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Archive for Monday, November, 9, 2009

Internet Measurement Features New Metrics…

Monday, November, 9, 2009 by Mel Phillips.

When Ando Media, the Internet measurement people decided to change their metrics to more accurately reflect the results of their study, they may have hit on something that radio should consider. Ando, which sounds like a character on a SyFy series, decided to can the old radio measurement metrics, the equivalent of average quarter hour and cume shares in favor of “Session Starts”, ”Average Active Sessions” and “Average Time Spent Listening.” The first category is defined as “The number of streams of one minute or more that are started within a time period.” “Average Active Sessions” are “The number of streams of one minute or more that are active within a time period.” The only carry-over equivalent from the old radio metrics, “Average Time Spent Listening” is defined as “The average number of hours for each session lasting more than one minute within a time period.” As Ando CEO Robert J. Maccini explains, “Terrestrial radio AQH and Cume measurements are not the best metrics for measuring today’s audience delivered via a digital channel and do not accurately pertain to online audio.” Since terrestrial radio listening has changed to reflect the many choices listeners have, resulting in less time spent listening to one source, maybe it’s time to change radio measurement metrics…

As for the results of the new Ando Media monthly Internet Audio measurement made from May through September, 2009, CBS Interactive led the radio pack, followed by Citadel, Cox Radio and Entercom. All four finished in the top 10. Ando will be adding “Domestic Listenership” in their next ranker and Pandora will appear for the first time. I don’t hold much credence to results of Internet ratings because not every Internet source is measured, case-in-point, how come Pandora wasn’t included until now? And how many other Internet listening posts are not included yet???

With the average length of terrestrial radio listening changing so quickly, does it still make sense to measure it by Average Quarter Hour? Keep the Cume and Time Spent Listening but shorten the duration of each category to reflect reality. This is not your grandfather’s radio anymore…

10 Timeline Memories:

1872] Beantown’s ablaze: The Great Boston Fire kills 20, causing millions of dollars in damage…
1888] The Ripper rests: Jack the Ripper kills Mary Jane Kelly, his last known victim…
1913] Great Lakes storm: More than 250 die in the most destructive natural disaster ever to hit the Great Lakes — 19 ships are destroyed…
1938] Kristallnacht: Nazi troops and sympathizers destroy and loot Jewish businesses, burn synagogues and kill 91 Jews. They also round up 25,000 in an event known as ‘Kristallnacht‘ or ‘Night of Broken Glass’…
1953] Supes Rule: Somehow the Supreme Court upholds a 1922 ruling that major league baseball does not come within the scope of federal antitrust laws. Were there 9 justices named Ito???
1965] Lights out: The great northeast blackout turns the lights out in 9 states and two provinces of Canada. It affects 25 million people for more than 13 hours. Dan Ingram was on WABC at the time of the blackout…
1967] On the cover of Rolling Stone: The first issue of Rolling Stone Magazine is published with John Lennon gracing the cover…
1979] False alarm: NORAD computers and a military command center in Maryland detect a massive Soviet nuclear missile attack. After reviewing the raw data, guess what? No attack. Oops…
1989] Wall? What wall?: Happy Germans dance on top of the Berlin Wall as Communist East Germany opens its borders, allowing citizens to travel freely to the west…
2005] Suicide kills: Three suicide bombers carry out nearly simultaneous attacks on three U.S. based hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing 60 and wounding hundreds…

Music Memories:

1962] Released on this date: “You Really Got A Hold On Me” - Miracles…1963] “Louie, Louie” - Kingsmen…1973] “Piano Man” (LP) - Billy Joel…
1966] Number One on this date: 1966] “Poor Side Of Town” - Johnny Rivers…1978] “MacArthur Park” - Donna Summer…1985] “The Theme From Miami Vice” - Jan Hammer…

Commentary:

Mark down Tuesday, November 17th. That’s the date that the New York Section of the Audio Engineering Society will meet. The topic: New Research at the Intersection of Audio, Music and Therapy. Hosting the meeting will be Jonathan S. Abrams, chief technical engineer, Nutmeg Audio Post and Dr. Robert Rowe of NYU. Guests and friends should arrive at 7:30 pm for the 3-hour meeting at the New School University Jazz Performance Space, 55 West 13th Street, 5th floor, Manhattan…