Who Listens to What?

U.S. advertisers, who spend some $200,000,000 a year trying to persuade people to buy things, have never been quite sure what they were getting for their money, who was listening to their programs or for how long. Even replies to questions asked of radio listeners are not conclusive (few people watch their own radio habits like hawks). But last week the radio industry--for a price--had a good chance of increasing considerably its knowledge of its audiences.

Chicago's A. C. Nielsen Co., whose food, drug and liquor indexes are gospel to U.S. merchandisers, announced the coming of age of its Audimeter, a gadget installed in radio sets that keeps an exact record of the radio's tuning. Seven big-time clients-and their ad agencies are already using the Nielsen Radio Index based on the gadget.

The Audimeter is the product of seven years' research, four years' field trials. It is now installed in 1,000 radio sets in homes between Wisconsin and Missouri and the Atlantic Coast--an area containing over one-fourth of the U.S.'s 30,000,000 radio homes. The Audimeter records with a stylus on moving tape every twist of the radio switch and dials, whether a program is found by dial cruising, whether it is kept on through the full period, tuned out at any point, etc.

In addition to its detailed tuning record, the Nielsen Radio Index can claim a further advantage over radio's two most successful audience surveys, the Crossley and Hooper, which get their information by telephone: the Nielsen Audimeter can tap the great rural majority of radio homes which are without telephone service. But not even the Audimeter can tell whether anyone is listening to a turned-on radio.

To gain its clients, Nielsen showed them results obtained during four years from a pilot operation of Audimeters in a selected cross section of 200 radio homes. One Nielsen client was so impressed that he agreed to pay $50,000 for a year's service. Some pilot-survey findings:

P:When the star of one of radio's most popular nighttime shows said "Good night," listening dropped sharply. The sponsor's closing commercial was heard by only a fraction of the program's audience.

P:People with telephones used the radio 44% less than those without. The heavier radio use in homes without telephones varied from 19% on Sundays to 45% on weekdays, 62% on Saturdays.

P:More than half the tested listeners changed their tuning every 15 minutes or less. Only 5% tuned to one station uninterruptedly for more than an hour.

P:The tested family radios were turned on an average of five and a half hours a day. Only about 8% were used for less than an hour daily. Although short-wave tuning increased tenfold, it was still less than 1 % of the total.

P:Peak month of radio use was February --40% above the July bottom.

* Lever Bros., General Mills, General Foods, Colgate-Palmolive-Peet, Carter Products, Miles Laboratories, Sterling Drug Inc.

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