Commercial Media is fueled simultaneously by the demands of the audience, but also by the advertisers and what they want the audience to consume. In a world where success is evaluated numerically, Radio is no exception this. Radio Stations are driven by ratings, a system that gives broadcasters an indication on the popularity of variables such as content, broadcasters and programming.
How ratings and results are collected has changed numerous times to reach the few systems currently used worldwide. When radio was first adapted as a medium to entertain and inform in the 1920’s, knowledge of the audience was relatively ‘impressionistic’ (Ang, 1991) through basic methods of fan mail and other schemes created by broadcasters. Now with advancements in technology, there is the improved ablity to analyse audience behaviour ‘revealing aspects of how and why audiences consume media that were previously unknown’ (Napoli, 2012).
In the late 1940’s the systematic diary method created by Garnet Garrison became used for both television and radio. While tv has moved away from this method, it is still widely used throughout the radio sector. At the end of this year, New Zealand will cease the used of this Diary method, an inexpensive method that was seen to be successful in ascertaining an understanding of the audience. Participants …show more content…
While ratings have always only produced an insight to the behaviour of their audiences, these estimates are being altered through new consumption methods. Online streaming, podcasts and other methods have created discrepancies in the surveys conducted. This fragmentation between the media and audience is creating difficulties for the broadcasters to operate based on survey results. Napoli (2011) discusses the difficulties associated with ‘accurately and reliably quantifying audiences via traditional exposure-focused measurement
How ratings and results are collected has changed numerous times to reach the few systems currently used worldwide. When radio was first adapted as a medium to entertain and inform in the 1920’s, knowledge of the audience was relatively ‘impressionistic’ (Ang, 1991) through basic methods of fan mail and other schemes created by broadcasters. Now with advancements in technology, there is the improved ablity to analyse audience behaviour ‘revealing aspects of how and why audiences consume media that were previously unknown’ (Napoli, 2012).
In the late 1940’s the systematic diary method created by Garnet Garrison became used for both television and radio. While tv has moved away from this method, it is still widely used throughout the radio sector. At the end of this year, New Zealand will cease the used of this Diary method, an inexpensive method that was seen to be successful in ascertaining an understanding of the audience. Participants …show more content…
While ratings have always only produced an insight to the behaviour of their audiences, these estimates are being altered through new consumption methods. Online streaming, podcasts and other methods have created discrepancies in the surveys conducted. This fragmentation between the media and audience is creating difficulties for the broadcasters to operate based on survey results. Napoli (2011) discusses the difficulties associated with ‘accurately and reliably quantifying audiences via traditional exposure-focused measurement