KUSC-FM, a Los Angeles classical station licensed to the University of Southern California, is bragging that it is the top rated public radio station in the country, according to Arbitron. Normally that’s a crown that KQED or New York’s WNYC wears. It may be one more upset caused by Arbitron’s switch from diaries to Portable People Meters. During the spring quarter (April 2-June 24) for listeners 6 and older:• KUSC, 737,000 listeners per week • WNYC, 721,500 • KQED, 704,300
PPM puts news, talk stations at disadvantage
A former MIT professor and authority on audio technology has found a flaw in Arbitron’s new Personal People Meter system of measuring radio audiences that puts stations with low-frequency content (news and talk) at a disadvantage to high-frequency content, such as music. Here’s a link to the paper by Dr. Barry Blesser of 25-Seven Systems. Arbitron used to measure radio audiences by asking listeners to fill out diaries in which they listed the stations they heard. Last year, Arbitron switched
New consortium will challenge Nielsen
The Financial Times reports that the major TV networks and advertisers such as Procter & Gamble and AT&T are forming a consortium to measure audiences. Both broadcasters and advertisers have had grievances with Nielsen, the granddaddy of audience measurement in TV. The consortium should be up and running by next month.
Luckoff complains about Arbitron methods
Radio Online reports that KGO-AM/KSFO president and gm Mickey Luckoff is calling on Arbitron to increase the number of radio listeners who are given Personal People Meters, the pager-sized devices that keep track of what stations a person hears throughout the day. Luckoff says the number of PPM panelists (those selected to wear the PPM to measure their radio listening) is far fewer than Arbitron had promised when it switched from diaries to electronic sampling last year. He said broadcasters
Has KGO 810 been toppled?
Ben Fong-Torres, in his radio column in today’s Chronicle, says KGO-AM 810 has been booted from the No. 1 spot in the market among all listeners in January by all-news KCBS. As he notes, KGO’s Mickey Luckoff says a survey for just one month is a small sample, and there are a lot of questions about Arbitron’s switch to personal people meters. Besides, advertisers don’t buy time based on cumulative ratings but on how a station does in a particular
KGO-AM, KOIT, KDFC lead radio ratings
The San Francisco fall 2005 Arbitron radio ratings are out and while perennial leader KGO-AM was first, like usual, it was down from 6.4% to 6.1%. Moving up, however, was KOIT followed by classical KDFC. Ben Fong-Torres, in his monthly Chronicle column on radio, mentions the ratings, too. He also says radio stations have formed an alliance to ensure that all of the stations use the same system to deliver dlgital radio, which will mean clearer sound (no static) and