By returning to the sample of Canadians who filled out a BBM radio diary, BBM Canada was able to bring an extensive product and customer behavior database combined with BBM's radio ratings to desktops in Canadian radio stations, agencies and advertisers. Starting off in the fall of 1998 with three major markets- Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria, RTS now includes Halifax, Quebec City, Montreal, Hamilton, London, Kitchener, Calgary and Edmonton. Not only that, RTS also includes a national study called RTS Canada. The RTS database is updated twice yearly. This paper also reviews how, in only four years, the RTS study became the largest media and consumer behaviour study ever offered in Canada; and why broadcasters cannot rely upon demographics when describing and selling their audiences.
The Radio Advertising Effectiveness Laboratory (RAEL) was created in 2001 to research the effectiveness of radio advertising in the United States. Established as an independent non-profit organization with funding from radio industry companies, RAEL works closely with advertisers, agencies, and broadcasters to further the industry's understanding of how radio advertising works and to measure its effectiveness. In its ongoing Case Studies series, RAEL presents information from recent proprietary studies of radio which have been shared with RAEL. This particular paper focuses on a test of replacing spot TV with radio in a winter campaign for one of Pfizer Inc.'s over-the-counter healthcare products. The study showed that advertising with radio delivered superior sales results at less cost.
This paper briefly reviews some of the research upon which most radio planning models are based and considers the relative impact of position in break and 'low clutter airtime' against the more traditional territory surrounding frequency within the context of radio advertising.Unlike previous research, which has tested various elements of the radio mix in more controlled environments, the results from the study in this paper are drawn from 'real world' audiences.Due to unique market conditions present in Australia, the study was able to compare the actual performance of two different radio advertising models directly; the first based on building frequency with multiple advertisements in each break; the second based upon impact through 'low clutter and primary position in break'.
This paper strives to gain a clearer understanding of the future impact that electronic audience measurement would have for radio programming. It was clear from earlier overviews that the current approach and thinking applied to programming radio stations in the future may have to undergo a thorough review. The paper reviews the impact PPM audience measurement methodology and continuous measurement would have for the radio industry both in the United States and globally, with implications for radio and its associated industries. With the assistance of Arbitron, the author has maintained a close eye and ear on the ensuing information emanating from the market as the Philadelphia trials continued through 2002 and into 2003.
After detailed testing, Radiocontrol has been the official measuring system for radio consumption in Switzerland since 1 January 2001. In the meantime two years have passed - time enough for the client radio stations to run their first analysis and adjust their programming.This paper demonstrates, utilizing several cases from public broadcasters as well as commercial stations, in what way and how quickly programming changes can be seen in the radio data. Since 1 January 2003 the data users also have an interest-typology at their hand which actually combines quantitative with more qualitative data.
Taylor Nelson Sofres has an in-house tool, the 'Conversion Model', which allows prediction of the evolution of radio audience in the case of future competition. Applied in Belgium to the Dutch radio market for the benefit of the 'VRT' group, the model allowed estimation of the future loss of market share to be sustained by the group. The significance of the model lies not only in the fact that it constitutes an extremely efficient predictor of the future behaviour of the audience, but also in the fact that it allows description of the marketing means to be implemented in order to retain the most vulnerable audience.
The subject of this paper is the launch of the first-ever national survey using electronic measurement of radio audiences in the United Kingdom. Throughout the world, the research community is discussing the impact of electronic measurement on the radio market. The Wireless Group shares its experiences with the research community by giving an insight into the results of two research projects and an update on the launch of a survey conducted by GfK Media of national radio stations in March 2003.
The conversion of the RADAR network audience measurement service from a telephone to a diary-based survey provides an opportunity to study differences in the results from the two collection methodologies.This paper examines the differences observed in audience estimates produced by the two survey methodologies. The authors conclude that 1) overall listening levels are similar between the two methods; 2) differences in the estimates of individual radio networks are mixed in direction and generally not statistically significant, and 3) Average Quarter Hour radio usage is slightly higher with the diary. The paper suggests that the quality of execution was probably a more important factor in the survey results obtained than the survey method selected.
The large-scale evaluation of the portable people meter (PPM), consisting of a panel of 1,500 consumers age 6+ equipped with portable meters in Philadelphia, has passed the one-year mark. It is now clear that media outlets will encode their signals to enable the PPM to automatically detect audience exposure, and that the encoding/decoding technology works as planned. Currently, nearly 90 media outlets are encoding their signals for the Philadelphia market trial. The panelist compliance results also show that consumers will continue to wear the PPM over time, without evidence of fatigue. The attention of media researchers is now turning to the more practical questions of 'Do the ratings make sense?' and 'How will they help my business?' This paper compares and contrasts the PPM ratings data to the results from the existing radio diary and television meter-diary methodologies in Philadelphia. The findings appear logical and highlight the specific advantages the PPM system offers for better understanding actual audience behaviors.
Arbitron's Portable People Meters (PPM) capture considerably more granularity of consumer listening behavior than the diary method, according to recent PPM results from Philadelphia. Though both methods yield similar overall quarter-hours, PPM picks up twice the station mentions and three times the discrete episodes of listening as the diary. The bottom line result for stations is a new PPM balance among station mentions, discrete listening episodes, and per-station time-spent-listening. This investigation demonstrates PPM's contributions to understanding the fragmented behavior of 21st century listeners as well as added insights to help 'value' station audience for sellers and buyers.