RemainComm

Nielsen to Provide (Same?) Radio Ratings

Nielsen, by way of the announcement of a deal with Cumulus Media, entered the radio ratings fray. They seem to have girded their loins to take on Arbitron, the undisputed king of radio ratings services. My question is: What will they offer that is different from what Arbitron is providing? What is needed is actual use, not the reliance on memory, to make the case to advertisers

At first blush, other than different names for the same services…we can't seem to get past the pencil.* OK, I’m guessing they are offering to do it cheaper. Price is clearly the driving force behind most broadcast media decisions. But, beyond that, according to the rather brief New York Times article, ‘Nielsen will produce ratings by collecting diaries from respondents.’ This is the same methodology that has been provided by Arbitron forever. The Times goes on to point out, ‘Arbitron’s effort to gradually replace diaries with an electronic form of measurement, personal people meters, has led some station owners to complain.’

So let’s recap…a radio company is going to reinvest in questionable recall, diary (read pencil and paper) methodology because the new electronic technology, which is in it’s very infancy, isn’t giving them the results they want (and, BTW, is also much more spendy than said diaries.).

To be fair the pitch from Nielsen talks about all sorts of cool stuff to make data collection more, as they say, robust. Their ‘addressed based sampling’ (ABS) is promising access to “the 34% of U.S. households that are not covered by current sampling methods”. Other nifty commitments include;

Filling the "White Spaces"

 I found the phrase "white spaces" interesting when it was announced yesterday that the FCC has allowed conditional unlicensed use of "white spaces" television spectrum. In an attempt to avoid getting bogged down in tech speak. This is the radio spectrum that is now available as a result of TV's switch to digital.

Once the FCC found that the issue of interference with existing radio signals could be overcome through technology that shuts down any device using the "white space" once it senses another signal, granting access was a slam dunk.

Companies like Google and Microsoft herald the decision as a way to allow widespread mobile adoption. On the other hand, broadcast companies (seeing yet another reason to claim "everybody is out to get us") and the likes of Verizon (already hot to charge more for services) are less than thrilled.

As I have said previously, I personally am thrilled with anything that allows the growth and spread of mobile access if it leads us closer to parity with other countries (Luxembourg for God's sake) in services offered wirelessly. I am also concerned as a radio fan. This magic sensing thing-a-ma-bob that prevents interference with existing frequencies sure better work. The last thing any "channel" needs is a return to the "party line" annoyance of too many on a channel. Ick!

"White spaces"  also triggered in me another use of that term. A use that I see benefitting many media channels. As of late yesterday the flood of political advertising stopped...I'll pause as you jump up and down with joy and do a couple of Tiger Woods arm pumps...done? This sudden loss of "content" in itself reveals a whole lot of "white space".

Now…Another Music-Free Commercial Sweep

This was always a running gag for us in music radio. The battle between art (us) and commerce (them) raged endlessly. The challenge of balancing the wants and needs of both of our customers, listeners who want more music and clients who want more ad space, was the topic of 95% of management disagreements.

This argument is one that rages on in all forms of advertiser supported media. I dare say it comes up in the halls at PBS or NPR as well…though in a much more civilized fashion (He says with tongue planted firmly in cheek.).

Just look at TV. There’s what, 20 minutes of “show” in a 30 minute program? And the newspaper, well just take a look at the before and after pictures of our local Sunday paper once the circulars are pulled out….

Then of course those subscription cards, fold outs, scratch and sniff, and regular ads in a magazine that will drive you nuts. There are even a growing number of ads at the start of a movie at the local Superplex 28 Cinema. How about the average website? Well ya know…most aren’t too bad thanks to hyperlinks, unless of course it’s the website of one of the other media outlets mentioned above.

For traditional media, what is the right amount of ad space? What is the deciding factor on how many spots you can air or ads you can cram on the page? The answer…it depends.

It depends on the content. How compelling is it? If it’s fantastic you can run more ads, if it sucks…well…don’t give me another excuse to bail. It also depends on choice. Caution: with so many choices of media, even the best content can be dwarfed by too many ads if some other outlet has good content and fewer ads. As the battle rages on between art vs. commerce be sure and note that it's a new, much smaller, world. There is more…allot more…choice.

So, what’s your content to ad ratio? Make sure you don’t make it too easy for your viewers, listeners, or users to choose someone else.

New Media, New Year Resolutions

This year, I will…

  …do everything I can to make the adoption of “new media” as easy for everyone as possible. We “early adopters” can’t forget that most folks are still digesting the internet as a whole, much less all it has to offer. There is so much more going on than Google, iTunes, and text messaging.

  …remember there is a difference between sending a message and conversing. Spend more time talking face to face or on the phone with people. Text, e-mail, etc. are great for quick thoughts but can never replace the emotion of a great conversation. 

  …work to improve the quality and the content in my writing. I write more now than I have in years and I want my blog posts to be more than articles. I want them to inform, inspire, and entertain all at the same time. (Okay, this one is going to take a lot of work.)

  …work to improve the quality of the audio online. I was listening to my son’s iPod the other day and realized that we’ve taught people to settle for audio quality that is, to put it politely, not so great. When we adopted the CD we sacrificed some depth to our audio, just as we did when we started using audio tape. Now that we are using the internet as our main source of music we have sacrificed even more or that sound quality. I heard a record the other day and I was blown away by the sound I had been missing. If you have some vinyl around you should do the same. (If you have no idea what a record is, please seek one out…maybe your attic?) I had become use to the sound of an mp3, probably downloaded a terrible bit rate. I will do whatever I can to hear more of what the musicians and performers worked so hard to put into their recordings.

  …work to improve the quality of video online. The same challenge faces us with what we see online. With the advent of HDTV the bar has been raised even higher. What I see on my Smartphone should look just as good as what I see on cable.

  …convince advertisers that the “new media” audience is of incredibly high quality and is worth more than a traditional media user. There are already scores of studies  highlighting the incredibly high recall rates for online advertising (even higher with a mix of media), we need to get the advertisers to respect that and think beyond “cost per thousand.” 

…enjoy more time outside the ether so that I can bring more reality into it. Pull myself out of the screen, away from the keyboard, and off the cell phone. I need to go outside and take a walk whenever I can. In fact, there’s a new layer of snow and a crisp morning waiting for me right now…  

Happy New Year!

This post can also be found on the Association of Downloadable Media site.

 

Monetizing radio….with commercials.

I found myself in a discussion the other day about radio advertising. In fact, as much time as I’ve spent talking about monetizing new media, there is still plenty of opportunity to reach consumers, a lot of them, with great radio…including the commercials. In my recent discussion I found myself revisiting a lot of the same topics I have addressed to my staffs of every station or company at which I’ve worked as a broadcaster. In fact, the following comes directly from memos to those staffs. 

Please note: This doesn’t have to be just for my radio buddies. It can be applied to any commercial production whether it is new or traditional media.

      Radio must make every minute of an hour great. That includes the minutes in commercials. Don’t think of it as sales gets 12 minutes of commercials and programming gets 48 minutes of music. Consider it as the listener gets a full hour. It might be worth considering that the reason listeners tune out during commercials is that they have been trained to do so because, frankly, the spots are just plain bad. 

What will keep listeners listening? Great radio. That means entertaining and informative content…during music and commercials. For those that sell commercial advertising, the great thing about producing great commercials is the less talked about benefit of getting results for the clients. That means they come back and spend more money. This is a good thing. 

Here are some things to remember: