Research: Shout-Outs Are Good For Radio Ratings

NuVoodoo Media Services announces that the latest NuVoodoo Ratings Prospects Study of 3,041 respondents, ages 14-54, across all PPM markets reveals that more than half of likely ratings participants listen to the radio more if they think they may hear their name or the name of someone they know on-air.

The finding is one of 15 new insights from the 11th NuVoodoo Ratings Prospects Study, fielded in late January 2018. The findings will presented tomorrow by Carolyn Gilbert, President and Chief Executive Officer, NuVoodoo Media Services, and NuVoodoo’s Executive Vice President, Research Analysis, Leigh Jacobs, at the Worldwide Radio Summit in Los Angeles, CA. The session, entitled “Fifteen Things (In 15 Minutes) That You Can Do to Boost Ratings” will take place tomorrow at 4:15pm Pacific at the W Hollywood Hotel.

The NuVoodoo Ratings Prospects Study is conducted twice a year to learn more about those who are most likely to say “yes” to the opportunity to wear a meter in order to provide NuVoodoo clients with competitive insights and advantages that they can exploit to capture higher ratings. This is the 11th Ratings Prospects Study that NuVoodoo has completed since 2011. The company shares the top-level findings of its studies with its radio broadcasting clients to develop winning next-generation marketing and programming strategies for stations of all formats in PPM markets.

Carolyn Gilbert, President and Chief Executive Officer, NuVoodoo Media Services, said: “These new findings reveal that it’s time for Radio to bring back shout-outs for the 21st Century. Dale Carnegie once said, “A person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” If you believe Carnegie, then you’re already sold on the power of getting listener names on the air, and our research indicates that shout-outs are an even bigger driver of TSL for likely ratings respondents

Leigh Jacobs, Executive Vice President, Research Analysis, NuVoodoo Media Services, said: “While a few respondents say they’ve listened less because they think a station might say their name, better than half of all the meter-friendly respondents here say they’ve listened more. The trouble with putting listener names on the air has long been the simple fact that the honoree may miss the shout-out. In 2018, however, it’s easy to record the bit and send it to the honored listener. A short, but well-shot piece of video with the DJ doing the break is likely to get shared by the listener on Social Media. If you can put a little creativity into the process to make it more memorable, it may even get re-shared by the listener’s friends.”