If you have been following the intermittent posts of this
blog then you will know that we analyze the market share of CBC Radio 2
stations from time to time. We use the data provided by “Numeris” (formerly the
Bureau of Broadcast Measurement, or “BBM”) to compare the audience share of CBC
Radio 2 stations to 2007, just before the CBC embarked on their disastrous
attempt to revamp the CBC Radio 2 programming. The BBM survey that measured the
radio audience in various Canadian cities before the CBC made their changes to
CBC Radio 2 was termed S1 2007; i.e. the first survey of 2007.
The rationale for this comparison is we want to perform an
apples-to-apples comparison. How much did the CBC Radio 2 audience increase (or
decrease) after the changes were made? The only way to do that is to compare
the current CBC Radio 2 audience with that that existed in 2007, before the
changes were made.
The latest survey available from Numeris is the survey
spanning the period Sept. 1 2014 – November 30 2014. To be consistent with
previous terminology from Numeris we call this survey S3 2014; i.e. the third
survey for 2014. Note that these surveys use PPM data. “PPM” is an abbreviation
for “Portable People Meter”. Ottawa and Winnipeg are not included in the S3
2014 survey since these cities are still surveyed using Radio Diary data.
So, onto the results. In spite of an increase in the total
radio listening audience in Montreal by 4% since S1 2007, the audience share
for CBC Radio 2 has declined by a whopping 42.1%. Not good.
In Toronto the total radio audience has declined 14.5%. CBC Radio
2 has declined 33.9%. Not good either.
In Vancouver the total radio audience has declined 18.5%.
The audience for CBC Radio 2 has declined 52.9%. Even worse.
In Calgary the total radio audience has declined 16.6%. The
audience for CBC Radio 2 has dropped 49.5%.
In Edmonton the total radio audience has declined 13.3%. The
audience for CBC Radio 2 has fallen 62.0%.
In summary, the total radio market in these cities has
declined by 12.5% since S1 2007. Yet the market share for CBC Radio 2 stations
in these cities has declined by 39.5%, or a total of 280,500 listeners.
280,500 listeners can’t all be wrong.
