Before We Get Deep Into Internet Radio Ratings

Something's been bothering me lately, and it has to do with the way radio industry trade magazines are playing up the release of Ando Media's monthly online radio ratings. I'd like to discuss a few of the reasons this is happening. First, though, I want you to know that a) this topic is something I am extremely close to, and b) I am SVP at Spacial Audio Solutions, what you can call a competitor of Ando Media in most every category except its internet ratings service.

"...it should not be assumed by any radio industry trade publication that the audience ratings being supplied to them are gospel when it comes to defining the internet radio audience."

Ando Media is an established, successful company with a very amicable and business-minded COO. Robert Maccini appears to be (from my few meetings with him) as competent and well-intentioned as those who lead Spacial Audio. This is not an article to bash Ando. Ando Media would not be a competitor if the company wasn't doing a good job.

I'd like to address how it appears that Ando Media Webcast Metrics is being picked up by nearly every trade magazine as the last word in internet radio metrics. There are reasons why we should not be paying such close attention to those headlines stating "CBS Radio Tops Ando Media's Metrics for February" (R&R - March 24, 2009), or "CBS Radio's online cume jumps 13%," as stated at Clear Channel owned-Inside Radio (with a link to the Ando Metric's press release). Another headline implies that the ratings by Ando are all-encompassing: "CBS Tops Web Radio Ratings," provided by Friday Morning Quarterback.

Oh, if you were only fed the truth.

What is being presented as a measurement of online radio's audience and station ratings is not at all indicative of the internet radio industry at large. Fact is (and you can check on this), those stations being reported in the monthly Ando Media Webcast Metrics represent only a sliver of what's available as "stations broadcasting online." Many of those left off the list have audiences which make the top Ando listees dwindle in comparison.

It's not Ando's fault that this perception is being painted. The fault lies in the presentation by radio industry trade publications - none of which see fit to place these ratings in the perspective that they only show a minor number of the stations and radio audiences online.

Consider that Ando's ratings competitor - the comScore/Arbitron measurements - include networks like Ronning Lipset/Targetspot, Live 365, and the ReplaceAds Network, of which none are represented in the Ando Webcast Ratings. Also consider that stations like Virgin Radio, KNAC.COM, SomaFM.com and Spacial Audio's AudioRealm Network of stations (which stream at close to 100 million TTH a month) are not being counted when it's announced "CBS Tops Web Radio Ratings."

Another major point of reference to see is the huge difference in audience size reported when placing Ando Media Webcast Metrics side-by-side with the comScore/Arbriton ratings, using the only two radio groups subscribing to both ratings services.


Months shown end in the last month comScore/Arbitron data was publicly released, November 2008.

While credit should be given when credit is due, it should not be assumed by any radio industry trade publication that the audience ratings being supplied to them are gospel when it comes to defining the internet radio audience.

All too often that is the case. This leaves you with the wrong impression - which is my point, here.

If we are to use numbers to define which station or network is leading, we need to get data from a source that counts all online stations and uses the same methodology, otherwise no assumptions can be made about who is on "top."

At present no such service exists; and none is likely to be created, due to the politics within the internet radio industry.

Some may view the above as a complaint from one who's been left out. There's nothing that can be done to change that opinion, so I'll live with it. But for the open-minded who view the above with a sense of fairness and who observe the inconsistencies described, I'm confident you'll see that no radio group can be proclaimed the "leader" online using the provided information.

You can hear what each group claims to have in its audience. It's just that until you get the logs of each station or use a consistently methodic means of measuring each audience, nobody can claim a kill. We're all limping along trying to get the advertising industry to realize that the internet radio industry delivers accountable response, not audiences so large they stagger the imagination.

It's not the size of your audience that matters within the internet radio industry, but how well you account for audience response once it's been exposed to commercials. That no one is paying attention to this side of the equation bothers me as greatly as how radio industry trades mis-read the internet radio ratings systems.

It's time we pull back from bragging about size. Online it doesn't matter all that much except in 1-to-1 targeting - and that's not a big issue at the moment either.









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