Gary Marince
by Gary Marince
There’s an old comedic routine where one man swings his arm back and forth and says to his doctor; “Doc, it hurts when I do this.” And the doctor quickly quips “then don’t.” I’m using this example to segue into this month’s, and the final for 2008, FMQB Programming to Win column. As we round out a year of PPM, some of the industry’s smartest PPM analysts and users are commenting on what they’re learning from PPM and what very strong messages are jumping out.
For starters, “do not abandon your perceptive research and implementation” – it “hurts” when you do that – so don’t. Here’s a little better explanation. A couple of times a year Arbitron hosts Consultant Fly-Ins in Columbia at Arbitron’s mothership, aka the headquarters. Some of broadcasting’s most brilliant programming minds converge in what many describe as the industry’s best networking opportunity for programmers and it’s the business’s best clearinghouse for great programming tips. This past August, Arbitron’s Senior VP of Marketing, Bill Rose, gave an updated “What Cuts Through in Arbitron” presentation. During the presentation, Bill talks about how hard a PDs job really is creating a brand which has to cut through perceptually and have that translate into ratings. And while we can reduce that task to a single-simple sentence, it’s actually tough in practice because a lot gets lost in translation.
What the station does and how it is perceived by listeners is going to play a huge role in a station’s success. And if you have no research or no access to information, you simple won’t know how people perceive you. So, I guess the phrase could be “Doctor, it hurts my ratings when I abandon all my research to understand how people perceive me” and the good doctor will say “then don’t do that, don’t abandon it!”
Another “much discussed question,” as we’ve mentioned before in this column, is “when markets convert to PPM, do stations still need to say the call letters?” according, again to Bill, technically the answer is no because PPM doesn’t require people to remember to write down their listening. BUT if you think about the bigger picture, your listener’s perception of your station is largely what motivates them to tune in to begin with. This is true with the Diary service as well as in PPM. Yes, stations relied on “saying the call letters” to be remembered in the diary. While it might not be for the same reason, stations might want to be “saying the call letters” now for a different reason as a part of their marketing. It helps create “trial.” If people are listening to your station, there’s a strong possibility they are enjoying what they’re hearing. By giving the calls, you create a branding opportunity by associating what people like, your station, with where they can get it the next time they want it.
As a bit of a sidebar, here’s a scary “call letters” note from this past Consultant Fly-In. Coleman’s Warren Kurztman shared the “Real Panelists Tell All” videos with the group. In this session, Warren played video of PPM panelists who had “cycled out” and as ex-panelists were available for exit interviews. These one on one interviews were very enlightening and a little humbling. In a couple of cases, a number of heavy radio users, couldn’t figure out the call letters to their P1 or favorite stations. Too many times we heard from a gentleman who just loved WNBC (AM) in New York. And the last time it was 660 was when?
Smart broadcasters seem to understand this next point intuitively, what is important in the Diary service remains important in PPM. To that end, at the Fly-In, All News KYW’s uber-programmer Steve Butler made the statement “in Diary my job was to make KYW useful to the Delaware Valley. In PPM, I have the same responsibility.” Steve was featured in a videotaped presentation where another smart programmer, Bob McKay was spreading the word about people tuning-in and tuning-out. He said “PDs need to understand, people are coming to and leaving the station every minute. The big top of the hour benchmark might really mean very little. People are coming to the station all the time.” This is important to keep in mind since PDs are now talking about revised spin counts in PPM. Also in the same Fly-In session, PD Bill Weston, another sharp programmer, was dispensing wisdom about the importance of keeping a record of what is going on in the market. As Bill pointed out, it’s pretty easy to confuse “when that morning show was on vacation” weeks after it actually happened.
So, what’s the buzz on “heavy listeners?” Does radio really have any or is PPM showing us otherwise? Yes, radio has heavy listeners – those listening for over 400 Quarter Hours a week. In the four markets analyzed – Philadelphia, Dallas, New York and Los Angeles, these listeners account for about 8% of the total panel and about 30% of each market’s Quarter Hours. This information was part of a highly attended John Snyder Fly-In session where he went on to say the characteristics of the heavy listening panelist tend to match the market for the most part but do skew older. It looks like most stations benefit from heavy listeners and heavy listeners tend to show less turnover than the full panel. Roughly 70% of a panel’s heavy listeners remain each month. It looks like these findings hold true across markets.
So, to wrap this month and this year’s article, here are a couple of points to take away; Ya ought to be thinking about saying your call letters; you’ve got to understand how people perceive your station; listeners are always coming to your station – have your best foot forward; you, most likely, have heavy listeners; they’re probably your P1s; they account for a big chunk of your quarter hours and you need to understand what they want and expect from your station and how you can deliver. Remember, focus on the P1s, this way you won’t be among those who say “Doctor – my ratings suffer when I focus on something other than my P1s.” And the good doctor won’t have to say “then don’t focus on something other than P1s.”
Happy holidays and here’s to a great 2009!
Gary Marince is Vice President of Programming Services and Development for Arbitron, Inc.. He is available to answer your inquiries regarding the Arbitron PPM or Diary services. You can reach him at gary.marince@arbitron.com.
