It was one of radio’s most anticipated changes of 2025; so what did Nielsen’s 3-minute qualifier, or 3MQ, really do for measurement? Reveal larger audiences, revive a daypart, and deliver gains that recast inventory value for sellers and advertisers across PPM, per new data.
Nielsen Senior Director of Audience and Consumer Insights Jon Miller presented a full-year analysis following the company’s reduction of the quarter-hour listening requirement to three minutes during a RAB webinar with Mike Hulvey on Wednesday, revealing consistent increases in average quarter-hour audience, daily cume, and time spent listening across PPM markets.
Average audience grew 14 percent when comparing January through December 2025 against the same period in 2024, affecting all demographic groups with variations ranging from 13 to 15 percent depending on age and ethnicity breakouts. “Remember three minutes of credit more aligns with how people use radio, how young people use radio and audio,” Miller said. “It captures those short-duration events that some of our competitors were already getting credit for. So it modernized the way we credit radio listening and PPM.”
Miller checked off the anticipated benefits: “More ad impressions, higher average audience, more daily cume at a station level, which helps improve stability, expanded advertiser choice because we see different day parts and formats having higher audiences than maybe we traditionally captured.”
Afternoon drive emerged as the highest-gaining daypart with a 15% increase in the 25-54 demographic. Yet Miller called attention to another daypart. “Don’t sleep on the weekends; a daypart that has been maybe traditionally undervalued, maybe sold differently. We’re seeing significant audience coming in on the weekends because we know that radio is the away-from-home platform.”
At the station level, daily cume rose approximately 7%.
The methodology change also reduced zero quarter hours. “When you change your credit rule, when you start capturing and crediting more short-duration events, you’re finding more audience out there. You’re finding more occasions of it. And so you have less instances of no listeners, and you have more instances of radio use than we had before. That’s a net positive for everybody.”
Format analysis revealed distinct patterns. Adult contemporary, Hot AC, CHR, and Classic Hits generated the largest daily audiences and reach. Spanish-language formats, including Mexican Regional and Spanish Contemporary, along with Sports and News formats, demonstrated the highest daily time spent listening despite a smaller overall reach.
The holiday book covering the year-end period was especially successful, showing 14% growth compared to the prior year, with one format in particular sticking out: “Contemporary Christian. It’s the fastest-growing format, 25-54 in PPM markets. Shares have gone up by over 30% in the last three years,” Miller said. “Alternative is also on a great streak after several years of decline. It’s showing signs of a resurgence of double-digit points in 25-54.”
Given this jump, will ratings be bigger in 2026? “Possibly, right? We know that things happen. News, sports, music, weather, all that stuff works together to impact people’s radio listening, but we are not likely to see double-digit growth numbers when we get the January 26 book and compare it back to January 25. It’ll go back to the more normal historical comparisons of year-to-year changes,” answered Miller.
In the latter half of the webinar, Nielsen also gave an update on its long-awaited mSurvey project, which aims to make survey technology available as an app in diary markets during 2026.
As previously revealed, the mobile platform will allow respondents to enter listening occasions, select digital incentives, and receive rewards in real time rather than waiting for mailed payments. “We are going to be starting this year with a younger household group…this is targeted deliberately to increase younger participation in the survey,” Miller said.
“We are right now finishing up the final analysis; what we call production readiness. And we’ll be having some announcements coming soon on the details.”
