Nielsen: Moderate Listeners More Influential Than P1s

Which group of radio listeners is most influential when it comes to radio ratings?

For radio programmers, the questions don’t get much bigger. Intuitively, it would seem like the power listeners would fit the bill, given their extensive exposure during a typical week. Surprisingly, however, Nielsen research shows that there’s more influence in the middle of the road than at the extremes, and those findings hold true across portable people meter (PPM) and diary listeners.

To arrive at these findings for PPM listeners, Nielsen broke down some behind-the-scenes data and examined raw listening numbers for the broad spectrum of listener types aged 25 to 54. When they plotted the findings across a traditional two-axis graph, Nielsen found that the ratings impact was far greater among the group of listeners who are using the station in moderate levels each week, but aren’t necessarily super-users.

To illustrate, the chart below includes plotted raw listening data over a three-month period from a major classic hits station in a major market from several years ago. The vertical axis is for the raw quarter-hours of listening time, while the horizontal axis plots the total number of panelists exposed to the station.

 When Nielsen looked at the data, the resulting trends show how significant the middle of the pack listener is to the ratings. The station’s best ratings month was not the one (December) in which it had the most amount of power users, but rather the month (October) where it had the most listeners tuning in between 25 and 75 hours. It goes without saying that stations always want as many heavy listeners as possible, but cultivating that level of devotion from a listener takes time and nurturing, and they don’t necessarily just grow on trees.

So while it’s important to maintain the loyalty of the super-listener, it’s worth paying more attention to the listeners who have the potential to be true ratings makers—the ones you can cultivate into heavier users.

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