HOW MUCH DIFFERENT IS ANN ARBOR FROM THE REST OF MICHIGAN? • NIELSEN UPGRADES DIARY MARKETS TO MONTHLY REPORTS

Steven Chrypinski

Steven Chrypinski, Director of Marketing for Michigan Radio, sent us a comment about our September 18^th post [link] showing the ratings performance of NPR News stations in the top PPM-measured markets. He said we should keeping keep in mind the relationship between public radio listening and listener’s levels of education. He makes some good points that we feel comments included points we should explore in greater depth. Here is a slightly edited version of Steven’s comment:

  

CHRYPINSKI: Ken, I always enjoy reading your posts but your comparisons of the top performing NPR news stations across the country ignores the obvious elephant in the room...the percentage of college graduates in those markets.

It’s long been known that NPR stations do best in markets with a large number of educated listeners. If you look at the stations on this list that have a 4.0 share or better, they are virtually all in the top 20 markets in terms of the most college graduates.

In contrast, the 3 stations on this list that have less than a 2.0 share are all in markets ranked 61 or lower for college graduates. (The exception is KXJZ in Sacramento which is really punches above the education level of their market.)

My station (Michigan Radio-WUOM) helps prove this point. Our home market of Ann Arbor is one of the most educated in the country, with 73% of the market having a bachelors degree or higher. Our station has a 9.9 share here. Contrast that with the Detroit market next door.

KEN SAYS: We always like to hear from Steven because he knows his stuff and sees trends on a national level.  As he says, level of education is a determining factor in public radio listening. Public radio listeners, particularly news listeners, typically have achieved education levels above the average for their markets and the entire nation.

Steven is also correct about the demographic characteristics of Ann Arbor, the home of WUOM, which is known statewide as Michigan Radio. Ann Arbor is a quintessential college town like Boulder, Austin and Iowa City. But, how similar is Ann Arbor’s education level to the other cities in Michigan Radio coverage area?

We ran the Nielsen umbers from the Spring 2018 ratings and crossed-tabbed them with education levels in each of the five metro areas Michigan Radio serves (see the chart on the left). 

Nationally around 32.5% of the population has a Bachelor’s Degree. Therefore, Ann Arbor is way average in highly educated residents. The others markets Michgan Radio serves are below the national average.

[Disclosure: This chart is for demonstration purposes only.  The methodologies for PPM and Diary measurement are different. There may be duplication because Nielsen markets sometimes overlap.]

We know Chrypinski is not implying that stations in markets with much lower education levels are tough places for public radio to succeed. In fact, serving areas of the country with challenging demographics is one of the reasons why Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) support is so important.

We looked at four markets where public radio is doing very well despite being well below the national average of college graduates (see the chart on the right). 

Even in Lafayette, Louisiana – a city with one of the lowest percentages of college graduates in the nation – KRVS has some of the tastiest programming in the nation. Check out KRVS a/k/a Radio Acadie [link] for NPR News and shows like Bonjour Louisiane, a daily dose of French Cajun tunes that are unique to Acadia Parish.

BTW – Michigan Radio just added another market to their service area. WRSX in Port Huron now repeats WUOM.

NIELSEN AUDIO BEGINS MONTHLY REPORTING IN DIARY MARKETS TO MONTHLY IN 2019

Nielsen Audio has announced that beginning in the summer of 2019, subscribers in markets using Diary methodology will be available 12 months per year. Currently ratings reports are distributed either quarterly or semi-annually.

Brad Kelly, Nielsen’s Managing Director, said in a press release that the change is being driven by advertisers wanting more up-to-date data:

KELLY: “Big billion dollar advertisers leave nothing to chance. Every decision they make is data driven and updated audience data is crucial for timely decisions. Nielsen Audio is excited to help diary market clients have a better understanding of the audio landscape and respond faster to dynamic market conditions.”

From what we can tell, Nielsen will be releasing “rolling” data for six months, updated each month. There is no word about whether there will be price hikes for Nielsen Diary data.