We
are introducing a new metric today. We
call it the Home Market Listening Index because it traces the percentage of a
station’s estimateD weekly listeners that come from the home metro.
Operating
a station in the shadows of a major market is typically difficult because big
market broadcasters often have greater resources than suburban and exurban
broadcasters. However, smaller market stations
have the advantage of concentrating on a local area.
Do
these factors affect listening habits? It depends of the individuals and appeal
of each station.
Today’s
debut case study concerns what I call the 101
North markets just north and west of Los Angeles: Oxnard-Ventura, Santa
Barbara and San Luis Obispo.
Each
of the three metro areas has distinct differences. But, they all have one thing
in common: They compete with much bigger stations from LA via repeater and
translator stations,
Another
factor they all have in common is the Pacific Coast Highway, US 101. This
freeway provides quick access in and out of LA. On the right is a map provided
by KCLU that shows the three markets and their contiguous location.
TREND LINE: LOS ANGELES
NONCOMMERCIAL STATIONS ARE GETTING A LARGER NUMBER OF SUBURBAN LISTENERS
According
to the Nielsen Audio Fall 2017 ratings, listeners appear to be listening more
to LA noncommercial stations and less to local folks.
(METHODOLOGY:
We add up the estimated weekly listeners for all of the rated stations. Then,
we divide them into two groups: Home market stations and Out-of-Market
stations.)
As
the chart on the left shows, there is a 4% decline in weekly listeners between
Fall 2016 and 2017. Weekly listeners in all three markets are switching to LA
stations.
Let’s
look at the individual markets”
OXNARD-VENTURA
This
market is the closest to LA and has the largest population. The percentage of
weekly listeners to Home market stations declined 9% between Fall 2016 and Fall
2017.
SANTA BARBARA
As we move farther from LA, listening to home market stations increasess bu the trend is slightly towards LA stations.
SAN LUIS OBISPO
San Luis is the farthest of the three markets from LA. Even here the trend line is moving towards LA stations,
NONCOM RATINGS FOR ALL THREE MARKETS
No comments:
Post a Comment