Out of tune?

Guest Column

ACNielsen ORG-MARG's annual radio review suggests that media planners may be focusing on the wrong target audience

The number of housewives and retired consumers that are active radio listeners is almost twice the number of teenagers that tune into radio in Mumbai according to the findings in ACNielsen ORG-MARG's Radio Review, an annual compilation of radio audience measurement findings across rounds.

ACNielsen ORG-MARG's Radio Audience Measurement (RAM), a periodic syndicated study conducted in Mumbai, collects and interprets information about radio listenership and the listening habits of radio owners.

The review combines survey findings across four rounds, tracking evolving listener preferences to provide advertisers and marketers a sharper focus in targeting select consumer profiles through a media channel with a growing consumer base.

A wider understanding of channel brand awareness, age and occupational listening preferences can help devise more effective media plans.

This round of RAM estimates housewives and retired consumers as comprising 49 per cent of the radio-listening population. Consumers at the clerical/salesman level are the third largest segment of the radio listening universe.

Surprisingly, while shop owners and self-employed professionals do not form a majority of the radio listening population, they seem to be consuming more radio than consumers of any other profile. Findings indicate that they listen to an average of over 220 minutes of radio a day.

Businessmen/ industrialists and those at a supervisory level come in next in terms of the amount of time spent listening to radio with over 160 minutes dedicated to radio listening every day.

This indicates that radio is an apt medium for targeting consumers like the self-employed and the entrepreneurial class, who have a greater purchasing power.

Channel brand awareness trends

The initial and continuing media and communication activity as a result of radio stations launching and promoting themselves shows the importance of channel brand awareness and its impact on listenership trends.

RAM indicates that among private FM stations, Radio Mirchi leads the awareness charts across rounds with Radio City in close pursuit. Other private players have trailed behind in terms of awareness.

Channels that have cross-promoted themselves have driven listeners towards them more rapidly.

Interestingly, awareness levels of government- owned Vividh Bharati ranks third in terms of overall awareness, ahead of private players RED, WIN and GO.

For private radio channels, it is higher in teens and young adults while awareness for government-owned AIR Primary and Vividh Bharati is higher amongst older listeners.

Channel brand awareness also differs by socio-economic class, with private FM channels registering higher awareness in the upper SEC A and B.

Time slot trends

Studying differing demographic profiles and their radio listening behaviour yields interesting insights in terms of effectively targeting products and services to select audiences.

Shopkeepers , for instance, exhibit a preference for radio listening at the start of their work day between 8 am and 12 noon. Smaller business men prefer the 8 am to 10 am time band and noon to catch up on their radio listening.

Across rounds however, listenership amongst smaller businessmen indicates a sharp rise in listenership during the 8 pm "" 10 pm time band and during the late night band between 10 pm and midnight.

Listenership trends for larger businessmen displays a sharp rise in listenership during the early morning (6 am""8 am). Among self"" employed professionals, the early morning (6 am ""8 am) slot and the late night slot (10 pm-12 pm) attracts the greatest number of listeners.

Radio listeners categorised as 'supervisory' by occupation, tend to tune in to radio during the early morning and late morning periods.

Listenership during the night and the late night slots for this class of listeners registers a surge during the latest round (4) after a decline during rounds 2 and 3.

Executives prefer tuning in early mornings and late at night. A greater number of senior executives indulge in radio listening in the morning and late evening. This may be attributed to to tuning in on the way to work and back.

The second largest constituent of the radio listening populace, students, switch on their radios late morning, mid day and late in the evening (6 pm-8 pm).

Housewives and retired consumers, the largest segment of radio listeners, listen to the radio during the first half of the day.

More housewives seem to have begun starting their day with radio, presumably, while tending to their household chores. These time preferences have implications for marketers of household and retirement products.

Advertisers can raise their return on media investments by accurately targeting products aimed at these demographics by promoting products and services during time slots where they are likely to maximise their reach amongst the target consumer segment.

Age and average time spent analysis

Analysing radio listenership by age indicates that younger listeners prefer to tune in during mornings, late mornings and mid day.

While this is true of adult and middle aged listeners as well, they exhibit a marked preference for the early morning slot and indicate a growing preference for late night programming.

The average time spent listening to radio appears to have stabilised at 140 minutes. Young adults listen to more radio (almost 160 minutes a day) than other age groups.

Across SECs, the time spent listening to radio displays shifts over time. SEC A registers a drop in the time spent listening from 152 minutes in round 3 to 135 minutes in round 4.

Radio listeners within SEC C have increased their exposure to radio listening "" from 135 minutes in round three to 155 minutes in round 4.

The writer is senior manager, ACNielsen ORG-MARG