Reach and Frequency Models have been actively utilized in the United States for the planning and buying of radio announcements since the 1968 introduction of "Radioâs New Math." Curves built in the late 60's allow users of the medium to predict the estimated reach of a specific schedule as well as the scheduleâs average frequency. Radio, as a medium, has undergone significant changes since the introduction of Radioâs New Math. Curves which drive the models of radio reach were generated from a mid-60âs Politz study of New York radio listening. At the time of the original study, AM radio dominated listenership with over 90% of the total radio listening. Today, FM radio listening achieves almost 70% of the total listening, with AM serving primarily an informational role. Fragmentation of the radio audience has occurred with the average market in the United States supporting about twice the number of radio stations as were in existence at the time of the Politz study. That fragmentation has brought micro-market segmentation with many stations serving very narrow niches. Has the way people listen to radio in the United States changed since the days of the Politz study, or are they using the medium in the same way, just focusing their choice on a more narrow selection of stations? Changes in the way people use radio could have an effect on the drivers which allow accurate estimates of schedule reach. This paper revisits the work originally done by Group W and suggests minor modifications to the two algorithms which predict schedule reach. Data from a comprehensive Birch Research study of seven day listening has been reviewed along with an Arbitron analysis of listening in 10 Arbitron markets. This review suggests that the most widely used of the two models, the daypart combination model, changes little when compared to the original work. The individual daypart model changes significantly in only one of four dayparts. It is recommended that individuals utilizing reach models for radio modify their algorithms to reflect the updates presented in this paper.
This paper presents a comparison of the radio landscape and radio advertising in European countries. The commercial radio landscape in Europe varies considerably from country to country, ranging from Sweden where there is no commercial radio to Italy where there are around 2,5 commercial stations. In many countries, broadcasting is dominated by the state-run national networks and stations (eg. Austria, Switzerland, UK), others have a highly de-regulated set-up without the co-ordination of networks (eg. Italy, Finland). Radio advertising expenditure depends on many factors, most obviously the reach and audience size of commercial radio. Regulations play a large part in many countries and can make the medium inflexible. In some countries governments have ruled against the formation of networks by local stations, thereby making it difficult to provide the mass market penetration which is attractive to large advertisers. The paper looks at these and other factors, covering types and numbers of stations, audience reach, commercial stations' share of radio audience, average time of listening, the distribution of total advertising expenditure on national and local advertising, and media cost level for commercial time. A systematic comparison of these factors between countries is presented. Based on this, radio advertising expenditure in Denmark is forecasted, and its relationship to coverage demonstrated. Conclusions are presented on how these factors determine the radio advertising potential and radio share of total adspend.
The paper is divided into two parts. First, recent changes with regard to the Spanish TV offer are briefly discussed, outlining the evolution from a public monopoly with only two channels of national coverage to the current situation, in which the two public TV channels have to contend with three private nationwide channels and eight regional ones. This state of affairs required a previously non-existent marketing-orientated TV management, and led to the development of different strategies, considerable changes in TV ad investment, the appearance of new forms of commercial promotion (e.g.,through TV contests), and in channel shares. It also implied the growing importance of audience measurement and declared media planning to be the crucial factor of ad efficiency. The second part of the paper is devoted to a description of a pilot research experiment in coincidental TV audience measuring, using CAH interviews. It particularly focusses on the assessment of actual brand recall relating to respondents activities (attention paid) during the commercial breaks. The interviewing procedure included questions about TV and channel switched on, recall of brands advertised in the last break of commercials and activities performed during the commercials being advertised.
Since 1963 the U.S. Committee on Nationwide Television Audience Measurement (CONTAM) has engaged in methodological research. The purpose has been to understand and improve television audience measurement in order to increase the accuracy and reliability of ratings research. Specific projects have included benchmark studies of various types, monitoring of procedures, and analyses of audience data. Recently, in 1988 and 1989 CONTAM commissioned and completed an extensive and unparalleled review of people-meter operations. Beginning in 1991 CONTAM extended its commitment to research quality by initiating an elaborate three-year program of methodological research and development. This paper will include a status report on key components of this new project. The significance of the work and the findings will be discussed. In particular, the paper will focus on the requirements for new thinking and new approaches in - metering operations, - the determination of programs tuned and - persons measurement. CONTAM is composed of research professionals from ABC, CBS and NBC television networks and from the National Broadcasting Association of Broadcasters.
The objective of this research project is to help define, by means of qualitative research methods, the role of public broadcasting in Flanders. This presentation focuses on TV2, a channel geared towards more defined, segmented audiences. The project consists of two parts. Its point of departure was a questionnaire "TV2 and the viewer" whose objective was to critically assess TV2's current and future programme supply, in order to provide the channel with the data it needs to make informed decisions on the development and scheduling of programmes for a motivated target audience. Through 52 questions, we attempted to establish a viewer profile (as sports, music and/or art lover). Those three categories of interest were presented as the main pillars of TV2's new programme supply. The second part was a series of telephone interviews carried out while TV2's introductory programme (called "D-DAY") was being broadcast. Target audience: those Flemish viewers who had sent back the preliminary questionnaire and who clearly fitted the criteria of at least one viewer profile. The central question was the following: to what extent did the different parts of the programme "D-DAY" appeal to the respective segments of the target audience they were meant for?
