How Diarykeepers Record Their Listening During Crisis Situations

During a war or homeland crisis, what should a program director’s diary credit procedures?

First of all, keep in mind that:

• 68% of all the quarter-hours credited to radio comes from Frequency entries¹ (for example, “1500 WTOP,” “Mix 107.3” or “1090”);
• 35% of all quarter-hours comes from Call Letter entries¹ (“WGMS Classical Station,” “Rush Limbaugh WAAA”);
• 19% comes from Station Name entries¹ (“Rocket 97.9” or “The Ticket”); and
• only 2% comes from Program/Personality entries¹ (“Dr. Laura 1090” or “Superbowl WTEM”).
  

During the two-week period following September 11, 2001, both New York and Washington, DC, Metro diarykeepers continued to record their radio listening by Call Letters, Frequency and/or Station Name—even when unscheduled special and commercial-free programming took place without promotion.

There was no discernible shift during that time in the number of diarykeepers who recorded listening by program name. This continued to hold true from phase to phase during the Fall 2001 survey. (For additional information, see the Arbitron study Radio’s Role During a National Crisis.)

Once again, a year later during the Beltway sniper attacks, Washington, DC, Metro diarykeepers most frequently recorded their radio listening by Call Letters, Frequency and/or Station Name. Only a small percentage recorded their listening by program name.

To get more perspective on how events can impact ratings, check out ratings reports from the survey periods surrounding the 1991 Gulf War.