6-22-2014
By Dave Hill
Now that we publicly called out Nielsen about the L.A. ratings debacle -- where two households needed to be extracted from the sample with data that had already been released -- what?s next? The point has been made that ratings can be swayed by a couple of heavy-use households. What about the public opinion that Pandora is going to take over the world? Two different things I know... but stay with me.
After my initial jumping around and pointing to the differential in the re-released L.A. Nielsen data, I started to think of what the aftermath might be. Then I thought maybe we are going about this the wrong way. When you speak to most station GMs, they will tell you ?we sell more than the ratings.? That may be true in some instances but if that was really the case you would not see people freaking out because the PPM data slides down in double-digits over a couple of months. Have no doubt about this: What we are doing is selling ratings. What we should be doing is selling the influence we have over our fans. The problem is the looming fact that we have failed in adequately measuring the influence factor we have over people.
Over the past couple of decades, the ability for an advertiser to reach a larger audience has become much easier. Of that increased audience, some of them want to be sold, some don?t. I would imagine if you ask the audience, most of them would tell you they have limited or no loyalty to much of the advertising that is out there.
This seems like a good place and time to introduce the influence factor. You will have to dig deep into the new-media landscape to find the brand loyalty that radio gets. Radio is overlooked every day in the mad dash to reach more people.
That loyalty is the overlooked key for advertisers. You think we are in trouble? Consider the fact that, if you are Pandora, you are completely devoid of personality. You certainly don?t see people going to buy a car because the Led Zeppelin station algorithm told them what a great car it is. It?s the dirty secret that people get bored with Pandora and is a good example of pedestrian advertising. What Pandora wants is brand but they don?t have the personality to do it. As soon as the marketing directors figure out there is no loyalty or influence involved in Pandora, watch them put down the shiny new toy and start to seek out true influences. That is our opportunity, and we had better be ready to prove ourselves when that happens.
But how do you gauge influence? And what are we doing as an industry to find the answer to this riddle? We need to go beyond reach and frequency and figure out how we can assess the influence of our brand loyalty.
Nielson may be making an attempt with the introduction of buying patterns linked to station exposure, but that is not enough. We need to figure out the metric issue of passion and influence, and then we win. I?m just pointing out the problem. It?s up to us as an industry to figure out how to fix it.
Dave Hill is the Program Director for WBAL-AM & WIYY-FM (98Rock), Baltimore.
He can be reached at Dshill@hearst.com and on Twitter @Radiodave98
(6/24/2014 10:32:29 AM)
It's not that your points were not clear, Dave. It's that nobody who is a G.I.C. (guy in charge) is willing to come out of their holes and get it on.
I kinda appreciate that as very few are willing to get into a tussel armed only with a limp spaghetti noodle and a damp sponge. When it comes to defending whatever ridiculous positions they might be sporting - that's all they have.
I don’t think I was clear on the point I was trying to make. The challenge is not on Pandora or its listener base. It’s on AM/FM radio and the fact that 15, 30, and 60 second spots are not the only effective tools. AM/FM Radio relies on a rating system that doesn’t measure passion or influence and similarly Pandora uses big data to represent audience. Radio has all of these tools to influence people outside of forced spots and we have done a poor job demonstrating that to our advertisers.
(6/24/2014 7:21:43 AM)
Howard Stern still broadcasts a radio show?
(6/23/2014 7:24:25 PM)
Save the self abuse for a more pleasurable activity, David. Still, you ain't wrong.
Our leadership, meanwhile, absolutely refuses to admit to how so very poor, shoddy, incompetent and sleazy we are at what we do - and, in some cases, get away with charging money to do it.
Meanwhile, might as well continue to enjoy your alternative sources. Someone will get a hold of you when we figure this thing out.
Unlike Nielsen, Pandora's audience #s are not estimates, they are the actual number of people listening. Compare 2013 http://goo.gl/dhwMya to 2014 http://goo.gl/pRKRSj and you'll see Pandora is growing. Growth doesn't = "boredom".
With online radio soaring (160m this year, mostly not to FM/AM), broadcasters are investing little in the space while the AQH of PUR has collapsed. http://goo.gl/wjc4D5 Denial of radio's crisis is a huge opportunity for its competitors.
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