12+ ratings come out tomorrow...

[Robslater]

> Yeah, I know.
> I posted that mostly as a joke because it seems like every
> time the ratings come out, there is this discussion debating
> that actual value of the 12+ ratings.

It is true that 12+ numbers mean squat to the actual billing of the station. The 12+ will not tell you specifically how a station is performing in its target demo or its ranking relative to other stations in that demo.
How a station performs in a given demo is how ad money is sold, so whatever ratings the advertisers use are the only ratings that truly matter because advertising is how FREE radio exists.

However, let's not undercut the value of the 12+. These aren't just numbers that were made up out of thin air. For the "simpletons," 12+ numbers are the most useful ratings. The average listener doesn't give a flip about whether The Box equaled its revenues from the previous month, lost clients, or gained 1,000's more dollars in McDonalds advertising.
People just want to know out of the total number of stations, 'where does my station sit?' 1? 12? 22?
It's a lot easier to say '#5 out of 30 stations' than '#2 18-49 or 18-34' (whatever, insert any demo here.)
Also, if we're being realistic, no station in the bottom half of the rankings is secretly doing stellar.
You're not going to look at the actual numbers for The Point and say "wow, I totally would never have guessed they were doing that well just from the 12+."
They're numbers look like (BLEEP) in the 12+ and are not insanely better in the real numbers.

KRBE is #5 overall and in the real trends and books, they are also at the top of their game.

Just my two cents.