Radio terms and calculations
Terms
Adjacency – Commercial that runs immediately before or after
a program or feature.
Bursting - A pattern where heavy advertising has been
concentrated over a short period. For example: one week’s
advertising runs during a four day period.
Affidavit – Written proof-of-performance from a radio station
that a commercial ran as ordered.
Central Area – Central area is a BBM defined geographical area
assigned to a station(s) for reporting purposes. It generally
corresponds to Statistics Canada’s definition of Census
Metropolitan Areas, Census Agglomerations, Cities, Counties,
Census Divisions, or Regional Districts.
Audience Composition - The demographic or socioeconomic
profile of a station's audience in terms of composition usually
including the percentages of the total audience that fall into
each segment. These reports can express audience
characteristics by age, gender, ethnicity, working persons,
language preference, country, etc.
Circulation – The potential daily or weekly coverage of a
station.
Audience Duplication - The amount of one station's cume
audience (see Cume Persons) that also listens to another
station. Duplication can be expressed either in terms of the
actual number of exclusive listeners or as a percentage of the
total cume.
Commercial Clutter - Commercial clutter commonly refers to an
excessive amount of non-program content during the time
period, including the number of commercials, public service
announcements and/or promotional announcements that run in
a commercial break, stop set or specified time period.
Audience Turnover - The radio of a station's cumulative audience (see Cume Persons) compared to the average quarterhour audience. Turnover equals cume persons divided by AQH
persons. In theory, it is the number of times an audience is
replaced by new listener within a daypart.
Composition (Audience) – The percentage of the audience that
are members of a target group. For example: of CXXX’s Adult
18+ audience (or cume), the number (or percent) that are 25-49
years of age.
Continuity - Pattern of uninterrupted advertising activity during
a specified period.
Availabilities – or “avails” are commercial positions available for
sale to advertisers.
Cost Per Rating Point (CPP) - CPPs analyze a schedule based
on the cost of one rating point. It is another method of
comparing the cost efficiency of vehicles. For the calculation
please see the Calculations section.
Average Frequency - Average Frequency refers to the average
number of times a person is exposed to a Radio schedule. For
the calculation please see the Calculations section.
Average Hours Tuned - The Average Hours Tuned to a station
or to Radio by a listener. For the calculation please see the
Calculations section.
Cost Per Thousand (CPM) - The CPM analyzes a schedule based
on the cost of delivering 1,000 impressions. One impression is
one advertisement delivered to or heard by one person. Cost
per thousand is generally calculated on Full Coverage. For the
calculation please see the Calculations section.
Average Quarter Hour Audience - The Average Quarter Hour
(AQH) Audience is the average number of people in a demographic group listening to a station or the Radio during an
average quarter hour in a given time period. For the calculation
please see the Calculations section.
Cume - The estimated number of different persons who tuned
to a station or the radio for at least one quarter hour within a
specified time period. Also called Reach. Each person is
counted only once. The unduplicated number of people tuned
one or more times to a station in a given time frame (i.e.
Potential coverage or circulation of a station).
Average Quarter Hour Rating - The Average Quarter Hour
Rating expresses the average quarter hour audience as a
percentage of the population in the geographically defined
area. It is often known of as a rating point.
Cume Rating - The cume audience expressed as a percentage
of the population in a geographically defined area. Also called
Percent Reach.
BBM Canada - BBM is a non-profit tripartite research company,
which surveys and reports radio listening habits across Canada.
Dayparts - The broadcast day is divided into dayparts or time
blocks/periods. The definition of the dayparts will vary between
stations. Here is an example:
Blinking/bunching - Advertising activity over a short period. For
example: one week on – one week off – one week on.
Breakfast/Morning Drive
Mid-Day:
Afternoon/Evening Drive
Evening:
Bonus - Additional commercials given to an advertiser, usually
at no charge, in return for a paid schedule.
Broadcast Coverage Area - The geographic area within which a
signal from an originating station can be received.
1
Monday - Sunday
Monday - Sunday
Monday - Sunday
Monday - Sunday
5:00am - 10:00am
10:00am - 3:00pm
3:00pm - 8:00pm
8:00pm - 1:00am
Radio terms and calculations
Direct Response Advertising - Direct response refers to any
advertising that has a built-in call to action to elicit a response
within a defined period of time after exposure to the
announcement. Phone calls, online orders, and visits to a
location would be examples of a direct response advertising.
