Accurate audience measurements for radio lacking, conference hears

TORONTO — The radio industry has a “big problem” with a lack of advanced measurement capabilities to capture devices such as headphones, an industry conference heard Thursday. Personal People Metres (PPMs), used to track consumption habits for ratings by measurement agency Numeris, “don’t work very well with headphones for capturing that tuning,” Sherry O’Neil, director at Cairns O’Neil Strategic Media Inc., said at the conclusion of the Ontario Association of Broadcasters conference. “I would challenge Numeris to be looking for a solution or there has be some kind of...measurement of people listening to those radio stations online with headphones,” O’Neil said during a panel on radio. “There has to be an alternate way of capturing that audience.” The comment resonated with the crowd, with some applauding the remarks. One current way to measure headphone users requires users to connect their headphones to a measurement dongle, which drew an incredulous response. “The fact that you can’t measure listening on headphones other than plugging a stupid dongle into the thing is just crazy to me,” Geoff Poulton, president of Vista Radio Ltd. and former Rogers Communications Inc. media executive, said as a panelist. “The kickback we get, ‘oh well it’s too expensive -- what risk is there with not fixing the problem? As digital is ever more accountable on their numbers, we are left behind.” Other problems with measurement occur with technologies such as bluetooth devices that don’t actually have a physical connection, and with tracking tuning to HD radio, the conference heard. How to capitalize on advertising -- for which audience measurements are needed -- was a point of great concern for the panelists. “You need to be able to monetize that audience,” O’Neil said. “The problem is, you guys can’t monetize it.” She also noted that she foresees radio ads staying at 30 seconds in the near future -- maybe with 15 and 10 second slots -- as short-form ads become more common, especially in the digital space that increasingly uses six-second blocks. But panelist Chris Pearson, president of Acadia Broadcasting Ltd., said it’s not just Numeris; it’s difficult to get the kind of participation in surveys needed to track consumption. Numeris pays a small sum to participants to get involved in their measurement system. “We not only use that for national sales,” Pearson said, “we use that to say, ‘are we doing a good job?’ That kind of measurement can be the difference between making changes based on informed data and ones based on a hunch, which Pearson said could set broadcasters back. “It’s a very daunting question,” he said about how to solve the problem. But Poulton is sure that whatever measurement system is put in place, it must “completely reinvent” how ratings are captured. “We have to invest energy into this and I’m hopeful, in the not-too-distant future, we’re going to have a strong robust strategy on it, but I don’t know -- I don’t see it.” — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Accurate audience measurements for radio lacking, conference hears

Broadcast | November 9, 2018

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Accurate audience measurements for radio lacking, conference hears

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