Comments on: The Real Story on Radio “Metrics” http://mwgblog.com/archives/2007/04/06/the-real-story-on-radio-metrics/ Michael W. Geoghegan's Weblog Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:16:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Podcasting Tricks - Podcasting How-To Site http://mwgblog.com/archives/2007/04/06/the-real-story-on-radio-metrics/comment-page-1/#comment-43553 Podcasting Tricks - Podcasting How-To Site Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:46:02 +0000 http://mwgblog.com/archives/2007/04/06/the-real-story-on-radio-metrics/#comment-43553 [...] [...] [...] [...]

]]> By: Michael http://mwgblog.com/archives/2007/04/06/the-real-story-on-radio-metrics/comment-page-1/#comment-43063 Michael Sat, 07 Apr 2007 18:33:55 +0000 http://mwgblog.com/archives/2007/04/06/the-real-story-on-radio-metrics/#comment-43063 Scott, Thanks for the comment. The more I speak with people the more clear it becomes that what they want is not necessarily the "right" number as much as numbers and a standard (as you put it) that everyone can agree to. Then they can just apply their own discount metrics. Makes sense. As I said, no one loses their job for trusting Arbitron... Scott,

Thanks for the comment. The more I speak with people the more clear it becomes that what they want is not necessarily the “right” number as much as numbers and a standard (as you put it) that everyone can agree to. Then they can just apply their own discount metrics. Makes sense. As I said, no one loses their job for trusting Arbitron…

]]> By: Scott Bourne http://mwgblog.com/archives/2007/04/06/the-real-story-on-radio-metrics/comment-page-1/#comment-43034 Scott Bourne Sat, 07 Apr 2007 14:53:31 +0000 http://mwgblog.com/archives/2007/04/06/the-real-story-on-radio-metrics/#comment-43034 MWG this is a good post. I have been telling podcasters for two years to stop letting the ad agencies push them around on this. The agencies accept the Arbitron numbers as Gospel. In smaller markets, as few as 50 diaries are mailed out. That doesn't mean 50 are turned in. And careers and companies are on the line. When someone asks me how I know a listener who actually downloaded my podcast really listsned, I respond by asking them if they hold radio to the same standard. How do they know someone listened to the ad they ran on their local radio station? They don't. But it doesn't stop them from buying the ad. We need to stop letting advertisers hold us to a higher standard than they do other media. Period. I've heard lots of back and forth over which stats we get are real. It doesn't matter. What matters is getting a STANDARD like the Arbitron ratings, that the advertisers will buy into. We need less talk about whether hits, downloads, subscriptions or RSS feeds are accurate, and more talk about creating a unified, industry standard that we can provide the advertisers access to through a third party. Thanks for bringing this up. MWG this is a good post. I have been telling podcasters for two years to stop letting the ad agencies push them around on this. The agencies accept the Arbitron numbers as Gospel. In smaller markets, as few as 50 diaries are mailed out. That doesn’t mean 50 are turned in. And careers and companies are on the line.

When someone asks me how I know a listener who actually downloaded my podcast really listsned, I respond by asking them if they hold radio to the same standard. How do they know someone listened to the ad they ran on their local radio station? They don’t. But it doesn’t stop them from buying the ad.

We need to stop letting advertisers hold us to a higher standard than they do other media. Period.

I’ve heard lots of back and forth over which stats we get are real. It doesn’t matter. What matters is getting a STANDARD like the Arbitron ratings, that the advertisers will buy into. We need less talk about whether hits, downloads, subscriptions or RSS feeds are accurate, and more talk about creating a unified, industry standard that we can provide the advertisers access to through a third party.

Thanks for bringing this up.

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