Full Coverage Area - Full coverage refers to a station’s total
audience, tabulated from all diaries that reported tuning to the
station regardless of the sampling cell from which the diary
originated. Full coverage audiences may not be expressed as a
percentage because a geographic area is not defined. Percent
reach and rating cannot be computed for a station’s full coverage audience.
Effective Reach - The average number of people that will hear a
commercial at least three times during a campaign.
Gross Impressions - The total number of exposures to a media
schedule or the total number of times a commercial is heard.
Endorsement - Refers either to a situation where the station or
personality "endorses" the advertiser's product or service,
usually "live" on-air or the notification on the affidavit supplied
by the station to the client that attests to the affidavit's
accuracy as to how the spots were broadcast.
Gross Rating Points (GRPs) - GRP equals the percentage of the
target group that will hear the ad, multiplied by the average
number of times heard per person. Therefore:
GRP = % target audience reached x frequency
For example, if you plan 300 GRPs per week against a given
target group, you can reach 65% of that group, an average of
4.6 times. 300 GRPs = 65 x 4.6
Flighting – The period during which an advertiser runs their
advertising (less than 52 weeks) as opposed to continuous
advertising. Periodic waves of advertising, separated by periods
of total inactivity.
Index - A comparison between the market composition and the
target composition. It is a measure of concentration or
likelihood. It tells us whether a specific group is more or
less likely to meet a given criteria.
Format Adult Contemporary (AC)
Hot Adult Contemporary
Classic/Mainstream Rock
Modern/Alternative Rock
Mainstream Top 40/CHR
Urban
News/Talk
Sports and sports talk
Country
Gold/Oldies
Classical/Fine Arts
Adult Standards
Jazz
Religion
Ethnic/Multi-cultural
Multi/Variety/Specialty
Includes soft rock, light rock, soft pop
Includes modern, adult pop/CHR
Includes classic rock, AOR, mainstream rock
Includes modern and alternative rock
Includes dance, contemporary hit radio,
(Contemporary Hit Radio), current hits
Includes reggae, r&b, hip hop
Includes talk, business and news
Includes play-by-play sporting events and
sports talk
Includes new country and old country
Includes classic hits, oldies
Includes concert music, arts and cultural
topics
Includes big band, nostalgia
Includes NAC, smooth jazz, jazz, blues
Includes gospel and inspirational music/talk
Includes ethnic and multicultural, block
programming
Includes a variety of programs appealing to
different demo groups
Release Dates
P = Publication date
C = CD/Book release
Survey 4
Sept. 5 - Oct. 30
Dec. 5 (P)
Jan. 5 (C)
Survey 1
Jan. 9 - Mar. 5
April 10 (P)
May 3 (C)
Survey 2
May 1 - June 25
July 31 (P)
Aug. 23 (C)
Survey 3
July 3 - 16
Oct. 2 (P)
Oct. 27(C)
* Contact RMB’s Research Department for exact dates
Percent Reach - This is the reach audience expressed as a
percentage of the population of a geographically defined
area(s). Also called Cume Rating. For the calculation
please see the Calculations section.
Reach - Reach is the estimated number of different people who
listened to a station or to Radio for at least one-quarter hour
within a specified time block. A person who listened for only 15
minutes during the time period Monday to Friday 6:00am to
10:00am, and a person who listened all four hours each day are
counted the same in a reach estimate. Each person is counted
only once. It is an unduplicated or cumulative audience. Also
referred to as CUME. Reach is calculated directly by the
computer from the diaries.
Radio Survey Schedule*
Measurement Period
Live Read - A specific commercial type where the
announcement is read "live" on-air by a station
personality.
Pulsing - A pattern that employs an uneven distribution of
advertising weight over time, using regular, non-regular or
no spacing between schedules. For example: four weeks at 30
spots per week followed by 20 spots a week for 2 weeks.
Frequency of Measurement - The number of surveys varies by
market. This chart describes the frequency of all BBM Radio
surveys:
Survey
Lead Time - The minimum amount of time necessary for
the station to be informed in advance of schedule
placement, or changes that are requested by the client in
a buy already scheduled to run. Can also refer to the
amount of time between the announcement of a possible
campaign and the actual dates it is scheduled to run.
