6-19-14
Nielsen re-issued the April weekly data for Los Angeles yesterday. And, while a rogue Univision Program Director has been the focus of attention (Univision confessed to the sin and immediately fired the employee), it appears as if the original household that caused the ratings delay was skewing heavy toward KXOS, which is owned by Grupo Radio Centro. Many in the market speculate there is some sort of cheating going on, however nobody has been able to prove that and Nielsen has said the problem household "failed to meet quality compliance standards."
KXOS' "El Mandril" morning show took a major hit in the new Nielsen numbers, thanks to that one early household being pulled from the panel. Can one home have a big impact? It can if it has several meters - although that has not been confirmed by Nielsen. Nielsen does allow homes to have several meters, you might have one home with over five PPM's. In the case of the one L.A. household pulled from the panle #not the Univision employee#, here's what we were shown yesterday. For week one in April, Mandril lost 43% of his audience from the original numbers released. In week two the show was lower by 56%. In week three Mandril was off by 44%. And in week four the drop was 52%.
We reached out to Francisco Aguirre Cranz, Grupo Radio Centro's Board Chairman for comment and we expect to hear more from him today. "As you can imagine we were waiting for a few things to develop before commenting on the situation." We also left a voicemail on the cell phone of Mandril's attorney who did not return the call. The new Nielsen numbers from yesterday dropped Mandril from the 4th ranked morning drive show to number 10 in week one. In week two he goes from being #3 to #14. In week three the show drops from #5 to #15. And in week four he goes from #2 to #10. One would assume that the Univision emplyoyee accused of manipulating a meter was not listening to Mandril so it would appear that the other household in question was a heavy Mandril listener.
At the least this has been bad for the Hispanic-radio community, especially in Los Angeles. Overall it's bad for radio when one household, whether someone is cheating or not, can have such a dramatic impact on ratings, especially in the number two market in America, especially when so much money rides on tiny movements in the numbers. There are just about 2,800 PPM's in the City of Los Angeles, a city of over 12 million people. It also highlights how difficult a job Nielsen has, after all, the company does have to make sure over 2,800 people are being 100% honest. And that's just one market.
(6/20/2014 3:20:34 PM)
Fernando. if Mandril bring 5,000 people and UNV 101.9 only 200 in the same time with equal opportunity. and you have video to prove it. This is a huge Law suit case against Ratings system. because the Mundial of futbol show every 4 years what Radio have the real mexican popularity. This thing have RED FLAG with business working with numbers And PPM
(6/20/2014 12:00:32 PM)
What will it take to stop the big lie?
In Texas, there is a consumer law called "The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act". The ratings system is so flawed that it could violate these strong laws. Something must be done to stop the lie. It may require a class action law suit filed by non subscribing stations against ad agencies who use the "numbers" to place their ad budgets with subscribers only. The big lie simply shifts all agency revenue to a chosen few who then fight over the spoils.
(6/20/2014 11:29:44 AM)
Finally!!!!!!! This has been going on forever. At least with Nielson the information have not been buried but brought forward.
Guess what!!!! And all you hear today buy all buyers is...WE GO BUY THE NUMBERS!!!!
LAZY, INDIFFERENCE AND IGNORANT. That is who is really spending clients dollars. (6/20/2014 11:25:16 AM)
Mandril invited his audience to come and watch the Mexico/Brazil soccer game live at Plaza Mexico. Univision-KSCA (from where the executive was fired) did the same at a different location. Mandril got a crowd of 5,000 people. KSCA got 200 people. (We have the video) But according to Nielsen readings, the KSCA morning show beats Mandril and it’s the #1 morning show in L.A. I rest my case.
(6/20/2014 10:29:19 AM)
What it really highlights is what a scam Nielsen/Arbitron perpetuates on the Radio industry and how the move to PPM from Diary only exacerbates the low sample size/flawed methodology they have. Why not go with Eastlan for a third of the cost? If you are going to pay for toilet paper, you might as well buy cheap.
Add a Comment | View All Comments Send This Story To A Friend
