Moneyball: Fast Facts About Likely Ratings Participants Who Prefer Top 40 & Hot AC

• Thanks to NuVoodoo EVP Marketing Strategy, Mike O’Connor, for his help with the massive lift of this week’s Moneyball for Radio. 

Fewer than one in five of the roughly 3,200 nationwide radio listeners recruited for NuVoodoo’s 24th Ratings Prospect Study (RPS) model as likely ratings respondents overall. But constituencies expressing a strong preference for either Top 40/CHR or Hot AC format music who also fit the “RPS Yes” ratings prospect profile represent 31% of all CHR/Hot AC listeners in our study. This format segment is more inclined to participate in ratings compared to listeners of other formats, highlighting the critical opportunity for stations to engage this influential audience.

In this two-part series, we’ll explore programming, promotion & marketing, and digital media behavior, uncovering insights radio stations can leverage to capture and engage these highly influential listeners. There’s far more data available that we can possibly cover across two short articles, so NuVoodoo’s team of research and marketing experts invite you and your team to a deep dive at any point. Contact us at tellmemore@nuvoodoo.com.

Part 1: Programming, Audio Entertainment, and Digital Media Consumption

Listener Retention – Minimizing Tune-Out Triggers

With Nielsen’s upcoming shift to the 3-minute quarter-hour, listener retention is more crucial than ever for CHR/Hot AC stations. Every minute matters, so identifying and addressing the factors that drive listeners away can have a significant impact on ratings. Let’s delve into the biggest tune-out catalysts for likely ratings respondents in this format, keeping in mind our benchmark – commercial breaks, which cause 38% of these listeners to tune out often or always. While commercial placements can be optimized, the commercial load overall is the cost of doing business. Here are the tune-out catalysts that out index commercial breaks:

Too many bad songs: A whopping 62% of likely ratings respondents tune out often due to “too many bad songs.” That nearly doubles the potential damage done by commercial breaks for causing the audience to flee “always” or “often”. This highlights the importance of playing the right music and staying in tune with listener preferences.

Hosts/DJs being insulting or hurtful: 56% of these listeners are turned off by hosts or DJs who are insulting or hurtful. This emphasizes the need for on-air personalities to be mindful of their language and maintain a positive and inclusive atmosphere. Our past work has shown that Millennials and Gen Z are more sensitive, particularly when it comes to issues of identity and social justice. This heightened sensitivity aligns with the increased awareness and discourse surrounding these topics in recent years.

And here are a few that more or less come close to the impact of commercial breaks:

Jokes or sketches that just aren’t funny: Better than four in 10 among the formats’ likely ratings respondents tune out often because of unfunny jokes or sketches. Younger Millennials and Gen Z have grown accustomed to viral content and algorithms that curate quality. This digital meritocracy has undoubtedly raised the bar for what is considered entertaining and funny. Staying attuned to the ever-evolving tastes and preferences of their audience is paramount.

Burned out songs: 38% of these listeners are turned off by songs they feel are overplayed. This underscores the importance of maintaining a fresh and dynamic music rotation.

It’s striking how much more tolerant likely ratings respondents are to new, unfamiliar music compared to songs that RPS “Yes” Top 40/Hot AC listeners perceive as “bad” or “burned out.” Only 18% tune-say they tune out often due to new songs they don’t know, a stark contrast to the 62% who are turned off by “too many bad songs” and the 38% who dislike overplayed tracks.

Music testing allows stations to measure the appeal of songs at different levels of familiarity. PTL scores help distinguish between songs that are simply unfamiliar, potential hits and those that genuinely portend low appeal. By identifying potential hits early on, stations can strategically increase statistically significant levels of minute-to-minute song appeal to their audience while cutting bait with songs on a clearly negative track.

NuVoodoo makes it easy for stations to identify and eliminate spoken-word and song-related tune-out triggers. Our library music research and perceptual studies, starting at under $10,000, help stations make fewer unforced errors with their audience. And unlike other research providers who compromise by recycling data through “rolling samples,” NuVoodoo offers ongoing current music testing with full 80- or 100-person discrete week samples, free of damaging research short-cuts, for the same cost as “rolling.” This means you get 100% fresh, recently captured data to ensure your music strategy is always on point.

The Workday

55% of RPS “Yes” format partisans report to a job or operate a business outside the home most to all days of the work week. Only 17% spend the majority of their work time at home, where Digital Streaming Platforms dominate as the primary audio choice. Among working CHR/Hot AC listeners likely to participate in ratings, traditional AM/FM radio still holds its own, but streaming audio services dominate. While a combined 28% of these “Ratings Prospects” listen to AM/FM radio at work, 40% choose streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music. Only slightly less than half of radio’s share of the working audience now listens online or via app, highlighting the importance of a multi-platform strategy.

Audio Media Use

Apps. Among CHR/Hot AC listeners likely to participate in ratings, there’s a strong appetite for listening to radio via station apps. A significant 54% agree that they would listen more if stations offered apps. Yet, despite this expressed interest in listening via station apps, actual usage among likely ratings respondents in the CHR/Hot AC format remains relatively low. 51% in our sample report that they have not listened via a station app any time in the past month, and just 39% have done so in the past week as if the fielding of this study.

This discrepancy between desire and action suggests a significant opportunity for stations to promote their apps and drive adoption among this valuable audience. Nielsen’s companion app, designed to more cost-effectively capture respondent in-tab data, adds another layer to the importance of app usage among likely ratings respondents. The ratings company gamifies compliance by offering incentives via the app. Radio stations can gamify listening in a parallel path. NuVoodoo employs a keyword-based instant-win mobile app game designed to do exactly that for radio clients.

Digital Media – CHR and Hot AC “RPS Yes” Listeners Are Digital Addicts

CHR and Hot AC listeners likely to participate in ratings are deeply immersed in the digital world, exhibiting habits that underscore the importance of a robust digital strategy for any station seeking to engage this valuable audience to drive tune-in occasions.

Podcast Consumption:

Over half of these “Ratings Prospects” engage with podcasts, highlighting the growing popularity of this medium.

20% dedicate a significant portion of their week to podcasts, listening for four or more hours.

Music Streaming:

50% spend four or more hours a week listening to music on digital streaming platforms, underscoring the need for stations to maintain a strong presence in this space.

Social Media Engagement:

Facebook remains a dominant force, especially with partisans above 30, with over half of these listeners using it multiple times a day.

Instagram also sees high engagement, with 50% using it at least twice daily – at even higher levels among younger listeners.

While LinkedIn usage is limited, Snapchat and TikTok are popular among this segment, particularly TikTok, which sees daily engagement from 60% of these listeners.

YouTube is a central hub for entertainment and information, with nearly 70% using it multiple times a day and 20% exhibiting compulsive usage a ten times a day or more..

Overall Digital Consumption:

Nearly a third spend ten or more hours a week on social media, highlighting their deep immersion in the digital world.

In Part 2 next week, we’ll dive into promotion, marketing, and the behaviors of survey-friendly CHR/Hot AC listeners who are most likely to engage with contests and app experiences. From building first-party data to leveraging digital platforms, we’ll break down actionable tactics for stations to deepen engagement with this audience.