An Inside Look at Ratings and Programming

A very good article (though it could have used some more proofreading) this week from Friday Morning Quarterback written by Gary Marince, who is Vice President of Programming Services and Development at Arbitron.  He makes a great point about radio ratings: that they are far more based on the image and association that listeners have with the stations than actual execution of programming.  He argues that 75% of share points come from "the strength of the station’s position" and the other 25% from execution of programming.  So while good programming will definitely bring listeners to stay on the station, it also affects their likelihood to go back to the station when they first turn on a radio again.  Programming begets reputation, but Marince also argues that the "off" game is important; how the station is branded outside of the airwaves is also very important.  It's much less about creating a station that draws in listeners cruising around the dial, and more being consistent to create a niche, and making listeners identify your niche with your station.

Contemporary programming on commercial stations definitely seems to grasp this concept; they try to create an image as THE station for whatever genre/audience their aiming at.  The promos they play constantly definitely help to make their image concrete, and they always seem to imply that their station is the only station to go to for their area of expertise.  And the more you tell people that, the more they believe it really.  It's not hard to convince people of this fact, but when they go to your station for what they expect, you better give it to them.  With Marince's model, it still seems that it's possible to overtake big stations by providing great programming that people want to hear, but you better have some outside marketing as well.  This makes perfect sense, if only because that's how everything else is sold too.  You don't buy cereal because you see an advertisement in the grocery store, but one in a magazine or on television.  Similarly, you don't go into a pharmacy or a doctor's office without an idea of what medicine you will be getting.  There is advertising for these products in these areas, but far more in places outside of the actual market.  It may be a sad truth that programming itself matters so little in this modern radio market, but it is a truth nonetheless.  Once we can get people back into the market who are truly passionate about both, another golden age of radio could emerge again.  Integration is what this time period is about, and radio doesn't need to get left behind.