Radio Audiences in Europe

PSB AudienceNew Measurement Systems

Alexander Shulzycki European Broadcasting Union

First Cross-Radio Conference, Frascati, Italy, 29 May 2009

PSB National Radio Share and Long Term Change - 2007

Average share in 2007: 38.8

PSB National Radio Share and Long Term Change - 2008

Average share in 2008: 39.1

Share of the new supports in the volume of listening ALL radio

Traditional supports %

Téléphone mobileTéléphone mobile

Baladeur multimediaBaladeur multimediaOrdinateurOrdinateur

Poste TVPoste TV

Total new supports 2.7 %

Aged 13-19

86.2 % Traditional supports

13.8 % new supports

Aged 13-19

86.2 % Traditional supports

13.8 % new supports

Socio-demographic characteristics of the new supports users

L'auditoire sur les nouveaux supports est plutôt masculin, majoritairement âgé de 13 à 19 ans et inactif.

14.1 % des élèves et étudiants ont déjà écouté la radio via un téléphone mobile, un ordinateur, la télévision ou un baladeur multimédia.

Recall – a rotating sample is asked what they were listening to the

day before. (telephone or face-to-face interview)

Diary – usually a seven day form that people fill out themselves

For both systems, The drawbacks are obvious:

- reliance on memory !

- consistency of sample (recall)

- response rates, station identification, etc.

- the typical listening interval is 15 minutes

Current methods for measuring radio audiences

Other traditional research techniques include focus groups, online panels, CATI Surveys, etc.

The Radiometer (GfK/Telecontrol) – a watch-type device is worn

and receives and records audio signals. The recordings are then

matched against a central server to identify the program.

The Portable People Meter (Arbitron PPM) – a pager-type unit is

carried and receives audio. Each broadcaster transmits an

inaudible code which allows the device to identify the station

The Media Monitor (Eurisko NOP World) – Similar to Radiometer

and can collect additional information (location, involuntary

listening)

The new passive systems for measuring radio audiences

The PPM requires all broadcasters to participate, but audio-matching is more complicated.

Station Encoder

PersonalDocking Station

HH Data Collection

(Modem) Unit

Portable Meter

The PPM System Hardware

PPM Market Rollouts in The US

PPM Rollouts Currency Panel SizePhiladelphia March 2007 2040

Houston June 2007 2000

New York December 2007 3720

Los Angeles March 2008 3275

Riverside, CA March 2008 1065

Chicago March 2008 2565

San Francisco June 2008 2245

Dallas/Ft. Worth September 2008 1815

Washington December 2008 1775

Detroit December 2008 1920

More complete data and more granular data

More accurate information – (reduction of false positives

and false negatives)

Better information on out-of-home listening

Identify listening across all platforms

Harmonization across national systems

Application to other media

Advantages of new systems

Broadcasters will be able to track listener behavior more accurately

Higher costs for broadcasters (hardware, software)

More information to process – more staff/cost, analysis SW

Short-term disruption of audience analysis

Long-term winners and losers

Acceptance by listeners not proven

Technology risk

Disadvantages of new systems

Research companies and advertisers are most keen for change while broadcasters have remained reluctant.

Commercial radio broadcasters need better data for their

advertisers and want to identify target groups more

accurately

Public radio needs to understand the usage of their

services and know their reach. (Remit justification)

All radio channels need to measure consumption through

new digital platforms.

All radio channels can potentially benefit from better

information about their listeners.

Broadcaster needs

Although many established broadcasters are not enthusiastic about introducing new measurement systems, there are clear long-term benefits.

Switzerland has fully switched to measuring radio listening with an

electronic device, the Radiocontrol watch, in 2000.

In Belgium, VRT has used the PPM to measure radio and TV

exposure since 2003. Panel size is about 1000 individuals.

Norway launched a PPM system in May 2006. It the official

currency for all national radio channels.

DR introduced PPM in 2008.

UK has delayed an adoption plan.

Developments in Europe

Developments in Europe - CH

Sample of minute-by-minute data from French-speaking Switzerland: Graph demonstrates importance of informational programs to radio audiences (the rises in the curve). Between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. more people listen to the radio than had been previously assumed.

Daily reach of radio increased

The highest increase was registered for 12-19 year olds

key benefits for understanding listeners:

Continuous minute by minute data with daily reports

Distinguish among media platforms: FM, digital, mobile, web

Distinguish between live and time shifted; home vs. outside

Better analysis of individual programs and audience flow between

programs

Developments in Europe - Norway

...

The UK Roadmap:

In late 2004, a plan leading to electronic measurement was

announced by the UK radio industry.

Companies submitted proposals in 2005; extensive national field

tests were conducted with Arbitron and Eurisko

Parallel surveys, diaries and meters, ran between April and October

2006.

Project stopped last year after £3 million+ investment

Developments in Europe - UK

“The decision by the RAJAR Board to draw a line under its current investment in the experimental electronic measurement panel in London, was unanimous. Following a review of the first year’s research it was felt that the pace of change and innovation within the industry needed swifter action than electronic measurement is able to offer at this juncture. It has therefore been agreed ...to cease further data collection from the end of June 2008, and to focus solely on analysing the data already obtained. The Board has also concluded that electronic measurement will not form part of the 2009 RAJAR contract due to significant concerns regarding issues of panellists’ behaviour and the feasibility of meter measurement to deliver a credible UK currency for the entire industry, at an affordable cost.”

Developments in Europe - UK

PSB National Radio Share and Long Term Change - 2008

Advanced audience measurement systems for radio are available but

implementation has been slow.

Public Service Broadcasters have been leading efforts to introduce new

effective measurement systems.

Better research is important to PSBs to understand and serve their

audiences better, not to measure advertising effectiveness.

Better research often has a direct impact on programs. (e.g. overlap)

A variety of methodologies and techniques will be necessary to gauge

new listening patterns.

Conclusion

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“Unambiguous measurement requires us to measure consumer

engagement in a manner that is not subject to linguistic, semantic,

and interpretive errors. The most direct and accurate way to

measure KPIs is directly at the brain where we can gather data

before it is subject to cognitive reformulations and expressive

biases.”

“Market mix models that utilize the KPIs based on direct measurements

at the brain result in vastly superior predictive power, and vastly

increased forecasting capability. The next generation of elasticity

computations is based on direct measurements at the brain.”

Source: Nielsen Media Research - Methods of Neuromarketing

Dr. A. K. Pradeep / NeuroFocus

Future Measurement Systems

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