Remote – on location broadcast.
2
Radio terms and calculations
RTS (Return to Sample) - RTS Canada is the largest syndicated
consumer study, offering unprecedented detail into the media
and consumer preferences of Canadians. The study, released
every six months, provides a wealth of information including
demographics, media habits, shopping habits, psychographics,
and leisure activities. In addition to national data, RTS allows
provincial/regional breakdowns and is available for 11 individual
markets including Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary,
Edmonton, London, Halifax, Kitchener, Hamilton, Montreal, and
Quebec City. This database allows sales reps to become
consultants to their existing and potential clients by providing
valuable information, not only on Radio, but on other media as
well.
Target Demo - The age and characteristic make-up of the group
deemed to be targeted for reach by the media campaign. The
age group and make-up of the audience that you wish to
receive your product or service message.
Total Hours Tuned - Total Hours Tuned is the sum of all hours
of tuning done by the persons reached by the station or the
Radio. For the calculation please see the Calculations section.
Turnover - Turnover is the number of times the audience
changes during a time period. It explains the relationship
between AQH and cume. A low turnover factor indicates a
better frequency builder and a high turnover factor indicates
faster cume growth. For the calculation please see the
Calculations section.
Share of Hours - The percentage of the total hours of Radio
tuning done in a geographically defined area, to a specific
station at a given time. For the calculation please see the
Calculations section.
Sliding - A schedule in which the pattern of advertising
changes over the course of a campaign, in terms of advertising
weight and spacing intervals. Generally refers to a campaign
pattern of heavy weight at the start. As the campaign
progresses the weight is reduced, with the hiatus between
schedules increased.
Sponsorship - The purchase of more than one commercial
within a program, usually at a premium rate. Can refer to the
purchase of all or part of a Radio program by one advertiser.
3
Radio terms and calculations
Calculations
Average Hours Tuned - Average hours tuned per listener is
calculated by dividing the total hours tuned to a station or to
Radio by the reach.
Example:
Interpretation: Adult
listeners 18-49 tuned to
Radio for an average of
5.8 hours during the
breakfast daypart.
Average
Example:
Station CAAA
Quarter Hour
z Population: All persons 18-49 in the market:
Rating - The
179,220
average
z Average quarter hour audience between 6:00
quarter hour
to 10:00 a.m.,Monday to Friday, is 11,206
rating is
Average Quarter Hour Rating =
calculated by
Average quarter hour audience x
100
dividing the
Target Population
average
6.3
x 100
=
11,206
quarter hour
179,220
audience by
the target population, and multiplying by 100.
z Adults (18-49), Monday - Friday,
6:00-10:00 a.m.
z Total hours tuned: 12,162,300
z Reach of station/radio: 2,085,300
Average Hours Tuned =
=
12,162,300
2,085,300
5.8
Average Frequency - To calculate average frequency, you need
the following two numbers: Gross Rating Points (GRPs) and
Percent Reach
Example:
Average Frequency =
z GRPs:
150
GRP
z Percent Reach:
50
Percent Reach
Interpretation: The average quarter hour rating for 6:00 a.m. to
10:00 a.m. on Monday through Friday against adults 18-49 is
6.3.
Average Frequency =
150
50
= 3 times
Cost Per Thousand (CPM) - To calculate CPM, you need Gross
Impressions and total schedule cost.
Interpretation: On average,
each person reached by this
schedule will hear the commercial three times. Because of listening habits, some of the people reached will hear it only once,
but the AVERAGE frequency will be three.
Cost per Thousand =
Interpretation: The cost per
thousand is $9.73.
Average Quarter Hour Audience - AQH audience is calculated
by summing the estimated audiences for each quarter hour
period and then dividing by the number of quarter hours in the
time period.
Interpretation
If an advertiser
placed only one
occasion on
CAAA in a
random quarter
hour during
6:00 a.m. and
10:00 a.m. on
Monday
through Friday,
the estimated
average
audience to
have heard the
advertisement
would be 11,206
people.
Please note: Cost per
thousands are generally
calculated on Full
Coverage.
