New Radio Rating System from Arbitron Shows Immediate Impact of An All-Christmas Format on the Radio Audience

Houston radio station sees 50% increase in daily audience

Nearly 300 radio stations around the country have switched to the all-Christmas music format. What’s the impact of round-the-clock Yuletide carols on station ratings? Because radio listeners haven’t been electronically counted the way TV viewers are, most of these radio stations will have to wait two months or more to learn how many people listen when radio rocks around the Christmas tree. That’s all about to change.

Thanks a new electronic measurement system – the Arbitron Portable People Meter (PPM)– Houston radio stations can get immediate and detailed audience ratings when they make a programming change such as going “All Christmas.”

KODA-FM in Houston switched to “All Christmas” on November 18. Instead of having to wait until January for the standard Arbitron market report to be released, the station can see almost immediately that that there’s been a big increase in their audience.

According to the Arbitron PPM, the station’s daily audience increased by as many as 300,000 listeners. The station’s “typical” daily audience in the weeks before the switch to Christmas was approximately 585,000 persons age 12 and older. Starting the day after Thanksgiving, as people became more in the holiday spirit, the daily audience began a steady rise. On December 13, the station garnered a peak daily audience of 881,000 listeners. Having this kind of information available to both stations and advertisers could prove to be invaluable.