Morning drive may be the marquee daypart for most radio stations, but there is growing evidence that the secret to success in a Portable People Meter (PPM) world is afternoons, according to a report by Inside Radio (LINK).
An Arbitron hour-by-hour analysis of 45 electronically measured markets shows 4 pm is the biggest cume hour for both the 25-54 and 18-34-year-old demographics.
A recent review of March-April-May 2012 data confirmed afternoons are now the biggest draw for radio. The daypart encompasses the top three hours for each demo. Among 25-54s, morning drive hours are more of a factor than for stations targeting young adults. The morning drive hour with the largest 18-34 audience is 7am, which ranks as the demo’s seventh most-listened-to-hour.
The Arbitron data dovetails with results from a pair of surveys released — one by Alan Burns and Associates and the other by the Interactive Advertising Bureau — showing more consumers are waking up to smartphones than clock radios.
This is nothing new, the first PPM’s I saw in Philly 5 years ago showed this not as a trend but as reality. The false morning ratings from diary’s bouyed that daypart for decades. Morning radio lost it’s place as the wake up news source to Morning TV. Any one paying morning drive rates is donating money to the radio station without getting the value expected.