Arbitron Radio Ratings: Are You Listening?
by Steve Bussey
GeoSynchronous Records
Commercial radio stations are in business to sell advertising, and the rates they can charge are dependent on how many listeners tune in their station. More people listening means more people to hear an advertisement, and higher rates and more money for each commercial. Since it is impossible to actually count the numbers of listeners at any time to any particular station, radio programmers rely on ratings companies that survey listeners and use statistical analysis methods to scientifically estimate the number of listeners. The stations then use this data to adjust the charges for their ads, and to adjust their programming to attempt to get higher ratings.
I recently had the opportunity to participate in a radio rating survey. It started with a phone call from Arbitron Ratings, the largest ratings company in the United States. Arbitron has measured audiences for 48 years for more than 3,000 radio and television stations in hundreds of cities nationwide. The gentleman on the phone asked if I would care to keep a radio diary for a week, and I agreed. He explained that my phone number was randomly selected by their computer, and that radio station employees are ineligible.
A few days later the diary arrived. The diary instructed me to write down all radio stations or programs I listened to during the specified week, Thursday thru Wednesday. Listening means any time you hear a radio, whether you choose the station or not. The ratings diary contained sheets for each day, start time, stop time, station (call letters , station name, or dial setting), place (at home, in a car, at work, other place), and a box to check if you didn't hear a radio that day. Also enclosed was "a token of our appreciation", a crisp one dollar bill.
I must confess that the temptation to "pad" the diary was there, what with having to constantly fight to get airplay for GeoSynchronous artists Les Dudek, Mike Pachelli, Bong Water Taffy and Big Red & The Bus. Why not reward the ones that support us, and ignore those that do not? But no, that would be wrong, so I kept it honest and recorded my diary according to my usual radio listening habits. This involves a lot a station changing in the car, and not much home listening. At the end of the rating week, the diary was mailed to Arbitron's headquarters in Maryland. There the data will be fed into a computer and analyzed with all the other diaries. Ratings reports will be released, and radio stations will agonize or take delight in the numbers game. High rating stations will charge more for advertising, and the low ratings stations will fire someone and hire someone new. And the process will then be repeated again and again.
About the author: Steve Bussey is a singer/songwriter/guitarist and is currently the owner and general manager of GeoSynchronous Records (http://www.pan.com/geosync, Listening Line 800 235 9193, ask for a free catalog), an indie label handling artists such as Les Dudek, Mike Pachelli, Bong Water Taffy, and Big Red & The Bus. Prior to this, Steve earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Acoustics from Georgia Tech, designed sound equipment and guitar amps for Fender, and supervised design of communication systems for the Space Shuttle at Kennedy Space Center.
