Post by plannine on Mar 6, 2007 18:07:20 GMT -5
[edited to fit post]
KATZ MEDIA GROUP RELEASES FALL 2006 NATIONAL FORMAT AVERAGES & SHARE TRENDS
New York, NY March 1, 2007 -- The Katz Media Group has recently concluded the Fall 2006 National Format Averages and Share Trends report. Highlights of the report follow directly. View the entire study at www.katz-media.com.
Demographics Play an Ever Increasing Role in Format Trends
The latest Katz Media Group Radio National Format Averages report for all Fall 2006 markets shows how demographics continue to play an increasing role in analyzing the shifts seen among formats.
Radio has always featured formats that appeal to specific age groups and programming tastes, and that quality has not changed over the years. In fact, Katz Media now tracks more formats than ever before, proving that radio programming continues to evolve. This continuing development affects the audience share trends of all formats from one year to the next.
Greater Stability Among Broad-Based Formats
This year we see a pattern that show more stability among broad-based formats, particularly those targeting 25-54 year-olds .Many formats with broad demographic appeal finish either higher or remain stable from a year ago. These formats include Adult Contemporary, Soft Adult Contemporary, Country, News and News/Talk. A similar trend is seen over the past five years with these same formats. These formats appeal to a wider spectrum of demographics and, as a result, seem to experience fewer peaks and valleys than more targeted formats. Growth takes on a slower, more consistent track and sudden declines or increases are less likely.
The other side to this story appears to be those formats which appeal to highly targeted audiences -- either by age or ethnicity. Formats such as Big Band or Adult Standards on the older end, and CHR and Alternative Rock on the younger end all show declines this Fall. Over the past five years each of these formats has shown much more inconsistency -- either up or down -- than their broad-based counterparts.
The "generational" formats -- or those programming to specific decades of music such as Oldies, 80's or the Classic Rock formats - all show a similar instability over time. These formats are more likely to show these inconsistencies due to the fact that they are reliant on a specific age group for their listening.
Additional highlights of this Fall's report include:
*
An exception to the demographic trend noted earlier occurs in Urban Adult Contemporary and Rhythmic CHR. Both of these Urban-based formats see a significant increase since last year. Current shares for each are at the highest level in a decade.
*
The Country format continues its slow, but consistent increase over the past five or six years. The format remains the most popular, posting a significant advantage over the number two format. It is worth noting that Country continues to stand out as the one broad format that has not branched out over the years into significant younger- or older-skewing variations that are distinct enough to track as a separate programming category.
*
The Hispanic format remains the number two format behind Country. We track a slight decline from last Fall, but this trend could be a bit deceiving. Spanish-language radio has experienced a huge surge over the past few years in all areas, including the number of stations and the number of markets where the format appears. As the format expanded beyond its traditional core markets, it stands to reason that the total audience share in these new metros is lower than in those with larger Hispanic populations, thus lowering the average market share. Format share trends also tend to flatten out as formats mature. It is important to note that current shares are consistent with or higher than previous years. Spanish-language stations provide a variety or programming options. More detailed information on Spanish-language radio is available through Univision Radio Sales, a division of the Katz Media Group.
The Katz Media Group analyzed over 4000 radio stations and nearly fifty formats in 298 Arbitron markets to produce the figures for this study. Thirty-five format classifications -- some separately for AM and FM stations -- are examined in detail. Each analysis includes:
*
The total number of stations included in the analysis across all markets, shown for each year.
*
12+ AQH composition by age cell, trended for past Fall Arbitron reports. Many formats include ten to fifteen years worth of data, allowing us to examine long-term changes in audience skew.
*
Average format audience shares based on Persons 12+ average quarter-hour audience for Mon-Sun 6AM-MID. Please note that these format shares represent an average across all markets where the format appears, rather than an aggregate total for the U.S.
*
Average weekly listening times for stations within each format, tracked for Men and Women of the target demo as well as specific age cells.
*
The recycling of cume audience for the average station between Monday-Friday time periods, showing the extent to which specific formats circulate their listeners throughout the broadcast day.
*
Graphs for age cell composition, weekly listening times, average market format share and median age trends.
Katz Media Group first began producing the National Format Averages in 1980. As the sales and programming functions in radio continue to grow in complexity, our national format study provides a consistent, reliable method to judge the power of radio, the never-ending development of targeted programming choices and radio's continuing appeal to listeners across the U.S.
