How Air Talent Affects Ratings ...

The only control an air personality has over ratings is how they do their job. The ratings for your show can go up or down and depends on several factors; you never have direct control. However, you can set the tone, it's your performance that counts regardless of the ratings. The key is to put yourself in a position to sound like your show is a winner.

Accessorize Concisely ...

It is learning how to smile through the mic and get your point across in the fewest number of words possible. Get together with your PD and find out what limits you can push. Unless directed otherwise by your boss, center your music knowledge either on what you are about to play or just played. Listeners tune in to hear the music and learn a little something about the artist. For example, the group you just played might have recently been nominated for an award or is coming to town to perform in concert. Playing a song and then giving info unrelated to what just played defeats the purpose of being special to the audience. The job of an on-air personality is to be an accessory to musical moments. Your mission is to be personable, amusing, informative, and make it sound like you're having a great day.

What Determines Ratings ...

Once you have executed your on-air skills to the best of your ability, it's in the hands of the ratings Gods and methodology. In 2018, the recognized rating authority for traditional radio is Nielsen Audio.

How Nielsen Does It ...

The company determines ratings measurement through the methodology of PPM (Portable People Meter) and Diary. PPM is being used in 48 markets and the rest are measured by Diary. With PPM, it's about listeners exposed to individual encoded radio signals; they carry or wear a small meter device and it collects data for measurement. In the PPM world, panelists selected to participate can serve for up to two years. Results are released weekly and monthly.

In Diary markets, survey participants write down their daily 7-day a week exposure/listening habits on a form provided by Nielsen. There is a fresh crop of participants each week to replace the previous. Results are provided through monthly trends that are compiled to provide a rating period for a quarter; the number of ratings Books for a year vary from two times a year to four a quarter, it depends on the size of the market.

Pluses and Minuses ...

Ironically the largest complaint for each ratings methodology is sample size. Whereas with Diaries, a station can have a bad book and recover within a month or two. Theoretically if a PPM panel has participants who don't like your station, it could be months before things start to look up again. The best thing about PPM is the weekly and monthly reports; they can be used as an excellent research tool for programmers to make timely programming adjustments.

For Listeners Air Personalities Are The Station ...

There are a lot of people in various departments who contribute heavily to the success of a broadcast facility, but at the end of the day the audience only hears and sees the air personality as the station. Think about that and remember you were once one of them, a listener. You increase the possibilities for good ratings by executing your craft to the fullest.