By Walter Sabo
A.K.A. Walter M Sterling, Host
Sterling Every Damn Night, WPHT, Philadelphia
Sterling On Sunday, TMN
PPM meter measurement accurately reflects how most people listen to the radio. When a station is engaging, they leave the station on. When they are bored, they change the station. Station surfing can happen dozens of times an hour. The diary could not measure typical listener behavior. Diaries were a reflection of recall. No listener, driving at 70 MPH pulled over to write down station changes, they just guessed at their recalled radio behaviors and wrote them down.
The biggest flaw or fraud of both diary and PPM data editing was corrected this week by Nielsen.
• Nielsen/Arbitron has measured radio listening in 15-minute intervals, AQH, since the 1920s.
• The change to three minutes is intended to reflect changing listening habits and attention spans.
• The change is expected to benefit advertisers by increasing the number of people tallied who hear their ads.
• The change is also expected to benefit stations by increasing the number of quarter-hours they receive credit for.
Good news, it’s working. In an analysis of the first week of the new editing technique, ACs and adult music FMs have seen increases in AQH as high a 40%.
• Talk shows have enjoyed jumps of 25-31%
• The new editing strategy amplifies the inherent nature of the Meter: More topics the better. More change, the better.
A serious burden dumped on talk radio was the distorted edict that format consistency is essential to success. It is. And that’s exactly what it means FORMATICS, NOT TOPICS.
“Formatics” cover station ID, branding elements, promo production, audio processing, phone number pitch, service element placement. BUT NOT THE SAME DAMN TOPIC ALL DAY.
The same topic all day is why stations that once had double digit shares, are selling off transmitter land to keep bond holders at bay.
People in social situations who only talk about one thing quickly lose friend and are considered bores. Sure, a few people hang around them all day, but new friends are rare. Do you see similarities to the belief that TALK is high AQH but low cume? Low cume is a bad, unstable business. The new Nielsen editing rewards with higher AQH but only if content delivers constant surprises.
Consultant Walter Sabo a.k.a. Walter M Sterling has a nightly show “Sterling Every Damn Night” heard on WPHT, Philadelphia 10:00 pm – 1:00 am. His syndicated show, “Sterling On Sunday,” from Talk Media Network, airs Sundays 10:00 pm – 1:00 am ET, and is now in its 10th year of success. He can be reached by email at waltermsterling@gmail.com or Sabowalter@gmail.com. Meet Walter Sabo at GENERATIONS 2025 in NYC on March 8.
