NIELSEN AUDIO SAYS NEWS-TALK STATIONS ARE EXPERIENCING “ELECTION MANIA”

Nielsen Audio’s February PPM ratings show News/Talk stations are experiencing record levels of listening. Nielsen say the format is nearly in double-digit listener share territory— a level it hasn’t been since the last Presidential election in 2012. With more than seven months to go before the election, News/Talk radio should remain a political powerhouse on the radio dial. 

 Nielsen apparently did NOT include NPR Stations in their analysis.  To show how NPR News stations are performing, we have done a separate analysis for noncom below.

At right is Nielsen’s chart showing AQH share changes for commercial News-Talk stations.

THE NONCOM PERSPECTIVE

February 2016 PPM ratings for some NPR News stations were not available because RRC is finalizing paperwork with some stations due to RRC new four-year deal with Nielsen.

Below is our custom chart showing one-year comparisons of weekly cumulative listeners for February 2016 and February 2015.

For the 23 markets we examined, 20 had gains in weekly listeners; only 3 had declines. NPR News stations were up 14.1% in these markets.

© Radio Research Consortium, Inc. // www.RRConline.org //

These data are provided for use by Nielsen Audio subscribers ONLY, in accordance with RRC's limited license with Nielsen Audio.
Monday-Sunday 6AM-Midnight Persons 12+ (Diary markets) Monday-Sunday 6AM-Midnight Persons 6+ (PPM markets)
Data Copyright Nielsen Audio. Format designations are the sole responsibility of Ken Mills Agency, LLC. Contact us publicradio@hotmail.com.

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UNIQUE WASHINGTON, DC JOB OPPORTUNITY

Capital Concerts (CCI) in Washington, DC is looking for a Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The CFO is responsible for the production and telecast of both the Fourth of July and Memorial Day concerts on the National Mall, for Public Television. The CFO provides business, financial, accounting. Both concerts are televised on PBS. The CFO will ensure CCI meets its financial responsibilities, fulfills its mission, and protects its non-profit status.

The deadline for applications is March 31, 2016.

CCI is being assisted in this search by Livingston Associates. The full job posting is at [link].  See more about Capital Concerts (CCI) at [link].

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WORTH READING: Is NPR Crazy? Yes, Like a Fox

Consultant/blogger Mark Ramsey provides his perspective about NPR’s decision to avoid on-air promotion of podcasts and NPR One. According to an article in Current [link] the guidelines were announced by Mark Memmott, NPR’s Supervising Senior Editor for Standards & Practices.

Chris Turpin, NPR’s VP for News confirmed the new rules: “These guidelines apply to all podcasts, whether produced by NPR or by other entities.” Turpin said that NPR has been fielding questions “from news staff and Member stations” about policies for discussing podcasts on air. “To that end, we want to establish some common standards, especially for language in back announces.”

The move is thought to have originated from complaints by NPR member stations. They don’t like it when NPR promotes other media that competes with listening to the stations.

Folks at Niemen Lab have been particularly strident in their criticism:

“This seems dumb to a lot of people, both inside and outside public media,” and they supported that point with a series of embedded Tweets proving that if you compile enough anecdotal evidence it evidently adds up to real evidence. 

Ramsey argues that the critics are missing the point:

The premise here is that pushing, promoting, marketing NPR’s on-demand assets is in some way critical to their success, as long as that pushing, promoting, and marketing happens in the presence of the same content on your local air. But this puts the content before the audience, and that’s a mistake.

Read more of Mark Ramsey’s thoughts at [link].