Blog Archives

Lessons for Radio from the Roseanne Revival

Posted on 28 March, 2018 by Mark Ramsey

Well the ratings are in, and the revival of the classic sitcom Roseanne is a huge hit: The first two episodes of Roseanne, a full hour at the top of the ABC lineup, won the night by both adults 18-49 and total viewers. The show averaged a 5.1 rating in the key demo and 18.1 million […]

Posted in future, hit, mark ramsey, mark ramsey media, Media, radio, radio industry, Radio's Future, ramsey-blog, ratings, roseanne

“Radio, Advertisers are Less Interested in an Audience and More Interested in a Buyer”

Posted on 29 June, 2017 by Mark Ramsey

Gordon Borrell has issued his latest report benchmarking local media’s digital revenues. Required reading for anyone in the local media business. Yesterday I published a transcript of Part 1 and the full video interview. Today, Part 2: Whereas the emphasis in the radio industry seems to be “let’s communicate the value of the Nielsen numbers, let’s make […]

Posted in 2017, Advertising, associates, audience, borrell, buyer, gordon borrell, local advertising, mark ramsey, mark ramsey media, Media, nielsen, radio, radio industry, Radio's Future, ramsey-blog, ratings, sales, trends

Long-Term Trends in Radio Listening Revealed

Posted on 3 January, 2017 by Mark Ramsey

One of the biggest secrets in radio is what’s happening to listening over the long term. Talk to insiders and they will acknowledge that while a huge majority of Americans still listen to the radio the amount of time spent listening continues to decline. Or does it? Well, it depends on how you measure it. […]

Posted in diary, down, eCBET, joanne church, mark ramsey, mark ramsey media, Media, meter, nielsen, ppm, pumm, pur, radio, radio research consortium, Radio's Future, ramsey-blog, ratings, report, research, rrc, trends, voltair

What if Christmas Music on Radio Isn’t Popular After All?

Posted on 15 December, 2015 by Mark Ramsey

The routine is familiar: At least one radio station in every market flips to “All Christmas” music around Thanksgiving, thus dominating the Nielsen ratings before and during the holiday period. The interpretation: Everybody wants to hear Christmas tunes during the holiday season. So let’s go all in and market the heck out of it! But what if […]

Posted in Christmas, holiday, listeners, mall, mark ramsey, mark ramsey media, Media, merchant, music, nielsen, online radio, radio, ramsey-blog, ratings, trends

Why Are You Trusting Your Ratings to Nielsen?

Posted on 12 October, 2015 by Mark Ramsey

I have largely steered clear of the Voltair/Nielsen discussion (except for this piece) because it’s so simple: It’s a classic evolutionary dilemma, and in those evolutionary dilemmas the individuals who are most capable of adapting survive and those most finely tuned to their changing environments thrive. In other words, those who spend their hard-earned bucks on Voltair […]

Posted in Advertising, agencies, mark ramsey, mark ramsey media, measurement, Media, nielsen, radio, radio industry, ramsey-blog, ratings, voltair

Media Unplugged – Is the New Apple Music a “Mess?”

Posted on 17 June, 2015 by Mark Ramsey

Is the new Apple Music a mess? And… The new marketing muscle of your favorite movie stars. It’s episode 21 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves about Kaitlin Jenner’s first name, the mismatch between social media performance and actual TV ratings, and the journalist who tricked media outlets […]

Posted in apple, apple music, chocolate, jeff schmidt, kaitlin jenner, mark ramsey, Media, Media Unplugged, mess, movie, music, podcasts, ramsey-blog, ratings, social media, stars, thin, tom asacker, tv, unplugged

Too Much Fuss about Voltair

Posted on 24 April, 2015 by Mark Ramsey

You’ve heard of Voltair, that’s the audio technology that presumably allows PPM devices to more effectively pick up that all-important encoded signal that says a radio station is near. Every day it’s in the radio biz news headlines, and I don’t know why. If it works, then you should buy one, shouldn’t you? Everyone should, […]

Posted in mark ramsey, mark ramsey media, Media, nielsen, ppm, radio, ramsey-blog, ratings, rentrak, technology, voltair

Future of Music Radio: Today’s Hits and Less Variety

Posted on 9 April, 2015 by Mark Ramsey

Have you noticed? There hasn’t been a significant new music radio format introduced in a decade. Sure, we’ve had Rhythm AC and Classic Hip Hop and perhaps other approaches that make nominal sense in a smattering of markets. But nothing big, nothing widespread, nothing popular across markets. Not since the so-called Adult Hits format. And that, you should remember, […]

Posted in adult hits, chr, classic hip hop, country, formats, humans, itunes radio, mark ramsey, mark ramsey media, Media, nielsen, oldies, pandora, ppm, radio, radio industry, Radio's Future, ramsey-blog, ratings, rhythm ac, spotify, trends, urban

Uh Oh: Radio’s Reach is Declining

Posted on 5 December, 2014 by Mark Ramsey

In a new report from Nielsen, the news for the traditional radio space is decidedly unsurprising, and not the stuff of holiday cheer. As Tom Taylor summarizes: AM/FM’s monthly reach gained half-a-percent – but Time-Spent fell 3% over last year. And the 3% drop is consistent across African-Americans and Hispanics, two groups that have traditionally shown […]

Posted in Audio, entertainment, information, mark ramsey, mark ramsey media, Media, nielsen, radio, radio industry, Radio's Future, ramsey-blog, ratings, reach, time spent listening, tom taylor, trends, tsl

Nielsen Ratings are a Toxic Force that Imperils Radio’s Future

Posted on 5 November, 2014 by Mark Ramsey

Recently I was in a gathering of brands. Not agencies, brands. Among my conversations was one with the VP and Director of Global Media & Digital Marketing for a well known company that, among other things, produces one of the most famous brands of whiskey in the world. I asked him: What do you spend […]

Posted in Advertising, agencies, brands, future, mark ramsey, mark ramsey media, Media, nielsen, ppm, radio, radio industry, ramsey-blog, ratings, results