Radio

Nielsen’s Fractured Fairytales

Time Spent per Occasion, TSPO for short. It’s a PPM metric that you have probably never heard about. You won’t find it in any of the Nielsen monthly market reports. It doesn’t appear in any Nielsen literature. To our knowledge the only time TSPO was shared with the radio community was in 2011 when Arbitron […]

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State of Media 2024 – Hip Hop Radio

State of Media 2024 – Hip Hop Radio Hey there, music aficionados! Today, we’re diving into the world of Hip Hop radio fans.   Harker Bos Group’s study, “The State of Media 2024,” surveyed 500+ U.S. media consumers aged 18+, revealing a fascinating array of preferences from Cable/Satellite TV to the latest Music Streaming Services. […]

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State of Media 2024 – Rock Radio

In today’s blog, we’ll take an in-depth look into Rock radio listeners. All the following data comes from Harker Bos Group’s “The State of Media 2024” report, which can be found here (link). As a quick overview of our general radio findings from that report, we found that 65% of media consumers tune into the […]

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State of Media 2024 – Country Radio

In our latest blog, we explore Country radio enthusiasts. In “The State of Media 2024” study by Harker Bos Group, we surveyed 500+ U.S. media consumers aged 18+, uncovering preferences from Cable/Satellite TV to Music Streaming Services. Our analysis reveals insights across age, gender, and lifestyle/work choices. Join us as we navigate differences between Office […]

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State of Media 2024 – Top 40 Radio

In today’s blog, we dive into what makes Top 40 radio listeners tick. Harker Bos Group recently conducted an in-depth study, “The State of Media 2024,” surveying over 500 U.S.-based media consumers aged 18 and above. The participants showcased diverse preferences across various media, from Cable/Satellite TV to Music Streaming Services. We scrutinized age, gender, […]

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Accuracy, Precision, and why Nielsen numbers deliver neither

It’s easy to confuse accuracy with precision. At first glance, they may seem to be similar or at least related. However, they are very different, particularly when it comes to radio ratings. Ratings can be accurate but not precise. Ratings can be precise and not accurate. And unfortunately for radio, Nielsen ratings are neither. To […]

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Is Nielsen Picking Radio Format Winners & Losers?

Can a company measuring radio station listenership impact the success of music formats? It’s a question Harker Bos Group raised in 2007 when we learned that the largest 50 radio markets would no longer be measured via diary. Instead, with the new method, the Portable People Meter (PPM), stations would encode their programming with an […]

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Maximizing Your Radio Station’s Reach: A Guide to Alexa Integration

Are you a radio station owner or manager looking to expand your reach and connect with a broader audience through smart speakers like Alexa? Look no further! In our radio research studies, we find that typically over half of smart speaker owners are actively listening to local radio via their devices. To tap into this […]

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The Drip Drip Drip of Audience Churn

You may think that steady Nielsen numbers are a sign that the same listeners are tuning to you month after month, but that may not be true. We find that a radio station continually churns listeners, gaining new listeners at the same time it loses other listeners who have stopped listening. Even if your cume […]

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Two-Prong Radio Research: Strategic Studies and Music Tests

In the ever-changing world of radio, staying ahead of the game requires stations to understand their audience and market dynamics. That’s where strategic studies and music tests come into play, working together to help stations optimize their programming and make informed decisions.   Strategic Studies Strategic studies are like a roadmap for radio stations. They […]

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