Glossary

• Ad Impressions

  The number of times an on-line ad is displayed.

• Address-Based Sampling

  A sampling technique that involves drawing randomly from a list of households in a particular geographic area.

• Average Quarter Hour (AQH)

  AQH answers the question: “How many people are listening to a station at a specific moment?” The estimate is determined by adding all of the quarter hours of listening during a daypart and dividing the sum by the number of quarter hours in the daypart.

• Average Weekly Time Exposed (AWTE)

  The amount of time the average listener is exposed to a radio station during a daypart. The estimate may be expressed in number of quarter hours or in hours/minutes. AWTE answers the question: “How much time does the average listener spend with this station?” This measurement is used in meter-measured markets. 

• Click-throughs

  The number of times that an on-line advertisement is clicked on with the intent of going to the advertiser’s website or other pages with additional information about the advertiser.
  

• Core Audience

  The contiguous ages that make up the central tendency, the middle 50% of listening by exact age. This may be defined by total audience or First Preference.
  

• Cost Per Action (CPA)

  Cost of advertising based on the number of times a user takes a particular action after being exposed to an advertisement 

• Cost Per Click (CPC)

  Cost of advertising based on the number of times a user clicks on an advertisement.

• Cost Per Rating Point (CPP)

  The cost of reaching one percent of the target population. CPP is calculated by dividing the cost of the schedule by the gross rating points. National and regional advertising buyers frequently use this cost efficiency measure, since it can be applied across all media.

• Cost Per Thousand (CPM)

  Cost of advertising based on 1,000 impressions.
  

• Cumulative Audience (Cume)

  Cume is estimated by determining how many different people listen to a radio station for a minimum of five minutes in a quarter hour within a daypart.

• Daypart

  A time period for which audience estimates are reported. For example, Monday- Friday 6AM-10AM, Monday-Sunday 6AM-12Mid, and Monday-Friday 5PM-6PM.

• Demographic Group

  Any definition of the audience by age, gender, and/or ethnicity.
  

• Designated Delivery Index (DDI)

  As used by Nielsen Audio, DDI is a measure of a segment of the population that is in the survey sample as compared to the target sample size. A DDI of 100 or above indicates that the sample target was met or exceeded.

• Diary

  The instrument used to gather radio listening behavior in some markets by Nielsen Audio.

• Diarykeeper

  A person who maintains a record of their radio listening behavior. 

• Duplicated Audience

  The percentage of one station’s cumulative audience that also listens to another station during a specified daypart.

• Exclusive Cume

  The percentage of the Cume (different persons) who listen only to one radio station during a daypart.

• First Preference

  See preference.

• Format

  Programming of a radio station aimed at a specific audience such as Country, Adult Contemporary, Urban, Rock, etc.

• Frequency

  Referring to radio, the average number of exposures to a commercial, song, or advertisement heard by the average listener or a frequency distribution revealing the number of persons estimated to have heard the commercial or song one time, two times, three times, four times, etc.  Referring to digital media, the number of instances of  an ad being delivered to the same browser in one session or time period. 

• Gross Exposures

  A total count of the times an ad is served. 

• Gross Impressions

  The sum of the average quarter hour persons exposed to a given radio schedule. 

• Gross Rating Points

  The sum of the average quarter hour rating points for a given schedule. 

• HDBA/HDHA

  High Density Area—a Nielsen Audio-defined sampling unit that contains a high concentration of ethnic (Black or Hispanic) households based on ZIP codes and used to control sample representation for these segments of the population.

• Heavy Listener

  A diarykeeper or panelist who spends 100 or more quarter hours with a single station within a week. 

• In-Person Recruitment (IPR)

  A sampling technique where representatives of the company conducting the research approach potential participants in person. This technique can be used to reach more cell-phone-only households, or to increase participation in a particular geographic area.

• In-tab

  The diaries that are returned usable in the survey and actually tabulated to produce the survey results.

• Index

  A mathematical calculation comparing one value to another. An index of 100 indicates that the value in question is equivalent to the value to which it is being compared.

• Life Group

  A classification of listeners that prefer a particular type of station above all others.

• Meter

  The instrument used to gather radio listening behavior in some markets by Nielsen Audio. Also called a Portable People Meter^TM (PPM^TM).

