T.S.L. “Time Spent Listening” is thought to be having someone listening to your station for periods of time and that listening they do is instantly recorded / documented as it happens. NOT TRUE.  Sweeping music across the quarter hour and other “games” do NOT lengthen TSL.

The “average” person listens to radio approximately 2 hours A DAY and samples 3 different stations within that one day of listening.

Therefore, take that two hours a day , which is 120 minutes, and dived it by the three stations they have sampled, and you will find that you have someone USING RADIO (your station)  for about 45 minutes to one hour a day…NOT all-in-a-row.

They take “snapshots” of your programming throughout the day… a little bit in morning drive, a bit during the workday, and then some in the afternoon.  On a typical A/C or CHR station, they may hear 15 to 18 songs a day!  On an Oldies station they may hear about 21 songs a day !

If you look at your research you will see that after 7:00 pm, the bell shaped Curve drops significantly with the 25+ demo as they go to TV, family, movies, ect.

Therefore, it gets down to what  "BENCHMARKS"  or “triggers” do you have built into your programming throughout the day that is MEMORABLE.

Why should someone remember they spent more time with YOUR station as opposed to the other two stations they also listened to that day?

Is you product compelling, fun, interesting? Do you have your jocks making “appointments” with the listeners to listen at specific times throughout the day for certain / specific events, features, bits, etc. Do you have MEMORABLE “Benchmarks” that help to trigger diary recall? The biggest mistake we make in radio programming today is having OVER-ESTIMATION OF PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE ON PART OF THE LISTENER.

We tend to “assume” that they know everything we do on the air, they know about every promo, contest, etc. That is not even near reality!

Radio is an appliance to the average listener… it is a toaster, toilet, microwave oven. period. The scary thing is that people can (and some do) live life without using radio! Radio is FREE to listen to, you don’t have to pay $10 for station A and $20 for station B….. therefore, why should they remember what station they listen to?

Music is NOT a strong enough “Benchmark” to make you #1.  Don’t get me wrong,  Music IS important.. however... to reach the  full potential  of your radio station in the ratings, there MUST  be more to your station than just a music image or “18 in a row.”

There are about 15 “little things” that makes up a successful  #1  radio station.

SO… here is the answer to “WHEN DOES T.S.L. REALLY HAPPEN”…..Over 75% of people who fill out an Arbitron diary do so between 7:00 and 11:00 pm at night.

When a person sits down, puts a pen to the diary, and begins to fill it out,  THEN, at that one instant,  is when  TSL IS REALLY HAPPENING.  They are  "un-aidedly"  trying to recall what they “perceive” they actually listened to over the past 12, 24, or 48 hours. What station comes to mind first and why does that specific station command top of mind awareness more than the others they have sampled?

Ask yourself this question, what did you have for lunch last Thursday? Can’t remember? Of course not. WHY? It wasn’t all that important. Right?

Damn, eating to stay alive is a very important human function isn’t it??    So, if you can’t remember what you had FOR LUNCH LAST   Thursday,  then why should you remember what radio station you listened to in the past 24 to 48 hours ???? 

That’s right, there is no such thing  as “quarter hour maintenance.  Never has been, never will be.  That  “term”,  in of itself,  means that someone is filling out a diary every 15 minutes all day.

THAT IS  NOT TRUE.

Here is an interesting, and scary, exercise for you to see exactly how many diaries are being filled out each week during the survey period.

Keep in mind that Arbitron is NOT  a 13 week survey... it is  13 ONE WEEK SURVEY'S.

OK, ready?  Open your you hard copy of the latest Arbitron book to page 4.  Look down on the left hand side of the page and find the box called  :"Diary Placement /  Return"

Then find the row labeled  "  TOT - Diaries in-tab  (should be 4th from the bottom)

Take that number and divide it by  13  (the number of weeks in the survey)   That number you come up with is how many diaries were being filled out EACH  INDIVIDUAL WEEK  of that survey period.

There  is now NEW, empirical data  that can show you exactly where these people are..each week.. who are filling out the diaries!   Can you imagine what kind of success you will have when you can communicate directly to them !!!

REMEMBER....Look at your station and your product as a “listener... NOT as  a "radio person". Don’t try to program your station to impress other radio people, corporate PD’s, etc. Program your radio station FOR THE DIARY KEEPER IN YOUR MARKET…. PERIOD.

For more information contact  Tom Watson, President of ACC Marketing & Consulting International  at  561 - 866-9816  or email him @ jtwatson@flash.net