• Chapter 12 • Ratings and Audience Feedback• History of Audience Measurement• Audience research: first appeared in 1920s – station owners became curious about the size of the audience• Data collection– Listeners directed to drop a post card reporting if they heard a particular program or if a signal was clear• Advertiser demands – Need accurate estimates of audience size– Cooperative Analysis of Broadcasting (CAB) founded, 1930, by advertisers• History of Audience Measurement• Telephone Recall Method: – Placing calls at different times during the day to homes selected at random from phone directories (used by C.A.B. until 1946)• Telephone Coincidental Method: – Respondents asked if they were listening to radio at the time of the call; if answer was yes, asked to name the program/station. (better method introduced by C.E. Hooper Co.)• Audimeter: – A mechanical device which collected data from a random sampling of radios; consisted of a stylus that made a scratch on a roll of paper tape synchronized with the radio’s tuning dial• History of Audience Measurement• Audimeter: – Moves to TV in 1950s• Nielsen data formed basis for:– Nielsen Television Index (NTI): reported on network programs– Nielsen Station Index (NSI): reported on local TV markets• American Research Bureau (later called Arbitron): – Uses a “diary” to record data from a sampling of viewers (1949)• Diary provides demographic information• History of Audience Measurement• Nielsen – abandons radio ratings in 1963 • Arbitron – uses diary method to measure local market radio• mid 1960s – 1980s: Nielsen alone provided network TV ratings;• Arbitron competed in the area of local TV market measurement– exited TV ratings business 1993• Storage Instantaneous Audimeter (SIA): – Sends info directly from the audimeter through phone lines to Nielsen’s computers• Possible to publish next day ratings (1960s)• History of Audience MeasurementPeoplemeter (AGB Television Research): Developed to compete with Nielsen; hand-held keypad allowed different viewers to record the shows watched– Advantages• Unaffected by poor memories of people• Data is sent electronically, not via mail• Records data about exactly who is watching what– Disadvantages• Expensive to install and maintain• Hard to measure children’s viewing• Only measures at-home viewing• Audience Research• History of Audience Measurement• For many years…• Nielsen - Dominant in television ratings• Arbitron - Dominant in local market radio ratings– In 2001 acquired RADAR (radio’s all-dimension audience research). Rates network radio listening• Com Score (Media Matrix report) and Nielsen/NetRatings Inc. both collect Internet data• Audience sampling methods• Probability – – Laws of chance bear out that a small sample selected at random (random selection) will yield a representative sample.• Sample frame – – A universe from which survey subjects are drawn.• updated phone directory• census tracts• Audience sampling methods• Random digit dialing – – used to include new, unlisted phone numbers when phone survey is used.• Multistage area probability sampling – – used to ensure the number of sample members chosen from each geographic region will be proportional to the total population of each area.• Problems with Sampling• Point of diminishing returns – – The point at which increasing the sample size yields sucha small increase in reliability that the additional cost is notworth it.• Sampling error – – errors which cannot be avoided relating to the laws of probability.• Nonsampling error – bias injected by survey taker– simple mistakes– misleading questionnaires• Fraud– Station personnel and their families can not participate• Problems Cont.• Advertisers in local markets – very often make decisions based on very narrow margins.– The difference in a 2 or 3 percent rating can be the difference between a buy and a no buy.• Problem: This is based on a relatively small sample. Sometimes as little as 500. Sampling error can be 2-3 percent.• Problems Cont.• Response rate limits in-tab sample (usable sample)– Some segments of population under represented• Weighting• Stratified Sampling• Additional notes on audience measurement for – Television– Radio– Internet• Nielsen measures network, local, and cable television audiences– Nielsen Station Index (NSI)• Local market audience ratings• Covers all 210 television markets– Nielsen Television Index (NTI)• Network audience ratings• Currently report on 20,000 national People Metered homes (approx. 45,000 people) – LA Times, August 2012• Other reports– National and local Hispanic Index (NHSI & NHTI)– Nielsen Syndicated Services details national ratings for syndicated programs– Many other custom reports by request of clients• Data Collection NTI– People Meters• Provide set tuning with demographic information for national samples • Data Collection NSI– SIA’s and diaries in small to mid-sized markets • STI’s measure only what channel is being used – not demographic information (age & gender); diaries report audience composition– Local people meters (LPM)• Latest approach to employ new technologies and methods to expand sample locally• Spurred to some degree from new competition from Rentrak, an established media measurement company that also tracks movie box office receipts and home video• Survey Periods or “Sweeps”• Nielsen Station Index Viewers in Profile (NSI VIP) book– February– May– July– November– 4 week period each month of survey period • Determining Ratings• San Antonio DMA• Determining Ratings– Nielsen TV• Metro• DMA• NSI area• Ratings, Shares, HUTS• Rating= # of TV HHs watching a specific channelTotal TV HHs– Expressed as a percentage %– Total TV HHs represents TOTAL TV HHs in market whether the TV is on or not• Ratings, Shares, HUTS• Share # of TV HHs watching a specific channelHomes Using TV (HUT)– Expressed as a percentage %– # of TV HHs tuned to a specific channel of all TV homes using their TV• Rating and Share CalculationsSAMPLE SIZE: 3,000 Diaries DMA: 5 Millions Homes Data from 6:00-6:15p.m. time period: KAAA-TV 200 households KBBB-TV 425 households WXXX-TV 375 households Independents, cable and public TV 475