So I was just looking at ratings released this week and I haven't checked for a few months.... I notice that the name of the format formerly known as "Triple A" or "Adult Alternative" is no longer used. Those stations around the country that still have this format are listed as "Alternative". So in essence the formats of KYSR, KROQ and 88.5 FM (KCSN/KSBR) are considered to be "Alternative" in Nielsen's eyes. Sure they share many titles but the percentage of KROQ's playlist or KYSR's of what is not played on 88.5 FM (my guess is around 25%) is somewhat lower compared to the percentage of what 88.5 FM plays that "Alternative" KROQ and KYSR do not play is probably around 60% IMO. Anyone know why the change?
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"Alternative" as now 'defined' by Nielsen
- Thread starter SuperRadioFan
- Start date
It's possible the format was added by the publication, not Nielsen.
Where did you see these ratings?
Looks like Radio-Online.com is tweaking its format labels. Plenty of talk about this on other boards by concerned ratings geeks, including Philadelphia and Boston.
From what I have been told in the past, Nielsen does not provide the format descriptors registered in each stations SIP; they just give call letters and the raw 12+ data. Websites add in the name or the format and, sometimes, the name of the group owner.
Nielsen does not provide websites that list ratings 12+ data with format data for each station. That's done by each place that lists ratings results.
Nielsen does collect format names, but the names have to fit a strict and limited list; the purpose of collecting data is principally used in the diary, where ascription may make use of the general kind of format. It also appears in the software that agencies use, which is a help when an agency in Atlanta is, for example, buying Fargo, Billings and Boise. The data is also available in the subscribers-only "PPM Analysis Tool" from Nielsen.
But what we see online is determined by the web publishers.
In Boston, which has two sports stations with identical program offerings -- sports talk and play-by-play -- one is listed as "Sports," the other as "All sports." This sort of slipshoddery is highly unlikely to be Nielsen's doing, much more likely to be that of someone working for a website, where speed is of the essence and accuracy and consistency are afterthoughts.
Thanks David (and Big A) I posted it in the LA forum because I knew I'd get a definitive answer. Makes sense, so it's the publisher. However, an advertiser might get an audience that's different from what they are expecting if they go by the format title
Advertisers don't use the 6+ public ratings.
Hey SuperRadioFan!!!
John, 88.5 is simply in a class all to itself. Ya can't label that. Nuff Said! Joe
As TheBigA stated, advertisers don't go by the 6+ or 12+ numbers published in online radio sites.
Agencies and large clients buy, at a very nominal cost, electronically delivered data for the markets they buy in. The software allows for queries of all kinds, so an agency making a buy against 25-44 Hispanic women can get a ranker just on that subset.
The Nielsen software includes the same format name that the station selected in its Station Information Packet submitted to Nielsen.
The data can also be processed in vertical market software in use at an agency.
It's very frequent and essentially the norm at agencies to look at multi-book averages.
And agencies buy based on rating, not share. The public numbers show only shares.
Nielsen has a list of acceptable format names. Stations have to pick one, and they can't make up something unique. Nielsen does considerable study before it allows any new format name to be used, as the principal users of that data (which is not given in the public data releases) is to allow agencies doing analysis to identify formats that; that might determine anything from the version of the spot to be run to avoiding overlap in Reach & Frequency calculations.
David, how much money does radio lose by not being able to supply a decent sample of the subset demographic that an advertiser wants to reach? I mean with ppm, the participants are already super low, to reduce it to say Spanish dominant females 25-44, you are talking a very small amount of people that are said to represent what would be in LA a very large amount of people.
The PPM panel, in theory, fits the classic research definition of a panel: a fully proportional reflection of the universe.
Nielsen tries to achieve proportionality on cells based on age, gender, ethnicity, geography, income, education, language preference (Hispanics only) and such. In each one, the proportionality of the sample should match the composition of the market.
However, there are two issues that can "break" proportionality every book: compliance and attrition. Each month, about 8% of the panel drops out or reaches the end of the 24 month maximum. And participant households much achieve compliance (carrying the meter) or, if they can't stay compliant, the whole household is removed.
If the panel is very closed to representative, then there are sufficient panelists to create data that is adequate for media buying decisions. That is particularly the case since most agencies look at trends and multi-book averages, not just the last month.
And remember that it was the agencies that force PPM on radio, not the other way around. They like the system, and if they are buying radio at all, they use it and find it adequate.
I don't think "alternative" should be used by Triple-A stations and stations that lean toward an active rock sound. WEND Charlotte NC has always been modern rock rather than active but it sure leans toward the harder stuff, or used to. WKZQ Myrtle Beach SC used to be active and still has the occasional grunge tune, but it sounds more like a CHR station that leans rock than anything else.
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