Time Period
6:00 – 6:15 am
6:15 – 6:30 am
6:30 – 6:45 am
6:45 – 7:00 am
7:00 – 7:15 am
7:15 – 7:30 am
7:30 – 7:45 am
7:45 – 8:00 am
8:00 – 8:15 am
8:15 – 8:30 am
8:30 – 8:45 am
8:45 – 9:00 am
9:00 – 9:15 am
9:15 – 9:30 am
9:30 – 9:45 am
9:45 – 10:00 am
TOTAL:
X
Example
Gross Impressions
(Adults 18–49)
Total Schedule Cost
1000
= 205,500
= $2,000
CPM = $2,000
205,500
x
1,000
=
$9.73
Cost Per Rating Point (CPP) - To calculate cost per rating point,
you need the total rating points delivered by a schedule and the
cost of the schedule.
Example: Station CAAA
Mon-Fri
Mon-Fri
Mon-Fri
Mon-Fri
Mon-Fri
Mon-Fri
Mon-Fri
Mon-Fri
Mon-Fri
Mon-Fri
Mon-Fri
Mon-Fri
Mon-Fri
Mon-Fri
Mon-Fri
Mon-Fri
Total Schedule Cost
Gross Impressions
Adults 18-49 (00)
78
90
118
91
144
140
115
102
142
135
105
106
111
107
106
103
1,793
Example
Cost of Schedule
GRPs
CPP = $2,000
114.6
Cost per Rating Point =
Cost of Schedule
GRPs
= $2,000
=
114.6
= $17.45
Gross Impressions - Gross Impressions are calculated by adding
up the impressions or average quarter hour audience estimates
for each spot.
Interpretation: The commercial is potentially heard 205,500
times by the 18 – 49 audience with the schedule of spots. This
figure includes DUPLICATION – people who hear the
commercial more than once.
Example
Dayparts
Average Quarter Sum of AQH Audiences
Hour Audience = Number of Quarter Hours
=
179,300
16
11,206
=
M-F
M-F
M-F
Sat
Sun
AQH Audience
Adults 18-4
49 (00)
6:00-10:00am
10:00am-3:00pm
3:00-7:00pm
7:00am-7:00pm
7:00am-7:00pm
112
101
105
58
35
# of
Spots
x
x
x
x
x
5
5
5
5
5
Gross Impressions (00)
4
Gross
Impressions
=
=
=
=
=
560
505
525
290
175
2,055
Radio terms and calculations
Optimum Effective Scheduling System (OES) - OES is a buying
and scheduling concept that was specifically designed for and
proven on Radio. Research indicates that OES Radio campaigns
are eight times more likely to produce results than non-OES
schedules. Consumers must be exposed to an advertising
message a minimum of three times. OES involves repetition and
concentration – breaking through the clutter to achieve
threshold advertising levels. This results in campaigns with a
greater number of occasions than traditional schedules.
Total Hours Tuned - It is calculated by multiplying the AQH
audience by the number of quarter hours in the time period
and dividing by 4
Example:
(the number of
z AQH audience, Monday - Friday, 6:00quarter hours in
10:00am, Adults 25-54: 3,069
an hour).
z # of Quarter hours Monday - Friday,
6:00-10:00am: 80
Interpretation:
Total hours of
Total Hours Tuned
tuning to Station
=
3,069 X 80
CAAA Monday4
Friday 6:00 to
61,380
=
10:00am by
adults 25-54 is
61,380.
The essential figures are the station’s turnover ratio and the
OES spot factor of 3.29:
1.
Calculate the station’s turnover ratio for a broad
demographic, Monday – Sunday 5:00am to 1:00am
Example: Turnover Ratio =
350,000
24,000
=
Reach
AQH
Turnover - Turnover is calculated by dividing the station’s reach
audience by its average quarter hour audience.
14.5
Turnover
2. Multiply the turnover ratio times 3.29 to determine the
number of spots per week.
Example:
3.29
x
Turnover Ratio
14.5
# of Occasions
48 spots
=
Example:
Station
Percent Reach - Percent reach is calculated by dividing the
reach audience by the target population and multiplying by 100.
Example:
Station CAAA
z Reach: Adults 18-49: 63,300
z Adults 18-49 in the market: 179,220
Percent Reach =
=
=
Reach
x 100
Target Population
63,300
179,220
35.3%
x 100
Share of Hours - It is calculated by dividing a station’s total
hours of tuning by the total hours of tuning in the market, and
multiplying by 100.
