Tameside Radio also run their own listener surveys but take a slightly different approach by including their survey as a page in a Tameside Council questionnaire sent to local residents.
We asked Simon about the survey:
“The local authority has a twice per year questionnaire called the “citizen 2000 survey”. The questionnaire had a response rate of 1250 ish residents of the area and we bought a page of questions for £600. The questionnaire asked specific questions about listening and listening times plus some comparative data of other radio listening. The later gave us a measure of where we were in the marketplace. The survey is selective although they have a rolling programme of contributors, however, I have no idea how the people are selected, I would presume that they are representative sample in some way. Im aware the weight the results a little to ensure that the demographics are reflected properly”
Once they had received the data from the questionnaire Simon explained how he drew comparables with other stations in the area
“Once we had all that we compared it with listening habits in Rajar to give us some round statistics as well as comparative data. For example we have 84000 listeners per month, using Rajar stations we calculated that 84,000 per month represented about 55,000 per week. The raw comparative data disclosed that we were the third most listened to radio station in the area – an area which is the most competitive in the country – with only Key 103 (the heritage commercial station) and BBC 2 having more. To be honest, it was that good I’m not sure we will want to do any more! We have done this research twice. Six months after we launched and 2 years in. We then compared our listening with some of the data from Rajar. Rajar don’t measure us as we don’t pay but they do measure “other listening” in The Revolution’s area. The Revolution have most, but not all, of our area in theirs. The “other listening” for The Revolution is 58,000″
We asked Simon about how they draw deeper meaning from the mostly statistical results
“We tend to use anecdotal evidence like participants before and after, where we can get them. For example, in 2007 650 people went to Tameside’s community safety weekend, in 2008 1400 people went, the only addition to their marketing mix was Tameside Radio. We also use advertiser testimonials on air eg Droylsden Glass saying that we work and why we work because we’re local etc. We have also used volunteer experiences to demonstrate social gain and further education.”
Simon kindly sent the report from the questionnaire which shows the previous survey figures and how the latest results compared. You can view the report here.
Finally, read about Preston FM’s approach.
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