Here in the United States, Nielsen is shortening the minimum amount of listening time required to be counted in official ratings.  As reported in a letter distributed to clients, “moving from a 5-minute to a 3-minute qualifier addresses industry feedback and aligns with today’s listening habits.”  By shortening the minimum amount of time required to be counted in the audience, Nielsen’s PPM will capture more listening occasions and impressions than previously reported.  Higher audience levels, which will likely allow for higher spot rates, are expected to improve radio’s share of the media mix.

Currently most radio stations in the PPM universe run two long stop sets per hour that typically straddle the 0:15 and 0:45 spots on the clock.  For our readers who are less familiar with how ratings are compiled in the United States, Nielsen records impressions based on 15-minute segments called “quarter-hours.”  The Quarter-Hour, by definition, requires all qualified listening to occur within the walls of one of the four specific 15-minute segments of the clock.  

Under PPM, we have learned that consumers listen in shorter durations: 45% of all PPM listening occasions are shorter than 5 minutes.  With an average song running around 3 minutes long, advertisers are concerned that they are not getting full credit for audiences to ads under the current rules.  With this change, the hope at Nielsen is that higher impressions and GRP levels can benefit radio in the complex marketing mix models that determine how ad agencies and large brands allocate their media budgets.

From a programming standpoint (our area of particular interest), this three-minute threshold could free up radio to do shorter stop sets more frequently. Additionally, Nielsen hopes that broadcasters will now have more flexibility to experiment with the length, quantity and placement of commercial stop sets in order to maximize listening levels.  

Once this change is implemented on January 9th, 2025, Nielsen estimates that the average audience (AQH/average quarter-hour persons) of persons listening to a particular station will increase by roughly 24%.  This move to the 3-minute listening threshold is expected to create a one-time increase to radio listening levels for all stations across all PPM markets.