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Reports & Analyses
Arbitron PPM Data
The latest non-commercial station top-line data from Arbitron's PPM markets.
Portable People Meter (PPM)
Information about Arbitron's implementation of the Portable People Meter (PPM) for the collection of radio listening data.
Public Radio -- RRC News Items
RRC news items re: Public radio
Arbitron News
General Arbitron news of interest.
Audience 2010
Reinvigorating Public Radio's Public Service & Public Support: a series of reports by Walrus Research and AudiGraphics Inc commissioned by RRC.
The first of these reports, Interim Report 1: Approach, describes the approach that Walrus Research and AudiGraphics Inc will follow to answer: What must we do to reverse Public Radio's audience loss, and reinvigorate public service?
The second report in the series, Interim Report 2: XM & Sirius, eliminates listening to XM & Sirius as the cause of lost listening to Public Radio and offers some strategies for Public Radio to rejuvenate public service.
A third report, Interim Report 3: Reliability & Integrity, examines and eliminates Arbitron methods and sampling as the cause of lost listening to Public Radio. The authors remind us that not all research is equal and that we should always question the methodology behind any research findings.
Interim Report 4: An Historic Loss of Momentum examines the ramifications resulting from a change in the growth pattern for Public Radio's audience. The authors first report on the change in momentum that has occurred and then focus on the programming and, especially, the financial implications for stations.
The last of the series to run through a double-check on factors external to public radio itself, Interim Report 5: Historic Sources of Growth busts a couple of myths about public radio listeners today. If you had to guess which demographic cohort was increasing its share of the public radio audience, would Gens X & Y have been top-of-mind? Read too about listening levels to radio: AM vs FM band; younger college graduates vs older college graduates.
Interim Report 6: Losing Our Grip looks at the programming that drove Public Radio's audience upward, until recently. The emphasis is on loyalty, because its recent decline is pervasive. Can Public Radio win back higher levels of listener loyalty?
The last in the series of Interim Reports Interim Report 7: 21st Century Trajectories looks at the listening trends on stations since 2002 to define three station groupings: Divers, Cruisers and Climbers. Is the programming on Climbers different from the programming on Divers? What can a Diver do to become a Climber?
Audience 2010: Purpose and Background
A study, investigation, analysis, a goal for Public Radio.
RRC has reported a disturbing lack of growth in the recent national audience levels for Public Radio. We have read some guesses about why the downturn is occurring. But, for now, guesses are all that we have seen. RRC believes we need a better understanding of what has happened, is happening, so that Public Radio can make appropriate investment decisions for the future.
Radio Research Consortium has contracted with George Bailey of Walrus Research for an exhaustive data analysis. He is working with David Giovannoni of AudiGraphics Inc to: - report on the components of the growth of the Public Radio audience until 2003;
- identify, within the available data, the causes of stagnation;
- determine which causes are within Public Radio's control;
- focus on strategic opportunities for the resumption of increasing levels of service.
Public Radio Nationwide 2007
(10.26.07)
Public Radio Audience: Up 3% to 27.9 Million
There is positive news for public radio in the Spring 2007 Public Radio Nationwide report; however, it comes along with a dose of reality regarding overall radio usage.
CPB-supported stations are reaching more Persons 12+ than ever before. After a small increase in 2006, the stations climbed another 3% in Spring 2007 to 27,963,300 persons in an average week.
Cume Rating for CPB stations has recovered some to 11.1% of the US Population (excluding some unmeasured portions of Alaska plus Puerto Rico). The greatest penetration reported was 11.3% in 2003.
CPB-Stations (P12+, Mon-Sun 6a-12m) have recovered to a 5.0% share of listening nationally. The estimate is just a fraction below the Spring 2003 share peak.
AQH Persons (think Listener-Hours) for CPB-Stations has grown 3% since Spring 2006, after three straight years of decline.
In the meantime, while the number of persons 12+ residing in the Arbitron nationwide geography is still growing, up 1% in the past year, use of radio continues to decline. In 2007, just 92.6% of the population tuned in radio in an average week. This cume's time spent listening to radio, on average, was 18.8 hours per week -- even shorter than a year ago.
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Public Radio Nationwide 2006
Public Radio Audience: Up from 26.8 Million to 27.0 Million in Cume, but other Estimates are Down
There is one piece of good news from the Spring 2006 Public Radio Nationwide estimates that Arbitron has made available to us: Half of the missing Cume Persons for CPB-Stations (P12+, Mon-Sun 6a-Mid) from Spring 2005 have returned. (Spring 2004 is the survey period when Cume Persons peaked.) In Spring 2006, there were 27,034,300 listeners to CPB-Stations weekly.
