Radio Programming: Tactics and Strategy

 

8

Grading Your Programming Performance: What You Need to Know about Ratings

 

 

 

Once upon a time, radio ratings simply estimated the number of listeners age twelve and over (“12+”). In fact, there was a time when they were commonly presented in terms of all listeners age six and over. General circulation newspapers still like to quote radio’s audiences in terms of “12+ shares,” and you’ll usually find them summarized that way in trade magazines, too. Today, though, we are much more concerned with demographics, or specific age groups, and even “psychographics,” which refers to lifestyle and attitude.

The reason for this is simple. Ratings are primarily a sales tool, and these days advertisers want to target their advertising to specific ...