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There has been a recent round of call out bashing in the media and via email newsletters. Core Call Out Research has been in the music research business for over 12 years and we welcome the dialogue! The more we all know about research methodology and applications, the more effective we can be interpreting it – but, I think it is very important to separate myth from fact.

Myth 1: “It is nearly impossible to reach your average listener using traditional call out.”

Facts: Telephone call out reaches the same people, using the same methodology, that Arbitron reaches. Every single one of our clients has a spread of light, medium and heavy listeners in the call out sample. Our TSL numbers are much closer to what Arbitron reports than the web based TSL that we regularly see.

Food For Thought: Ultimately this myth begs the question as to who is an average listener? It requires that we think about who defines an average listener. Arbitron may not have the perfect means of measuring listening, but it is still the only measurement system that counts with advertisers.

If the concern is that the average listener won’t take a phone survey due to the large number of calls that come in to the home then, let’s consider unsolicited emails as well. How many junk emails do you get and ignore each and every day?

Myth 2: “Most phone call out respondents are light and medium light listeners – they do not capture the medium heavy and heavy listeners.”

Facts: A good call out sample – whether phone or web based – should use a mix of P1, P2 and P3 listeners. There should also be a base percentage of core listeners. This will ensure that the light, medium and heavy listeners get included. Breaks can then be run to identify any differences in tastes.

Food For Thought: Phone call out can and does give you a spread of light to heavy listeners that is very much in line with what Arbitron reports. You can see from a simple break out what the heaviest listeners are doing. Web out, on the other hand, is skewed to the heavy, core listeners. How are you going to see your casual Cume and fringe listener opinions when they aren’t in the sample?

Myth 3: “Respondents are much more likely to participate in online research than in phone research.”

Facts: We have been doing, and continue to do, web based research. Our experience and most studies published show that the online participation rate is abysmal, much worse than what we get by using the phone. Our phone participation rate, amongst those qualified, runs between 30 and 50% depending on format. Online, the rates run between 2 and 20%; a much worse response rate.

Food For Thought: Most active web users get well over 20 unsolicited emails per day; compare that to 3-4 telemarketing calls. Also, while many homes have caller ID or call blocking, most active web users have a spam filter on their email. There are obstacles to reaching the listener either way.

Myth 4: “Web based research can be just as random with select quotas.”

Facts: The key terms here are “random” and “select.” Random means that every single person has an equal chance of being selected. When you miss 90% of your Cume by using the station’s email database, this is not random.

Also, the term “select” is telling you that only some parts of the web based sample can be generated in a manner that meets well established research standards. Why would you want only select portions of your research be done correctly?

Food For Thought: Wouldn’t it make more sense to have the majority of your sample be generated in a broad based manner with just a small portion being culled in other ways than to do the reverse?

Myth 5: “Traditional call out comes from a database and is worked over and over again.”

Facts: A telephone database is generated from mostly random calls into the marketplace. It is a very broad based sample and it is derived from the same source that Arbitron uses. The online database comes from the radio station’s web site almost exclusively. This is a very narrow sample.

Food For Thought: Don’t kid yourself, the web database is also used over and over again. I do not know of any web based research programs that do not use respondents more than once. And, paneling is not wrong in either case

Myth 6: “A Diary keeper is less and less indicative of your real audience.”

Facts: There is no evidence that this is true. Even if it were, you still have to play the Arbitron game. No buyers that I know are willing to use your web based research to determine their advertising buys. This means you better be damn sure that you have a good view of the people that Arbitron reaches.

Food For Thought: We come back to the discussion of who is your “real” audience. Who defines it, who measures it and how do we best impact it? Are those that listen to you as a P2 or P3 choice real? Does it seem likely that you could get too inside, too focused on the heaviest listeners and thereby miss what your competition is doing? There is an expression that you can “miss the forest for the trees.” I think only looking at the heaviest listeners may be “missing the tree for the bark!”

Myth 7: “It takes up to 10 weeks to identify a hit in traditional call out.”

Facts: Sometimes. And sometimes it takes web out that long too. But, I can assure you that stations like KROQ, WHQT, WXRK and KPWR have all seen “hits” in the very first week of testing a new song in call out.

Food For Thought: Do we really believe that every song develops in the same manner? That each song will become a hit in the first few weeks of testing? Or, does it make sense that different types of songs will develop at different paces – based on the style of music, what else is being played at the time, what other marketing factors are influencing how the audience feels about the artist, etc.

Myth 8: “Web out is being championed by experienced and neutral radio consultants.”

Facts: The most vocal proponent of web based call out is also the owner of a web research company.

Food For Thought: I may have a vested interest in championing phone call out – it is, after all, my business. But, Core Call Out also provides Web Out. We think there is a time and place for web out but it can only be determined with careful consideration and some acknowledgement of the broader audience that will be missed.

Let’s not confuse myths and guesses for facts. Let’s not confuse a sales pitch with a “white” paper. Web out is another research tool but it is not a panacea.

I welcome your comments and questions at JRenk@corecallout.com.

Web Out

The internet has changed the way we all work, and certainly it offers some unique opportunities for research. The key benefits are that it allows the respondent to take the survey at his leisure, sample sizes can be quite large and, it can operate 24/7.

The downfalls are sample, sample and sample. First, most web out uses the station’s email database culled from web site visitors, or a link on their website. This means the respondents are actively “into” the station and are Internet savvy – while this is certainly an important part of any station’s audience it is not the only part, and not the largest part. You will miss the broader view of the general cume audience.

More general market sample can be purchased but the very low response rates make it one of the most expensive ways to interview your listeners. And, these are still ‘internet’ people only.

Next, when a direct link is used you are doing research with a self selecting sample. That is anyone, at any time, for as many times as they wish, can take your survey. Research standards frown on self selecting samples.

A final issue is that to drive people to register, or to find the link, the radio station must run on-air promos. Day in and day out, week after week, month after month these promos can get quite old. And, they are absolutely costing your station something – other promos that cannot be accommodated or on air clutter.

All that said, we think there is a place for the web in your current music call out. Core Call Out Research offers Web Out as an add on to your regular phone research.

The phone sample will show you what the general, more passive audience (the same people that Arbitron talks to!) is responding to. The web sample will show you the views of your most active - and more core - audience.

Like everything we do, your sample and reports will be custom designed for you, nothing is cookie cutter. We can use a link or use your database. We can target a wider audience than phone or the exact same audience. Your results can be combined, with break outs for each type of sample, or they can be reported separately with one combined ranker.

To learn more about Web Out from Core, please contact Jodie Renk at JRenk@corecallout.com or call her at 818-887-CORE (2673). You can also download and view sample Excel reports.