…and the survey says?

The Cutting Edge

The Freshley’s take the Arbitron Survey

This week I am doing something I’ve always wanted to do, the Arbitron Radio survey. Yes, out of all the local yokels in Charleston, the Freshley family was randomly picked to participate in the infamous radio survey. They paid me a whole $5, but the joke is on them because I would have done it for free. The only person at my house who is not happy about doing the survey is my son Leland. You see Leland is only 10 years old and you have to be 12 or older do do the survey. He’s pretty steamed because he loves the radio and he thinks he’s seventeen. Plus, that $5…that’s a whole lot of money when you are 10!

So after 20 years of buying radio for my clients using Arbitron, living and breathing by these numbers, what are my thoughts on the survey? First, Charleston is not a PPM ( people meter) market so you actually have to carry around and fill out a survey card every time you listen to the radio. I was surprised how often I actually listened frankly. But I’ll also say that writing it down every time gets old fast. Secondly you start to realize that the survey does influences your behavior. You think about radio and the survey, so I think you actually listen more so that you have something to fill in the blanks. Third I found myself not writing down stations when I didn’t choose them, like when my kids were in the car and they switched the station to the pop station and I didn’t want to listen. 95.1 was not MY choice so I’m going to show my grown-up independence by refusing to write it down on MY survey. How many self respecting 51 year old men would be caught dead listening to that junk? Not me , No way! But I was still listening.

Anyway, here are some other observations:

  • What the survey really does measure is listening preferences and favorite stations. I becomes very clear there is a pattern to your listening. The Arbitron survey clearly determines your P1 station and all the rest of the stations that you spend the most time listening to. If you have family around it can be a pretty big range of stations.
  • The Arbitron survey is not an accurate measure of your exact listening habits. All survey info is after the fact and often best guess. I suspect TSL is reported longer than it actually is. That is, that the actual time spent listening to any one station is actually shorter than what is reported.
  • Drive times are clearly the heavy listening time. It is also the most predictable. The car really determines you listening habits because in truth, home listening just isn’t very big. The more time in the car, the more time you spend listening to radio.
  • AM wake up time is one of the only times you actually listen to the radio at home and 6A-8A is really the sweet spot. That’s when people are starting the day and their mind is fresh and open.
  • We all really listen to more stations that we admit to. (The PPM markets have proven that.) Radio is around us all the time and listening habits are actually more complicated than even I would have guessed.

Finally, what is also very clear is that radio is still very much alive. While time on the computer and other completing mediums have all taken a bit out of all broadcast, good old radio is still the most cost effective way to reach and entire community. I don’t think my family is that much different than every American family and taking the survey has opened my eyes to just how much radio still is a part of everyday life. Top 40, News talk, Sports talk, Country…Hip hop and R & B, radio is American popular culture on parade all the time. Ever hear of Justin Bieber? Justin Bieber may have been discovered on You Tube, but none of us would know his name if he wasn’t on the radio, right now, in tight, heavy rotation with some darn good tunes. Michael Jackson, Donny Osmond, names ring a bell? The more things change, the more they stay the same. The amazing growth our stores have seen the last 18 months confirms what I’ve known for the last twenty years. Radio, properly bought and managed is still the most cost effective medium a fine, independent jewelers can use. Even in 2011, it’s the only sure way to make your store a hit.