Most people think that their listening habits determine which radio stations are the most popular. They’re partially correct. The real “ears” of audience measurement in 48 U.S. markets – including its largest cities – is this black, pager-like device called a Portable People Meter or PPM. It listens for hidden audio streams embedded in radio station (or network) signals that tell Nielsen Audio what you’re listening to – or at…
When Radio Ratings Don’t Add Up
Let’s start with simple math. 243 million AM/FM listeners + 24 million SiriusXM subscribers + 103 million Internet radio listeners = 2many Americans. Obviously some of us are listening to radio on more than one platform. But the media are using different methods, different metrics and good old fashioned “spin” to make it impossible to manage a clean campaign across all audio channels.
The 9Lives Of Radio
Twice again, radio survived another death knell in March 2013. This time around, consumers smacked the corporate giants who thought they knew better.