• Metro / TSA / DMA®

  Metro stands for Metro Survey Area, and generally corresponds to the federal government’s Office of Management and Budget’s Metropolitan Statistical Area, Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area, or Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area. TSA (Total Survey Area) includes the Metro and surrounding counties that qualify based on listening criteria for the metro county radio stations. DMA® (Designated Marketing Area) is Nielsen’s geographic design for measuring and reporting television viewing. Each county in the U.S. is assigned to only one DMA based on viewing patterns. 

• Minimum Reporting Standards (MRS)

  The criteria used to determine which radio stations are included in the Nielsen Audio local market report.

• Panel

  A research technique whereby the same sample of survey respondents is measured over a longer period of time.

• Panel Turnover

  A percentage representing the number of panelists that left the panel during a survey period out of those that were in the panel when the given survey period began.
  

• Persons Using Measured Media (PUMM)

  The total amount of listening to media (in this case, radio) for a particular demo/daypart/geography. PUMM is used in meter-measured markets.

• Persons Using Radio (PUR)

  The total amount of listening to radio for a particular demo/daypart/geography. PUR is used in diary-measured markets.

• Population

  The estimated size of the group being measured for which audience estimates are projected.

• PPDV

  Persons per diary value, the number of persons that a survey respondent represents in a diary-measured market.

• PPM Weight

  The number of persons that a survey respondent represents in a meter-measured market.

• Preference

  Segmentation of listening by the relative amount of listening to a specific station, e.g., First Preference (P1) means the survey respondent listened to that station more than any other. Second Preference (P2) refers to the station that was listened to second most.

• Proportionality

  The percentage of a segment of the population that is in the survey sample as compared to the distribution of this same population in the area being measured.

• Qualitative Research

  Audience estimates that deal with behavior other than radio listening such as shopping and purchase preferences.

• Random Digit Dial (RDD)

  A sampling technique where a computer generates telephone numbers at random to be used for involvement in a survey.

• Random Sample

  Also known as a probability sample because the selection of survey respondents is based in the principles of probability.

• Rate Card

  A document that outlines advertising fees and terms.

• Rating

  The percentage of the population listening to a given radio station during a daypart. Ratings apply to both average quarter hour and cumulative audiences.

• Reach

  The total number of unique persons exposed to a commercial, song, or advertisement during a specific reporting period.

• Recycling

  There are three types of recycling for radio. 1) Daypart recycling is the percentage of audience listening in one daypart that also listens in another specified daypart. 2) Recycling by listening location is the percentage of audience that listens in one location of listening that also listens in another. 3) Recycling by day is the percentage of the total week’s audience that listens on any given day of the week.

• Response Rate

  The percentage of respondents that provide usable data for the survey compared to the designated sample.

• Return Visits

  The average number of times an on-line user returns to a particular site within a set period of time.

• Sample

  A small group randomly selected to represent the population being measured. 

• Sample Balancing (a.k.a. weighting)

  The process by which the sample gathered from the survey is adjusted to a known set of values from the total survey population, in order to correct for any improper representation of certain specified subgroups of the population.

• Sampling Unit

  The individual units that are listed in the sampling frame for the survey, but more specifically, a geographic area consisting of a county or split county.

• Share

  The percentage of people listening to a specific radio station in a particular daypart compared to all those listening to radio in that daypart. Share answers the question: “What percentage of the radio audience is listening to a specific station at a particular time?”

• Site Centric Measurement

  Uses a site’s own server logs to determine audience size and characteristics.

• Slogan

  An identifier other than the call letters or exact frequency, such as “Mix,” “Star,” or “Z106,” which is used on the air to identify the station.

• Spot

  A single commercial unit.

• Standard Deviation

  A statistical measurement that shows how much variation exists between the values in a data set and the average of those values. The smaller the standard deviation, the more the values are clustered around the average.

• Station Name

  See slogan.

• Survey

  In radio, the survey is the study of radio listening behavior in a specific geographic area over a specified length of time such as the Birmingham Metro survey for Fall or the New York Metro survey for February.

• Time Spent Listening (TSL)

  The amount of time the average listener spent listening to a radio station during a daypart. The estimate may be expressed in number of quarter hours or in hours/minutes. TSL answers the question: “How much time does the average listener spend with this station?” TSL is used in diary-measured markets.

• Underwriting

  Funding by sponsors to non-commercial media outlets. 

• Unique Visitors

  The number of different users who visited a site at least once during a specified time period.

• User Centric Measurement

  Uses a sample of users to determine audience size and characteristics

PPM™ and Portable People Meter™are trademarks of Nielsen Audio.