Articles

Anyone who’s pored over music test results has wondered at some point, “Do we have the right people in the sample?” Lower-than-expected scores, results that diverge from expectations, concerns about a competitor’s airplay all play into the worries of any program director making decisions using music research. In pursuit of increased confidence that the “right…

Broadcast radio has long been fighting listener concerns about too many commercials. Over the past few decades, chasing the opportunity to program some types of stations primarily as music distribution services, commercial load has even been part of the positioning at times. While programmers may not be able to unilaterally reduce spotload, they can often…

420 years ago, Sir Francis Bacon is credited with using the phrase “knowledge is power.” Given the comparatively small size of Nielsen’s samples and the limited universe of people who are likely to carry a meter or return a diary, it’s critical to know as much as possible about not only those in the Nielsen…

We’re all aware that current spot loads leave radio painfully over-commercialized at times, compared to even the free levels of Spotify, Pandora and other online players. In the PPM world, fewer breaks yield better ratings than more breaks. So, in the most extreme cases, breaks get long enough that some advertisers complain. While the digital…

Last week we wrote about using the Amazon Echo (or Google Home) to listen to radio in your home. While there are a few venerable clock radios still on nightstands and some homes may have a Bose Wave Radio lurking somewhere, there are fewer and fewer radios in homes today. Among music station P1’s across…

A few weeks back, we wrote about the experience of hosting a focus group of Millennial-aged Country music fans at the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville. Asked if they have a radio at home, one respondent memorably answered, “There’s one at my mom’s house.” A couple of the panelists admitted they do have a radio…