Does radio have a data problem? Xperi’s Senior Vice President of Commercial Strategy and Partnerships Joe D’Angelo believes so and he isn’t shy about naming it.
D’Angelo argues the industry is operating across several “data deserts.” That’s what he labels gaps in measurement that leave broadcasters without the information they need to compete.
Sample size is where it starts according to the Xperi executive.
“An estimated 2,000 people in the Miami market dictate how radio is programmed and sold for hundreds of thousands of listeners,” said D’Angelo.
He contrasts that against the potential of “digitally tracking in-vehicle radio listenership in the 96,000 vehicles across the entire Miami market that have that capability.”
The consequences of thin samples show up in the rankings. A Florida hip hop station recently fell “from #2 to #20,” said D’Angelo, apparently losing ground to a news/talk station.
D’Angelo questions the finding. “A demographic that usually opts to escape into music, in this case hip hop, is unlikely to suddenly change taste,” he said.
Small markets face an even starker reality. D’Angelo points to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, as a market dropped entirely from nationally recognized rankings. Winter Haven, Florida tells a similar story.
“The ranking sample audience aged and departed this earth, but the diaries didn’t,” D’Angelo said.
Then there’s timing.
“Traditional rankings can take weeks, months, or even half a year to get back to broadcasters,” said D’Angelo. He argued that it’s too late to tell if it’s working or not. If a program director runs a stunt or celebrity interview, he argues, “seeing performance the next day, rather than in three months…would enable rapid decisions on whether to end the effort or double down.”
The final gap, D’Angelo said, is transparency. “Stations are unable to see, on a daily basis, where or when their listeners are consuming specific content, who they are and, importantly, how all those metrics stack up against all the other stations in their extended area.”
D’Angelo’s comments come as Xperi unveils its Broadcaster Portal Premium. The premium tier builds on the existing DTS AutoStage platform, now integrated into more than 16 million vehicles globally. Those vehicles generate more than 34 million hours of listening data per month in the U.S. alone. For the first time, subscribing stations can access competitive rankings by daypart in near real-time. It also offers expanded music charts that are exportable. Interested parties can learn more by emailing D’Angelo here.
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