The quality of any audience measurement system is dependent on the quality of the sample upon which its data are based. This paper presents the results of two pieces of research that examine different aspects of A.C. Nielsen's network people meter sample in Canada. The first piece of research looked at the extent to which people who say they would agree to have a people meter installed in their homes differ from those who do not. Thus, it addresses the representativeness of the households initially agreeing to participate in a people meter panel. The second looks at the effects of ongoing participation in the panel on sample respondents. It considers whether ongoing participation may lead to fatigue effects in recording viewing and whether this is more pronounced among some types of respondents than others.
With active meter panels such as Arbitronâs ScanAmerica® service, what contact with panelists is appropriate? Phenomenological psychology, which emphasizes understanding experience as well as behavior, suggests principles of panelist contact. Several Arbitron studies demonstrated the benefits of ongoing, personalized contact and helped elaborate a program of panel relations. A 1984 pilot study showed that contact with a panel relations representative helped the panelists remain motivated, even when there were problems with the early prototype equipment. These results were confirmed by a larger study, a full-panel debriefing of Denver panelists in 1986. In-home debriefing interviews confirmed that panelists experienced the panel relations contact as an important benefit. These contacts received the highest altitudinal ratings of any dimension of panel experience. In 1988 an analysis of panelist-initiated backouts showed that performance-feedback contacts were associated with significantly increased panel tenure. This panel-treatment variable explained more tenure variation than household demographics among the selected group of backouts. These results, along with the phenomenological framework, contribute to current ScanAmerica contact procedures. Examples of these include a toll-free, 24-hour panelist hotline, regular performance feedback (both positive and negative), panelist suggestion programs, and panel newsletters which include an activity-oriented children's comer. This paper also reviews procedures that help minimize bias in panel relations contacts (scripting telephone contacts, data and field audits, and organizational checks and balances). We conclude by mentioning remaining methodological issues such as the need to determine optimal contact schedules, and to assess the impact of contact by demographic.
American society is engaged in a radical transformation from an era of mass media delivered by air to an era of class media delivered by wire. Mass media are associated with passive audiences, mass production, and mass consumption. Class media are associated with active participants, specialized production and individualized consumption. Mass media are vehicles for exposing advertising. Class media are opportunities for interactive marketing. Mass media consumers are exposed to packaged media information. Class media consumers create personal media experience. Mass marketer'sâ success is due in part to their skilled use of mass media, which, consciously or not, also affects their product development Likewise, class marketers' success will turn on their understanding and exploitation of class media. The evolution of communications media is an interplay of technological, economic, political and social forces. This interplay is part of the context in which consumer products are conceived, produced and marketed. With the exemption of media politics, whose effects are larger and more evident domestically than internationally, this document considers these forces in turn. Finally, it discusses the collective influence on the marketing of these forces.
The paper reviews the state of audience measures of quality in Canada in relation to developments in other countries. The general problems associated with qualitative measures of quality are considered in light of a specific example of family drama programming, "Road to Avonlea", broadcast on the English-language television network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Developments in the area of measures of quality from other countries are briefly examined with special attention to viewer assessments of quality being experimented within the United Kingdom. After tracing some of the historical contexts for the development of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's audience panel and explaining its current function, specific measures of quality undertaken through the audience panel are examined. Tests were conducted to examine the extent to which audiences equate quality with enjoyment. This involved a split sample of the CBC audience panel which tested ratings generated by an "Enjoyment Index" versus a "Qualitative Index", the latter using viewers' definition of quality. Results indicate that although QI's are very similar to EFs there are important differences, especially with regard to news, sports and current affairs programming.
In sampling human populations, the researcher is always faced with the issue of nonresponse, whether through the unwillingness or the inability of the predesignated respondent to supply the required information. The problem is magnified in the case of television audiences measurement where continuous observations on the same respondents are the norm.
Since the introduction of the People Meters in the U.S., attention has been centered on its goodness as an accurate measurement method with particular emphasis on validation studies of audience levels. Relatively little attention has been focused on comparing the statistical reliability of the ScanAmerica® People Meter service with that offered by the traditional methodologies it is replacing. This paper offers such a comparison. It notes that statistical reliability evaluations require more than just simple comparisons of raw in-tab sample sizes. The three audience measurement methods are based upon different sample design features, and these have a substantial impact on statistical reliability. Through the use of statistical replication studies and Arbitron standard error models, the statistical efficiency values associated with each of the three methods are derived and compared. This statistic summarizes in a single quantity the total impact on statistical reliability that results from the various sample design features associated with each methodology. To measure the combined value of both sample size and the statistical efficiency factor, a quantity called Effective Sample Base (ESB) is also calculated. For purposes of this paper, the ESB statistic will serve as the "bottom line," or final arbitrator, for comparing statistical reliability across the three methodologies. The conclusion from these data analyses is that the ScanAmerica® People Meter service offers an improvement in reliability compared to both of the traditional methodologies it is replacing.