Jottings of note:
Leaping
Digital audio made a significant leap in the share of total national audio ad spending during the first half of 2024, reaching 65% share. We learn this from Inside Radio, which scoops information from advertising planning and data company Guideline. The information is derived from Standard Media Index and is based on actual spending data at ad agencies representing 95% of all U.S. national brand ad spending, which has leaned into audio in recent years. Digital audio investment increased 17% in the first half of 2024, while broadcast investment decreased by the same amount among the national buyers it tracks, according to Inside Radio. See the entire (quite detailed) coverage HERE.
Ratings Excitement
“This one’s a true game-changer.” That’s Fred Jacobs of Jacobs Media, assessing a new method of calculating radio listenership recently announced by Nielsen. The bullet point: Nielsen proposes to reduce the minimum time spent listening from five minutes to three minutes, for a station to receive credit for a quarter hour of owning that listener. Sounds like no big deal? Jacobs explains why thast’s the wrong attitude: “While this may not sound like a major change, Nielsen’s actual numbers recalculated to this new standard generates an average AQH increase of 26% in the total 6+ population.” Then he gets excited: “It’s TWENTY-SIX FREAKING PERCENT!!” It’s only a proposal at this point, and Jacobs fictionalizes a conversation between a radio station and Nielsen to dramatize the issues around the change. READ
September 27, 2024
