Chapter 8 Audience Measurement & Sales Its essential for media outlets to understand their audiences, because after all, the media are in the business

Chapter 8 Audience Measurement& Sales

“It’s essential for media outlets to understand their audiences, because after all, the media are in the business of selling audiences to their advertisers.”

- Medoff & Kaye p. 196

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History of Audience Measurement

1920s-Two methods Telephone recall Telephone coincidental

1930s-Audiometer: a metering device attached to radios

1940s-Diary: supplemented telephone coincidental data

2000s-Diary: used in most broadcast areas (markets)

1-4 “Ratings periods” per year


Criticism ofAudience Measurement

“Only” 5000 U. S. households surveyed to determine national audience size & traits.

Only home reception surveyed. Is self-reporting, especially in diaries, truthful or accurate? Often completed after the fact. Often “votes” for favorites rather than actual behavior.

Recall often in error. Subject may distort diary to hide certain behaviors.

Some demographics require statistical manipulation.


Criticism of Internet Audience Measurement

No single standard; multiple data collection methods yield contradictory reports. Click-through counts as an ad view by some people, not by others. No guarantee of attention, perception, comprehension or recall.

Some ratings firms count duplicate website visits; others don’t.


Types of TV Audience Measurement

Rating: The number of households tuned to a particular program/the total number of households owning a TV set.

Share: The number of households tuned to a particular program/the total number of households using a TV set at the time of the program’s broadcast.

Extrapolate to estimate number of total viewers.


Types of Radio Audience Measurement

Rating: The number of persons tuned to a particular program/the total number of persons owning a radio.

Share: The number of persons tuned to a particular program/the total number of persons listening to radio at the time of the program’s broadcast.

Minimum unit of audienceattention: 15:00.


Types of TV Audience Measurement

Wilmington DMA Households = 100,000

Households Using TV (HUT) = 50,000

Viewership: WECT 6:00 News 25,000 homes WECT rating? WECT share? WWAY 6:00 News 20,000 homes WWAY rating? WWAY share? Click to show ratings and shares.

25 50

20 40


Other Audience Measurement Terms/Presentation of Measurement Data

Ratings & Shares & the Average Quarter Hour (AQH).

Cume: The number of different persons listening to a station for at least 5:00 during a quarter hour.



Cume: The number of different persons listening to a station for at least 5:00 during a quarter hour.

WLOZ student radio station. 8:00-8:15 = 10 listeners 8:15-8:30 = 2 leave, 4 join, 12 total

8:30-8:45 = 6 leave, 2 join, 8 total Cume = 10+4+2=16 different listeners.

Because cable and radio ratings are generally small, cume is an important measurement



The Nielsen Television Index reports metered audience data.

The Nielsen Station Index reports metered audience data nightly.

TV networks rely on the Station Index for data on how particular programs rated.

Cable: Nielsen Home Video Index.


Learning More AboutBroadcast Audiences

Radio stations measure song preferences

Call-out research & Group research Play “hooks” for listeners and chart feedback

More dependence on national trends, less on local research

Ratings used to determine: DJ hirings, firings, format adjustments, wholesale changes



TV networks test programs

Subjects view pilots or season finales for current shows in theaters.

Meters record their attitude toward the program shown.



Program-makers can then re-shoot shows to make them more likeable

TVQ: A measurement of audience attitude toward tv actors


Types of Internet

Audience Measurement

Cookies record data from your computer each time you visit a website.

Operators also offer discounts or prizes for information about you.


Audience MeasurementTerms: Advertiser Costs

Cost Per Thousand (CPM): How much an advertiser spends to reach 1000 potential consumers?

Audience of 200,000 over a month of ads

Cost of advertising program $10,000 $10,000/200,000 = $.05 (5 cents per exposure)

Gross ratings points: The number of spots x the average rating.


Audience MeasurementTerms: Advertiser Costs

Cost Per Point (CPP): The cost of reaching an audience equal to one ratings point in a given market.


Audience Measurement Terms: Dayparts

A radio station’s spot rates vary based on time of day (daypart) & average # of listeners during that daypart.

A TV station’s rates vary based on daypart & the # of viewers for a particular program


Types ofSpot “Buys”

Fixed: Spots must air @ specific times. Run-of-Schedule: Spots aired whenever a station sees fit.

Frequency Discounts: The more time bought, the lower the cost per time a spot airs.

Barter: Advertiser pays a station not in dollars but in goods or services.

Cooperative Advertising: Manufacturer of a good sold by a local or national retailer pays part of a retailer’s time costs.

Local Discount: Benefits local companies


Internet Advertising:Problems of Measurement

Fifteen hits could mean several things. Technology fails to account for repeat visits.

Push programs visit sites but no human sees sites hit.

Site visitors who click-through a banner ad can be counted, as opposed to all site visitors. Site operators can charge a click-through rate. But a click-through rate higher than 2% is rare.


Time spent online: The more time a visitor spends on a site screen, the more likely she’ll click through.

Size: Rates may be based on ad size, measured in pixels.

Cost per transaction: Rates may be based on a percentage of sales.

Auction: A third party sells unused site space.

Exchange: Site operators advertise on each other’s site.

Co-op: In exchange for a ”piece” of click-through sales, a site operator promotes a good or service.

Internet Advertising:Types of Buys


New Ways toTrack Audiences

Radio-Portable People Meter: A device designed to track both in- & out-of-home reception to radio.

Radio-TV-Global Position Satellite (GPS) technology: GPS tech used to track out-of-home reception of stationary messages, such as billboards.

TV- Sets can be equipped with meters that record transmissions of signals that transcend human senses.

Documents

Chapter 8 Audience Measurement & Sales Its essential for media outlets to understand their audiences, because after all, the media are in the business