Radio Rating Credibility

By Ben Meisner

 The media have lost their credibility in society,  in many ways as a result of thier own doing.

Last week an ad appeared suggesting that two of the four private stations were number 1 and 2 in the Prince George "central area".

The population of the area in question is listed as 75,571. The River claimed to be number 1, with 24,056 listeners, The Drive number 2 with 18,227, The Wolf with 17,393, and 94X with 15,651 based on the recent BBM survey, all persons 12 plus, Monday thru Sunday 5am to 1am. That adds up to 75,327 or 244 listeners short of the population.

The market share which  they have neglected to mention is as follows, CJCI 28.1%, CKKN ( The River) 27.3%, CIRX (94x)  23.4% and CKDV with 21.2%. That just happens to add up to 100%. Now you might accept that figure except that CBC also subscribes to BBM (Bureau of Broadcast Measurement which conducts the  surveys) and the figures that they were supplied shows them with a 17% share of the audience, up from 14% in the fall of 2008.

You might also want to add the satellite listening, and the other local radio CFIS and CFUR which show up in the BBM survey supplied to CBC as 17% up from 14%.

So what do you believe? Well if you are confused, don’t be surprised. The point in bringing this to your attention is to show just how a little massaging of the figures works to your advantage and if you believe that there are only four stations in the Prince George Central area then the information presented must be true.  

The bigger concern however is for those people who know differently and what affect that has on the credibility of the media.

I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.

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