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hometown USA
• Commercial Clinic
• Station Log
• BPA Memo (Local Promotion)
• Radio Registers
Qualitative Research
Helps Establish Local Image
El According to the latest fig
np ures from the Federal Cora[\ munications Commission, there are 4,339 am and fm stations currently on the air. In keeping with the evolutionary process which radio has been undergoing in recent years, it appears safe to assume that each of these 4,339 radio stations is making a major effort to develop and improve its individual image. This applies both to the station's role as a medium of advertising and as a member of the community.
The roads which local stations have been travelling in their quest for a separate and distinct personality are many and varied. One of the most widely used tools is qualitative research. By employing this research technique stations have been able to check on the effectiveness of their programming, listening habits, a profile of audience characteristics and many other items of importance.
An indication of the scope of qualitative research can be seen in some of the special studies conducted for stations throughout the country by The Pulse, Inc., during 1960. Included among these research projects were audience shares by occupation
of listeners, a qualitative news study, station and personality preferences, income level and family size of listeners, age and sex of listeners, radio habits and audience characteristics, and so on.
An example of the type of data that can be obtained from a qualitative research study is one conducted by Pulse in the Los Angeles area. The survey centered around three broad areas — station image, audience image and radio listening habits. To achieve these objectives, three sets of questions were used. These were:
A. Radio Listening Habits
1. Time spent listening to selected stations.
2. Automobile ownership.
3. Automobile usage, including purpose and age and sex of driver.
4. Time of day selected stations are listened to.
5. Person responsible for initial radio usage.
B. Station Image
1. Station preferred for news.
2. Station preferred for emergency announcements.
3. Station giving confidence in advertising.
4. Station playing music most liked.
5. Station preferred for retention.
6. Personality description of station.
C. Station Audience Image
1. Ownership of pets.
2. Ownership vs. rental status.
3. Education.
4. Family income.
5. Age and sex.
6. Occupation.
The results of such a study can, obviously, provide a station with additional support for its sales arguments, uncover new sales approaches and indicate new areas for possible sales on both the local and national levels. For example, a station may discover that it has the audience with highest proportion of pets. Armed with this information, the station's salesmen could contact the pet shops and pet departments of the local department stores, kennels, and so on. On the national level, the station could see that its story is told to major advertisers of pet foods and simi
(Cont'd on p. 50)
U. S. RADIO • January 1961
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