The Public Radio Format Study Listening Patterns of Stations with Different Formats 1999-2004 Revised Edition December 2005

The Public Radio Format Study

Listening Patterns of Stations withDifferent Formats

1999-2004Revised EditionDecember 2005

The charts in this presentation are excerpted from:The Public Radio Format Study: Listening Patterns of Stations with Different Formats1999-2004By Thomas J. Thomas and Theresa R. Clifford

The study is available at http://www.srg.org/program/Format_Study.pdf

Station Resource Group6935 Laurel Ave., Takoma Park, MD 20912301.270.2617www.srg.org [email protected] [email protected]

Copyright © 2005 Station Resource Group. All rights reserved.

http://www.srg.org/program/Format_Study.pdf

http://www.srg.org/

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

About the study

• Stations classified by listener response to their service– Stations with 75% or more listener hours

from one of public radio’s primary formats are classified as News, Classical, Jazz, or AAA

– Stations with at least 25% listener hours from news and at least 25% listener hours from a primary music format are classified as News/Classical, News/Jazz, or News/AAA

– Each format group has the same set of stations throughout the study

About the study

228 stations in the studyNews 62Classical 40Jazz 22AAA 4News/Classical 81News/Jazz 12News/AAA 7

(Not all public stations are included. Reasons include not meeting format criteria, not having sufficient audience data, or changing their format during the study.)

Key findings

• With relentless news cycles and near abandonment of news by commercial radio, listening to news stations grew 55% from Spring 1999 to Fall 2004.

• While many have questioned the survival of the classical music format, classical stations have generated a steady performance for six years in a row – and some of the highest audience loyalty numbers in the field.

Key findings

• The small number of public radio AAA stations saw listening increase by nearly a third over the past six years.

• Jazz stations have the lowest average loyalty and lowest average time spent listening to their stations of public radio’s primary formats. Even so, jazz stations currently reach an average audience 6% larger than they did six years ago.

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

SP99FA99SP00FA00SP01FA01SP02FA02SP03FA03SP04FA04

News

News/Classical

Classical

Jazz

News/Jazz

AAA

News/AAA

Data copyright 2004, Arbitron, Inc. Source: Audience Research Analysis, Audigraphics.

Average Quarter Hour Audience

22

24

26

28

30

32

34

36

38

40

42

SP99 FA99 SP00 FA00 SP01 FA01 SP02 FA02 SP03 FA03 SP04 FA04

News

Classical

Jazz

AAA


Average Loyalty: Focused Format

22

24

26

28

30

32

34

36

38

40

42


News/Classical

News/Jazz

News/AAA


Average Loyalty: Mixed Format

5:15

5:45

6:15

6:45

7:15

7:45


News

Classical

Jazz

AAA


Average TSL: Focused Format

5:15

5:45

6:15

6:45

7:15

7:45


News/Classical

News/Jazz

News/AAA


Average TSL: Mixed Format

-20%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Percent

Change f

rom

Sprin

g 9

9


News

Classical

Jazz

AAA


AQH Change: Focused Format

-20%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Percent

Change f

rom

Sprin

g 9

9


News/Classical

News/Jazz

News/AAA


AQH Change: Mixed Format

-10%

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Percent

Change f

rom

Sprin

g 9

9


News

Classical

Jazz

AAA


Loyalty Change: Focused Format

-10%

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Percent

Change f

rom

Sprin

g 9

9


News/Classical

News/Jazz

News/AAA


Loyalty Change: Mixed Format

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

Percent

Change f

rom

Sprin

g 9

9


News

Classical

Jazz

AAA


TSL Change: Focused

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

Percent

Change f

rom

Sprin

g 9

9


News/Classical

News/Jazz

News/AAA


TSL Change: Mixed Format

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Change f

rom

Sprin

g 1

999


AQH Persons

Loyalty

TSL

Data copyright 2004, Arbitron, Inc. Source: Audience Research Analy`sis, Audigraphics.

News StationsChange in All Measures

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Change f

rom

Sprin

g 1

999


AQH Persons

Loyalty

TSL


Classical StationsChange in All Measures

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Change f

rom

Sprin

g 1

999


AQH Persons

Loyalty

TSL


Jazz StationsChange in All Measures

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Change f

rom

Sprin

g 1

999


AQH Persons

Loyalty

TSL


AAA StationsChange in All Measures

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Change f

rom

Sprin

g 1

999


AQH Persons

Loyalty

TSL


News/Classical StationsChange in All Measures

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Change f

rom

Sprin

g 1

999


AQH Persons

Loyalty

TSL


News/Jazz StationsChange in All Measures

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Change f

rom

Sprin

g 1

999


AQH Persons

Loyalty

TSL


News/AAA StationsChange in All Measures

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

SP99FA99

SP00FA00

SP01FA01

SP02FA02

SP03FA03

SP04FA04

SP05

Format Study Sample

Arbitron Nationwide

AQH Change: Sample v. All StationsPercent Change From Spring 1999Data Copyright Arbitron. Source ARA/AudiGraphics, RRC/Nationwide

The Public Radio Format Study

Listening Patterns of Stations withDifferent Formats

1999-2004Revised EditionDecember 2005

Documents

The Public Radio Format Study Listening Patterns of Stations with Different Formats 1999-2004 Revised Edition December 2005