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Radio Advertising Jargon

Like every industry, radio stations have their own specialised vocabulary for radio advertising.

In order to have a better understanding of any discussions and proposals you have with radio station sales reps, I've prepared the following glossary of commonly used radio advertising jargon. Once you know what it means, it's basically common sense combined with a few mathematical terms and on the whole, fairly easy to understand.

Now I'm sure this is not a complete list of radio advertising jargon, so if there's a word or phrase used that you're not sure of, please let me know and I'll add it to the list.

Average Audience (or Average Quarter Hour Audience)

The average number of people listening per quarter-hour in any given time-period or session. e.g. At any given time Mon-Sun 5:30am-12mn there are, on average, 61,000 listeners tuned into Station A. Typically used in Session Ranking, Program Ranking, Station Loyalty.

Average Frequency

The average number of times that radio listeners “reached” by an advertising campaign are exposed to an advertisement. Or how many times they have “heard” the advertisement. e.g. The average frequency for Stations A, B & C is 4.2 times. Typically used in Reach & Frequency.

Cost Per Thousand (CPM)

The cost of each 1000 impacts delivered by an advertising schedule (I.e. the cost of the schedule divided by the gross impacts gives you a cost per thousand). Typically used in Reach & Frequency.

Cumulative Audience (or Cumes)

The total number of different people who listen for at least one quarter hour during the course of a chosen time-period or session. e.g. 600,000 different people tuned into Station B at some stage during Mon-Sun 5:30am-12mn. Typically used in Session Ranking, Ebb & Flow; Program Ranking; Station Loyalty.

Effective Frequency

Shows how the reach for a number of advertisements is made up in terms of the numbers (in thousands) and proportion (%) of people who were reached or heard 1 or more, 2 or more, 3 or more times etc, by a series of advertisements. (e.g. 1+,2+, 3+ etc) Exclusive Frequency used in Reach & Frequency Shows how the reach for a number of advertisements is made up in terms of the numbers (000’s) and proportion (%) of people who were reached or heard exactly once, exactly twice, exactly 3 times etc, by a series of advertisements. (e.g. 1, 2, 3 etc).

Exclusive Audience

The number (in thousands) or proportion (%) of listeners who tune in to only one station during a specified time period. i.e.. The number of people who listen exclusively to that station. e.g. Station B has 115,000 listeners who listen exclusively Mon-Sun 5:30am-12mn. Typically used in Session Ranking and Station Loyalty.

Gross Impacts

The sum of the quarter-hour audience for all spots in a given advertising schedule. This figure will most likely include duplication of listeners. It is the total number of times a listening audience has the opportunity to “hear” an advertisement. Typically used in Reach & Frequency.

Maximum Reach

Refers to the total number of people it is possible to reach on the station/s and session/s selected within a schedule. I.e. the total station cume or multiple station cume for the session chosen. e.g. If Station B has a total cume 669,0000 it is not possible to reach any more listeners as the station only has 669,000 listeners. To achieve the maximum reach an advertiser would have to put an advertisement on every ¼ hour. Typically used in Reach & Frequency.

Multi-Station Cume

The total number of different (unduplicated) people who listen to 2 or more stations during the course of a chosen time-period or session. Note: Multi-station Cume must be calculated in Radio Advisor. Cumes cannot simply be added together as there will be a number of people who indicate listening to multiple stations during the specified time period. Typically used in Session Ranking.

Net Reach (1+ Reach)

Refers to the number (in thousands) or proportion (%) of different people reached at least once by a specified number of advertisements. Net reach can be expressed in terms of numbers of people and/or as a percentage of the population group being targeted. Ie. Net Reach is similar to Cumulative Audience but is usually quoted in association with the effectiveness of an advertising campaign, whereas Cumulative Audience is used when analysing time periods or sessions. Typically used in Reach & Frequency.

Station Share

Share of audience is the percentage of the total radio listening audience in a given time period tuned to a particular station. Share is a station’s average audience expressed as a percentage of the total radio audience for the same period of time. e.g. Between Mon-Sun 5:30am-12mn 9.4% of all radio listening is tuned into Station C. Typically used in Session Ranking and Station Loyalty

Time Spent Listening

The average amount of time that those people who listen to radio or a specific station (cumulative audience), spend listening during a specified time-period. Shown in hours and minutes (not decimal time) e.g. 1:30 is one hour, thirty minutes. e.g. Station A has 799,000 listeners (cumes) each of these people listen on average for 7 hours & 6 minutes (7:06). Typically used in Session Ranking.

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Radio Advertising Jargon