Four things that can affect your station’s ratings:
Something you’ve done: put on a new morning show, changed the music, ran the best contest in the history of contests, and (don’t laugh) marketed your product.
Something another station has done: Everything above… just not you.
Something big that happened in your market: Christmas music, severe weather, a major sports victory.
Something Nielsen has done: This usually refers to sampling and indexing. Remember you pay Nielsen for sample, not ratings. Make sure you get what you pay for.
(Note: this only applies to the radio ratings ecosystem and not the larger audio landscape.)
The only way we know if these decisions have worked is when the book comes out.
Unfortunately, the results can take a long time to be revealed. If you’re in a diary market, you’ll likely have to wait months to see if what you did worked. In a PPM market, you could see some movement by the next month. Maybe.
Now, with DTS Auto Stage, you can see it almost immediately.
We know of a station that recently saw their #1 competitor move out of their format. Within days of that change, DTS showed a measurable audience movement in both share and TSL. While this situation is still in its early stages, this near-immediate feedback proved to be valuable. One can assume that Nielsen will also record the changes, but that will take time.
I’ve written about DTS Auto Stage before. It has its warts and is NOT a replacement for Nielsen. However, it does boast an enormous and consistent sample.
Is it perfect? No. Does it tell you how many people are listening? No. Does it tell you how many humans are tuned in? No.
However, it does give you an almost instant read on what is happening in your market.
This example is about the disappearance of a format battle. Listeners will notice a change of that magnitude. (Fun tip: If you have access to DTS, check out what happened last December).
Many of the moves radio makes are much more subtle. Implementing that new music test will sound amazing to your ears. It’ll take a while for your audience to notice. Same with clock changes, new imaging, and new talent. These often can show up in Nielsen as time goes by.
We live in a data-driven world. While Nielsen remains our currency, it is not your only indicator. Streaming stats and DTS data can give you a more three-dimensional view of how you are performing.
Are you incorporating all of those assets into your planning? I’m curious: [email protected].