Interpretation:
Station CAAA’s
share of total
hours tuned,
Mon-Fri,
6:00am to
10:00am
against adults
18-49 in the
market is 17.1
percent.
Example:
Station CAAA
z CAAA’s hours: Monday - Friday, 6:0010:00am, Adults 18-49: 6,000
z Total Hours of Tuning in Market: 35,000
Share of Hours =
x
100
CAAA’s hours
Total hours of tuning in market
=
6,000
35,000
x
Reach Audience
Average Quarter Hour Audience
Interpretation: The audience of Station CAAA turned over 2.6
times during the 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm time period. Station
CCCC’s audience turned over 8.2 times. A low turnover factor
indicates a better frequency builder and a high turnover factor
indicates faster CUME growth.
3. Run the spots with a guaranteed even distribution
across all days and dayparts, Monday – Sunday,
5:00am to 1:00am
Interpretation:
Breakfast on
CAAA has a reach
potential of
35.3% against all
persons 18 – 49 in
the specified
market.
=
100 = 17.1%
5
Monday - Friday, 3:00 - 7:00pm
Reach
Audience
Average Quarter
Hour Audience
Turnover
CAAA
2,140
/
810
=
2.6
CBBB
CCCC
950
735
/
/
145
90
=
=
6.6
8.2
Radio terms and calculations
BBM Audience Estimates – Do’s and Don’ts
Sometimes it’s necessary to combine certain demographics,
stations or dayparts to obtain an estimate not reported in
BBM’s market books. Certain audience estimates can be
combined while others cannot. The following chart provides a
quick reference to combining numbers:
Do’s and Dont’s
BBM Audience Figure
Station
CUME (Reach)
NO
CUME (Rating)
NO
Average Quarter Hour (AQH)
YES
Audience
AQH Rating
YES
Shares
YES
Demographic
YES
NO
YES
Daypart
NO
NO
NO
Stations: AQH Audiences, AQH ratings and shares can be
combined to determine the total for more than one station in
NO
NO
a market. However, due to duplication between stations, cumes
NO
NO
cannot be added to produce a relevant number. A person
counted in the cume for station CAAA may also have listened The chart assumes exclusive demographics and dayparts as well as a
to station CBBB and counted in that station’s cume. Therefore, constant geography.
adding cume estimates would result in an inflated figure.
Demographic: AQH audience and cume estimates can be added to arrive at a combined figure for demographics not reported by
BBM. For example, adding the men 25-34 and men 35-64 estimates provides the audience of men 25-64.
AQH ratings and percent reach cannot be combined as the base population of each demographic is different. However, it is possible
to obtain these figures for more than one demographic by combining the AQH or cume audience and dividing by the total
population for both age groups.
Shares cannot be added due to the different base (total hours tuned) for each demographic. Adding shares across demographics
produces meaningless figures.
Daypart: As with stations, cume figures cannot be added due to the duplication between dayparts. A person listening to a station
during the breakfast period and later the drive period would be counted as part of the cume for both dayparts.
Shares, AQH audience and ratings cannot be added as the result would be a total of two averages. Also, combining these figures
does not take into account that the number of quarter hours in each daypart may be different. This means that each audience
figure was calculated using a different quarter hour base.
S e a s o n a l i t y/ T i m e l i n e s
Season
January/February
Demand
Low
March/April
Medium/Low
May/August
Very Heavy
Mid-August/September
October
November/December
Heavy
Medium/Heavy
Very Heavy
Rationale
Lead Time
z Traditionally a low advertising season which is
especially true for retailers
z Some Valentine’s Day
z Financial Institutions will drive up demand in
February advertising RSPs
10+ weeks
Other Major/
Minor Markets
8+ weeks
z Overall advertising starts to pickup
z Easter
10+ weeks
8+ weeks
z Particularly young skewing stations due to beer/
pop advertising
z Other products with high summer consumption
12+ weeks
10+ weeks
z Back to School
z Especially heavy with retailers
12+ weeks
10+ weeks
z Thanksgiving
z Halloween
z Some pre-Christmas starts
12+ weeks
10+ weeks
z Pre-Christmas advertising rush
12+ weeks
10+ weeks
6
Tor./Van./Cal.