Arbitron Questions

Cume Calculation

I would like the formula on how to convert the Arbitron numbers to something that represents how many people actually hear a certain show or a station during a specific time. - Anonymous

Anon: Multiply your cume rating times the number of people in the demographic you’re interested in who live in your market.

Demographic Info by Format

Hello Doc:  How can I find demographic information (age and gender) for each radio format? - Anonymous
 

Anon: I think you'll find all the information you need in Arbitron's "American Radio Listening Trends" . . . click here.

Dial Position and Ratings

Doc:  Do you know if there is any relationship between a radio station's dial position and its Arbitron ratings?  As you say, "I gots ta know." - Anonymous

Anon:  You gots ta know, eh?  Well OK then.  Yes, I do know.  I have tested this relationship several times during the past few decades, and the answer is, "No, there is no relationship between dial position and audience ratings."  So, for example, a radio station located at the left side of the dial has just as much chance of being rated #1 as a radio station located at the right side of the dial.

My guess is that this purported relationship started with the early AM radio stations, particularly the clear channel radio stations.  I guess owners/operators thought, since all radios had a knob that had to be turned to tune in a radio station, that listeners would think it was easier to find radio stations at the lower end (left side) of the dial.  I guess radio people thought listeners were too lazy to turn their wrists or something.  Who knows, but it was a dumb idea/myth/theory.

In summary, even before buttons replaced the tuning knob as the primary way to tune in a radio station, and before frequencies were displayed digitally, there was no relationship between dial position and audience listening data.  It's a myth and/or urban legend.

Diary Credit

Hey Doc, I'm a first time PD and need some help understanding how I can maximize our ratings through Arbitron. I believe I have a basic understanding of how it works (people listen, people write down a name, station gets credit for cume, AQH, TSL, etc. depending on how the person listened).

Radio stations are asked to fill out a form for Arbitron with the station's primary 25 character or less positioner.

First question on that (and probably the dumbest):

1.  Does my station get credit if the diary keeper writes down just our call letters or just our frequency and omits our "name" or "positioning statement"?

2.  Let's say my station is called ‘106 Rocks’ and another station comes to town and is called ‘92 Rox.’

a.   If a diary keeper writes down ‘92 Rocks’ or ‘106 Rox’ who gets the credit?

b.   Can I protect myself by putting every variation of ‘Rocks’ that I can think of in the 25-character field? Will I get credit then for "Rocks" AND ‘Rox’ if the listener did not include a frequency or set of call letters in their diary?

c.   Is that ethical? Or is this pretty common?" - Anonymous

Anon: Once again, I relied on the folks at Arbitron to help me. Your question is answered by Claudine Knisley, Manager Diary Analysis and Communications. Her phone number is 410.312.8720. I want to thank Claudine for helping me with these questions.  She said:

Question 1: Call letters and frequency crediting. The station is eligible and receives credit for its call letters in all the counties in which the station reaches. Regarding its exact frequency, the station receives credit for its exact frequency in all its reaching counties when its the only station reaching that county at that frequency. If there is more than one station at that exact frequency reaching the county from which the diary is received, then credit is assigned via the 1% Rule, and ascription if necessary.

Questions 2a & 2b: Diary keeper writes down ‘92 Rocks’ or ‘106 Rox.’ The two stations in question are: Station A is ‘106 Rocks’ and Station B is ‘92 Rox.’ How is credit assigned? ‘Rocks’ and ‘Rox’ are edited interchangeably (same as ‘Kix’ and ‘Kicks’ or ‘Magic’ and ‘Majik’ entries).

If a ‘92 Rocks’ entry is received, credit is assigned to Station B. Similarly, if the diary keeper records ‘106 Rox,’ credit is assigned to Station A. If a lone ‘Rocks’ entry is recorded, the diary processor will first check the rest of the diary to see if there are other ‘Rocks’ entries combined with station descriptors of one of the stations in conflict. If so, then credit will be assigned, via a self-edit procedure, to the station clearly identified.

For example, if the diary keeper records ‘106 Rocks’ on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and then writes only ‘Rocks’ on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, credit for the lone ‘Rocks’ entries is assigned, via a self-edit, to the Rocks 106 station—Station A.

Similarly, if the diary keeper records ‘Rox 106’ throughout the diary and there's one lone entry of ‘Rox,’ the lone ‘Rox’ entry will be credited to the 106 Rocks station, Station A. The self-edit procedure only takes place when one of stations (in conflict) is recorded in the diary.

If the diary contains only ‘Rocks’ or only ‘Rox’ entries, where the self-edit cannot be performed, then credit is assigned via the 1% Rule, and ascription if necessary.

Question 2c: Does this type of conflict typically occur? Occasionally, we see stations reaching into the same market area/counties that use the same or similar station names. We have found that over the years, the 1% Rule and ascription handle the crediting of these entries.

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