KATZ MEDIA GROUP RELEASES FALL 2006 NATIONAL FORMAT AVERAGES & SHARE TRENDS
New York, NY March 1, 2007 -- The Katz Media Group has recently concluded the Fall 2006 National Format Averages and Share Trends report. Highlights of the report follow directly. View the entire study at www.katz-media.com.
Demographics Play an Ever Increasing Role in Format Trends
The latest Katz Media Group Radio National Format Averages report for all Fall 2006 markets shows how demographics continue to play an increasing role in analyzing the shifts seen among formats.
Radio has always featured formats that appeal to specific age groups and programming tastes, and that quality has not changed over the years. In fact, Katz Media now tracks more formats than ever before, proving that radio programming continues to evolve. This continuing development affects the audience share trends of all formats from one year to the next.
Greater Stability Among Broad-Based Formats
This year we see a pattern that show more stability among broad-based formats, particularly those targeting 25-54 year-olds .Many formats with broad demographic appeal finish either higher or remain stable from a year ago. These formats include Adult Contemporary, Soft Adult Contemporary, Country, News and News/Talk. A similar trend is seen over the past five years with these same formats. These formats appeal to a wider spectrum of demographics and, as a result, seem to experience fewer peaks and valleys than more targeted formats. Growth takes on a slower, more consistent track and sudden declines or increases are less likely.
The other side to this story appears to be those formats which appeal to highly targeted audiences -- either by age or ethnicity. Formats such as Big Band or Adult Standards on the older end, and CHR and Alternative Rock on the younger end all show declines this Fall. Over the past five years each of these formats has shown much more inconsistency -- either up or down -- than their broad-based counterparts.
The "generational" formats -- or those programming to specific decades of music such as Oldies, 80's or the Classic Rock formats - all show a similar instability over time. These formats are more likely to show these inconsistencies due to the fact that they are reliant on a specific age group for their listening.
Additional highlights of this Fall's report include:
*
An exception to the demographic trend noted earlier occurs in Urban Adult Contemporary and Rhythmic CHR. Both of these Urban-based formats see a significant increase since last year. Current shares for each are at the highest level in a decade.
*
The Country format continues its slow, but consistent increase over the past five or six years. The format remains the most popular, posting a significant advantage over the number two format. It is worth noting that Country continues to stand out as the one broad format that has not branched out over the years into significant younger- or older-skewing variations that are distinct enough to track as a separate programming category.
*
The Hispanic format remains the number two format behind Country. We track a slight decline from last Fall, but this trend could be a bit deceiving. Spanish-language radio has experienced a huge surge over the past few years in all areas, including the number of stations and the number of markets where the format appears. As the format expanded beyond its traditional core markets, it stands to reason that the total audience share in these new metros is lower than in those with larger Hispanic populations, thus lowering the average market share. Format share trends also tend to flatten out as formats mature. It is important to note that current shares are consistent with or higher than previous years. Spanish-language stations provide a variety or programming options. More detailed information on Spanish-language radio is available through Univision Radio Sales, a division of the Katz Media Group.
The Katz Media Group analyzed over 4000 radio stations and nearly fifty formats in 298 Arbitron markets to produce the figures for this study. Thirty-five format classifications -- some separately for AM and FM stations -- are examined in detail. Each analysis includes:
*
The total number of stations included in the analysis across all markets, shown for each year.
*
12+ AQH composition by age cell, trended for past Fall Arbitron reports. Many formats include ten to fifteen years worth of data, allowing us to examine long-term changes in audience skew.
*
Average format audience shares based on Persons 12+ average quarter-hour audience for Mon-Sun 6AM-MID. Please note that these format shares represent an average across all markets where the format appears, rather than an aggregate total for the U.S.
*
Average weekly listening times for stations within each format, tracked for Men and Women of the target demo as well as specific age cells.
*
The recycling of cume audience for the average station between Monday-Friday time periods, showing the extent to which specific formats circulate their listeners throughout the broadcast day.
*
Graphs for age cell composition, weekly listening times, average market format share and median age trends.
Katz Media Group first began producing the National Format Averages in 1980. As the sales and programming functions in radio continue to grow in complexity, our national format study provides a consistent, reliable method to judge the power of radio, the never-ending development of targeted programming choices and radio's continuing appeal to listeners across the U.S.