One of the biggest secrets in radio is what’s happening to listening over the long term. Talk to insiders and they will acknowledge that while a huge majority of Americans still listen to the radio the amount of time spent listening continues to decline. Or does it? Well, it depends on how you measure it. And that should add one more reason to the long laundry list of reasons why broadcasters should be irritated at Nielsen, which presumes to produce the accepted unit of measu

Now that’s a post title which speaks for itself. And by “which is better?” I don’t mean “which is more accurate?” I mean which is better for our clients? And the answer is not at all what we might assume. Watch: Prefer audio?  Try this: Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Download mp3 (You can subscribe to all the MRM video and audio

So here's conventional thinking: PPM measures "real listening" while diaries record (and reward) recall and not "real listening." Not quite, I would argue. Actually, PPM measures exposure, not listening.  And diaries record the degree to which audiences are interested in the stations they consume.  That's because greater interest yields greater recall which yields more diary mentions. It seems to me we have gotten so lost in the "language of accuracy" in measurement that we h

Imagine you're around a campfire on a dark and cold night. Is it time to tell a scary tale?  You bet it is. And if it's a tale of ratings horror, what could be scarier? And if you prefer your horror in audio form, click here. Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Is it too early for Arbitron to go "Boo!"? Nope, it's never too early for