PPM UPDATE, PART 2: RATINGS METHODOLOGY CREATES COSMIC SHIFTS IN HOW WE PROGRAM AN HOUR
An hour of almost any radio format is beginning to look a lot different than it has for the past sixty years. That’s because Arbitron’s PPM is revealing facts about how listeners use radio that would have astonished most programmers even a few years ago. The challenge for radio station managers and program directors alike isn’t to understand what’s being revealed but to make changes in format metrics that may be uncomfortable.
What we’re learning creates something of an Alice In Wonderland riddle: In which direction do a clock’s hands turn?
Well, duh, you might say: Clockwise.
Well, duh, the clock might answer: Not if you’re the clock.
In other words, some long-sacred – and previously obvious – basics of the hourly program clock and its pie-shaped elements need searching and immediate updating.
Don’t Load Up the First Quarter-Hour
If your program director or consultant still insists on stuffing the first fifteen minutes with the hottest songs and best promos, it’s time to bring up what PPM is reporting: listening is actually spread evenly throughout the hour. The glass-is-half-full view of this is that you actually have more opportunities to appeal to listeners and anchor your P1 listeners; the reverse, of course, is that you also have more chances to drive them away.
But wait, the good old ARB paper diaries indicated the first quarter-hour was the big palooka. Yes but they were based on recall. PPM captures it all. The paper diaries were wrong.
7:20 AM: Ah, the Good Old Days (Last Year)
Remember when twenty minutes past seven was the apex of morning drive? The big listening appointment that everything led up to? That’s when you welcomed the celebrity guest, gave away the money, made the big announcement. Ah, yes: 7:20 AM.
So last year.
A big revelation of PPM measurement is that cume has doubled. That’s not a ground-swell of new listeners, just a new way of measuring what was already there. Which means your station should be making listening appointments all day long. They don’t have to be for money or big prizes, just for unique, compelling content that only you can provide.
Giant Nuggets Mined From the PPM Numbers
Several other major revelations are coming out of the PPM reports. Radio station managers need to be aware of every one of them because this is too important a sea change to be left to program directors and consultants.
Here’s what we’re discovering from PPM that we didn’t necessarily know before:
- Cume is up and TSL is down – formats that benefit from cume seem to be doing better, although this is still in flux
- Monday is a big day – the paper diaries indicated it was Thursday but now there’s no need to hold off important programming or content until the week is well along
- More segues aren’t necessarily the answer for music stations – too many long sets without announcer input that really connects with listeners (which is not reading liners) can drive the strays straight to talk radio or satellite/Internet music providers
- Content separates your stations from everyone else – including the above-mentioned non-broadcast interlopers
Still In Flux
Plenty of questions remain. A big one concerns stopsets, how long they should be and where in various hours they should appear. A number of stations are already tinkering with their format clocks on this element alone. More time with the technology and its results will produce more precise answers.
By the way, PPM isn’t going away. Arbitron is once again alone in the big league of American radio radio audience measurement after Neilsen – stung by the defections of Clear Channel and Cumulus back to Arbitron – announced Monday that it is exiting the radio business in North America.
THURSDAY: Don't even think about planning Q1 and Q2 promotions and remotes until you do this!
THURSDAY: Don't even think about planning Q1 and Q2 promotions and remotes until you do this!
