to view a study presentation. In the hotel bar after dinner, the group programming…