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Chapter 7 Audiences and Audience Research
OUTLINE
I. Audiences and Audience Research
A. All forms of electronic and digital media share the goal of generating
II. Audience Research and Analysis
A. Audience research is an ongoing activity across many industries
B. Three main types of data assist in decision making
1. Demographic research data
C. Geolocation research is the approach to locate where consumers are going
D. Big data
III. Sources of Audience Research Data
A. Nielsen
social media
H. Local or in-house research departments also have a presence in the media
industries
IV. Using Audience Data
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A. The two most common terms used in audience research for electronic
media are rating and share
V. Market Terminology
A. Designated market area (DMA)
B. Metro
VI. A Word Regarding Samples
VII. Ratings Accuracy
A. Research vendors obtain accreditation from the Media Rating Council
(MRC), an organization of research professionals drawn from several
media-related fields
B. Knowledge of ratings, research methodologies and procedures, treatment
VIII. Social Media Analytics
A. Social media has its own unique way of measuring audiences
B. Managers are interested in several types of data when evaluating social
media efforts
IX. Research Application
A. Research can be used in many creative ways ͒
X. From Mass Media to Consumer Media
ASSIGNMENTS/PROJECTS
1. Divide the class into small groups. Help each group arrange a meeting with the
2. Contact a representative of a local broadcast or digital media industry labor union or
3. Obtain a recent Arbitron report list of the radio stations in your market (M-SU 12+).
Which stations are the leaders in the following demographics: M18-25, M25-49,
M55+, W18-25, W25-49, W55+. What are their formats?
4. Have students keep either a radio or a television diary for a week to log listening or
viewing activity. The format is not important as long as listening/viewing entries are
made for every quarter hour of media use. Sample diaries are available from Arbitron
and Nielsen, and examples of diary formats can be found in several media texts. In
MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. Who does not need the knowledge of audience research?
a. media manager
b. programmer
2. Psychographic research involves a range of ______ approaches.
a. quantitative
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accessible website, in whole or in part.
e. none of above
3. Which of the following is not the source of big data?
e. geolocation
4. National TV ratings are compiled by Nielsen; local TV ratings are compiled by
a. RADAR
5. Average quarter-hour (AQH) estimates are used primarily in the _______
industry.
a. network television
6. Which of the following statements is not true? Audience ratings are
a. estimates of viewing or listening
b. based on a sample of the population
7. The national television audiences is measured using
d. focus groups
e. none of the above
8. Which of the following values tells you how well a program is doing against its
competition?
a. AQH persons
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly
accessible website, in whole or in part.
b. turnover
c. rating
*p. 151 d. share
e. cume persons
9. In terms of sample-based audience data, a _____________ of 95% means that 95 out
of 100 times results can be expected to fall within a certain range of values.
d. range
e. none of the above
10. This research presents quantitative information on the media habits of audiences.
a. geodemographic
11. This research goes beyond numeric information to offer qualitative data on audiences
such as lifestyle and buying patterns.
12. This research considers neighborhood characteristics by zip code.
*p. 142 a. geodemographic
13. Nonprobability samples are not often used for____
*p. 154 a. survey
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14. Local radio audience ratings come primarily from
a. RADAR
15. This is an estimate of the number of people or households viewing or listening to a
particular program based on some universal estimate.
a. PUR
b. HUT
TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS
16. Cume persons represent the estimated number of individuals reached by a television
station’s programs during a week.
17. Turnover is the estimate of how many times the radio audience completely changes
during a given period.
18. The designated market area (DMA) is the largest physical market area studied.
19. Ratings are extremely accurate and therefore are not subject to a certain degree of
error.
20. Share measures the percentage of the viewing or listening audience based on the
actual number of viewers or listeners.
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly
accessible website, in whole or in part.
False
DISCUSSION/ESSAY QUESTIONS
1. Discuss the significance of big data in audience research and how big data can be
used for media managers to better target audiences and increase the values of
products and services?
2. Explain the difference between demographic research and psychographic research.