Now for the bad news:
Growth in CPB-Station Cume from Spring 2005 to Spring 2006 fails to keep pace with the growth in the national population, as the Cume Rating for CPB-Stations declines. Since the Spring 2003 peak of 11.3%, the rating drop is a half-point to 10.8%.
AQH Persons (think Listener-Hours) for CPB-Stations decreased for the third consecutive spring survey: The loss versus a year ago is 1.4%. The estimate is now smaller than that reported in Spring 2002 (let alone the peak of Spring 2003).
At 4.8%, CPB-Stations declined in share of listening nationally for the second consecutive spring survey; the peak in Spring 2003 was 5.0%.
There is no question that the news about audience estimates for CPB-Stations continues to be rather grim.
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Public Radio Nationwide 2005
Public Radio Audience: Down from 27.2 Million to 26.8 Million
Last year we could say that there seemed to be a four-year pattern to the minimal growth in audience estimates reported by Arbitron for CPB-Stations in Public Radio Nationwide. This year, though, we must say that we have seen some firsts, and they are not positive ones to report.
1) For the first time ever, CPB-Stations (P12+, Mon-Sun 6a-12m) have declined in share of listening nationally.
2) For the first time ever, in two successive years, Cume Rating for CPB-Stations has shrunk. From 2004 to 2005, the Rating loss was two-tenths, matching the Rating loss of 2003 to 2004.
3) For the first time ever, in two successive years, AQH persons for CPB-Stations has shrunk. From 2004 to 2005, the loss was 2.3%. It had been a more minimal loss of .3% from 2003 to 2004.
4) For the first time ever, both AQH persons and Cume persons estimates for CPB-Stations have dipped in the same year.
5) For the first time ever, the AQH persons loss year-to-year exceeded 2%. In 2004, the loss had been .3%; in 1988, the loss was 1%.
6) For the first time ever, the Cume persons loss year-to-year exceeded 1%. The 1.5% drop 2004 to 2005, exceeds the .9% loss recorded in 2000, the only other year when CPB-Stations, in total, have lost Cume (in RRC-recorded history).
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Arbitron National Radio Database
Arbitron has recently provided us with some information from its National Radio Database, including Location of Listening data for all radio listening for Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6AM-Midnight, All Arbitron Metros, as well as data for Listening by Preference Level. The data are from the Fall 2003 and Fall 2002 surveys.
As you might expect, the in-car location far and away represents the highest percentage of the national Cume audience, while at-work gets the lion’s share of the average Time Spent Listening. The at-home location has the highest percentage of the AQH audience, however.
P1, or First Preference listeners, represent on average 36% of a station’s diaries and contribute 70% of the quarter-hours. These listeners have on average a weekly Time Spent Listening of 13¼ hours per week in Fall 2003, which is down slightly from 13½ hours per week in Fall 2002.
eRANKS - Public Radio
Who is #1? Find out in eRANKS. For each Arbitron quarterly survey, the RRC presents the Top 30 Public Radio Subscribing Stations ranked by Metro AQH Persons, Metro AQH Share, Metro Cume Persons and Metro Cume Rating (Monday-Sunday, 6AM-Midnight, P 12+).
eRANKS - Non-Commercial Religious Stations
Who is #1? Find out in eRANKS. For each Arbitron quarterly survey, the RRC presents the top Non-Commercial Religious Stations Subscribing Stations ranked by Metro AQH Persons, Metro AQH Share, Metro Cume Persons and Metro Cume Rating (Monday-Sunday, 6AM-Midnight, P 12+).
eTRENDS
The RRC presents the Hourly Trends (Monday-Friday, Saturday and Sunday, P 12+) for a composite of our Full Service stations. Find out how public radio in the current survey compares with the same quarter in previous years. Login by Full and Associate Service Clients required.
Expanded Station Rankings
See the top 50 Arbitron/RRC public radio subscribing stations based on Metro AQH Persons, Metro AQH Share, Metro Cume Rating and Total Market Cume Persons. Also presented are the top public radio stations based on Total Market Cume Persons by Metro Rank. Login by Full and Associate Service clients required.
Ralph Award
The RRC's annual station audience growth award.
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