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Expanded Listening Possibilities with New Meters
August 8, 2022
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Nielsen released an update on the rollout of the new PPM Wearables last week. As of the end of last month nearly 20% of the total panel across all markets have the new wearable meters. They remain confident they'll have converted 50-75% of the panel by year's end 2022, with the balance converting in 2023. This suggests lots of meters changing during the upcoming fall ratings.
They advise that "they continue to see longer carry times with the PPM Wearable and higher intab rates." Nielsen does not mention any increase in captured listening because of the longer carry time - which is very disappointing. Despite shorter carry times, the legacy meters have apparently been detecting all the radio listening taking place.
With the advent of longer carry times, presumably earlier in the morning and later into the evening for many, programmers may want to lean more heavily on promotion of usage at those times. As ever, succeeding in this new landscape is about converting casual users to fans.
In NuVoodoo Ratings Prospects Study 20 this June, we found that among weekly AM/FM users nearly 2 in 5 overall and about half those likely to participate in the ratings (labeled "RPS Yes" below) say they have one or more local radio stations they really enjoy and/or rely on (the percentages shown in yellow in the chart below). Not surprisingly, the number climbs to nearly 3 in 5 among those likely to show up in the ratings samples who listen to radio at least an hour a day (labeled "RPS 60" below).
The goal is to give those who say radio is a habit, but there’s nothing special about stations (shown in olive in the chart above) reasons to really enjoy and/or come to rely on your programming. As we’d noted in the webinar series we wrapped up last week, there’s a strong difference between the radio relationships of the Gen Z’s (ages 14-25 in our sample and labeled “RPS Gen Z” in the chart above) who are likely to show up in ratings samples and Gen Z’s overall. You’ll note that over 2 in 5 among the ratings-likely Gen Z’s say they have a relationship with local radio station(s) they enjoy or rely on. That percentage is only a few points lower than the Millennials (ages 26-41) or the Gen Xers (ages 42-54) among the 1,118 ratings likelies in our sample of 5,495.
Yet, when you look at the wider sample – without regard to whether or not they’re likely to show up in a ratings sample – you see a far different picture. Across the wider sample, the percentage of Gen Z’s who have a strong relationship with local radio stations drops roughly in half, from 43% among the ratings-likely group shown in the chart above, to 22% in the full sample shown below.
Sure, the numbers among Millennials and Gen Xers diminish as well, but not nearly by the massive factor seen among Gen Z. If you missed the webinar, you’ll find a recording at nuvoodoo.com/webinars.
As you surely know, there’s a tremendous TSL advantage in having listeners really connecting with your station – enjoying and/or relying on – compared to just listening out of habit. Among the group in our data who say there’s one or more local radio stations their really enjoy and/or rely on (labeled “AM/FM: Really Enjoy” in the chart below), better than 2 in 5 listen to radio at an hour per day. The number listening that much drops to just under a quarter of the group who say they’re habitual listeners to local radio, but there’s nothing special about the stations (labeled “AM/FM: Habit Only” below).
The stakes are higher than ever, but there are new opportunities borne on the new meters coming into the panel. Least objectionable programming won’t win in 2022 and beyond. We need to connect and turn habitual listeners into fans.
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