What You Need to Know About Holiday Diarykeeping and Diary Crediting
While diarykeepers typically record their radio listening by writing down frequencies, call letters and/or Station Names, what happens between Thanksgiving and Christmas when stations shift over to 24/7 Christmas music?
Do diarykeepers continue to record their listening by writing down the station’s primary name? Or do they write down references to “Christmas Music”?
To provide some insight, below are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about holiday diarykeeping and diary crediting and Arbitron’s policy on crediting Christmas entries.
| Fall 2003 Seasonal Entries including the word “Christmas,” “Xmas,” “Seasonal” or “Holiday” |
||
|---|---|---|
| Type of Entry | # of Entries | % of Entries |
| Credited to a station | ||
| Seasonal word combined with additional descriptor (e.g., “Christmas Songs 98.7”) 1 |
1,751 |
87% |
| Seasonal word alone (e.g., “Christmas Songs”) |
148 |
7% |
| Not Credited to a Station | ||
| Seasonal word combined with additional descriptor (e.g., “Christmas Songs 98.7”) |
38 |
2% |
| Seasonal word alone (e.g., “Christmas Songs”) |
80 |
4% |
| Total | ||
2,017 |
100% |
|
Even with more than 375 stations last year reporting to M Street and/or Arbitron that they were broadcasting 24/7 Christmas programming, only 681 diaries (out of more than 457,000 in-tab diaries) included entries with the word “Christmas,” “Xmas,” “Seasonal” or “Holiday.”
In other words, diarykeepers listening to seasonal programming continue to identify their listening by exact frequency, call letters and/or primary Station Name. During the Fall 2003 survey, less than half a percent (actually 0.1%) of the diarykeepers recorded seasonal references for their Christmas music listening.
Of the seasonal entries recorded, the vast majority were combined with a frequency, call letters or Station Name, making it very easy to credit the listening. Eighty-seven percent (87%) of the 2,017 Fall 2003 entries containing the word “Christmas,” “Xmas,” “Seasonal” or “Holiday” in the 681 diaries also contained an additional descriptor to clearly identify to which station the diarykeeper was listening.
Very few of the 2,017 entries could not be credited to a station. You can see a breakout of the entries and their crediting in the chart above. It’s important to keep in mind that the 2,017 seasonal entries is an extremely small percentage of the total entries recorded during the Fall 2003 survey—only 0.03% of the total number of entries recorded during the Fall 2003 survey contained a seasonal reference.2
No, not really. Seventy percent of the 2,017 entries identified a station running 24/7 Christmas programming.
That means that even though a station is not running round-the-clock Christmas programming, diarykeepers sometimes reference the fact that the station is occasionally playing Christmas songs. Remember that since diarykeepers usually include frequency or call letters with seasonal references, there’s no problem crediting these entries.
Only two diarykeepers in the entire Fall 2003 survey recorded a reference to “Navidad,” and both references were credited to a station.
Seasonal diary entries like the “Christmas Music 101.9” entry to the right, are credited to the station clearly identified in the entry. These combined entries are the ones that show up most frequently in diaries.
Lone seasonal entries that do not include additional station descriptors, like the one on the left, may be credited to a station via the self-edit rule.
In cases where the diarykeeper has recorded “101.9 Christmas Music” and then lone “Christmas Music” in the same diary, the “101.9 Christmas Music” entry is credited to the station broadcasting at 101.9, and the lone “Christmas Music” entry in the same diary is credited via the self-edit procedure to the 101.9 station.
Recognizing that more and more stations are now airing special music for the holidays and running 24/7 seasonal programming, any diaries containing lone seasonal entries that cannot be self-edited to a station will be reviewed by a market analyst prior to final crediting. This review includes referencing seasonal Station Names submitted to Arbitron for the Fall 2004 survey and the other seasonal diary entries received during the survey in that particular Metro area.
Stations that primarily air seasonal music should update the Station Name in their Station Information Profile (SIP) with their seasonal identifier for the period in which the seasonal music is being broadcast. Examples of season identifiers include “Holiday Favorites and More,” “The Christmas Music Station,” or “Christmas on the River.” The Station Name submission guidelines, however, must be followed.
When the Station Name is updated, the station is eligible to receive credit for diary entries that reference the station’s “seasonal” Station Name when the identifier is by itself and cannot be credited via the self-edit procedures.
It is not imperative for stations that broadcast Christmas music 24/7 to submit the term “Christmas,” “Xmas” or “Holiday” as their Station Name, unless the term is part of a unique identifier like “Christmas on the River” or “Holiday Happiness.” Diary Processing includes extensive and thorough edit procedures and quality assurance steps to ensure that credit for “generic” seasonal references goes to the most logical station.
Whether or not your station is running Christmas programming, you can always contact the Diary Analysis & Communications team to get answers on your diary crediting issues. To speak with a policy analyst, call (410) 312-8756.
1 The majority of these seasonal entries were combined with a frequency (e.g., “Christmas music 98.7”).
2 2,017 entries divided by (457,973 total in-tab diaries times the approximate 15 entries per diary) equals 0.03%.