Care to look at 2026 through a different lens? How about a lens recommended by Nielsen that isn’t what you may think?
For RockTernative programmers, what if it’s not about Share.
Across the hall at Sales, what if it’s not about Rating.
Both metrics have value, and it’s easy to see why they can cause sleepless nights — or even celebrations at the pub. But they also may be leading the industry away from better indicators of product health and sales potential.
In a recent edition of The Industry According to… I connected with Rich Tunkel, Managing Director at Nielsen Audio. We covered many topics, including panel size, wobbles, the “3-minute rule” vs. today’s revenue reality, “best practices,” and the overall health of the industry.
One exchange stood out because it challenged the daily habits and thinking of many movers and shakers inside the walls of radio.
Here was the question:
There are several metrics in a Nielsen Audio report. Programmers focus primarily on Share. Sales teams prioritize Rating. If you had to single out one data point for programmers and another for sales teams, which would they be? Which two matter most today, and why?
Rich Tunkel’s Answer
For Programmers: Average Quarter-Hour (AQH) Persons and Time Spent Listening (TSL). The programmer’s core job is to build and maintain a strong audience base. The new environment rewards engagement. AQH Persons is the engine of the station’s core audience, and TSL is the key indicator of product quality. If TSL is up, the product is sticky, and the listener is engaged.
For Sales Teams: Cume (Reach) and Attribution Metrics. Radio’s superpower is its massive reach (Cume). Sales should lead with that massive scale to compete with digital. However, the most critical “new” data point is Attribution. Sales must pivot to showing how radio advertising drove a measurable result (foot traffic, sales, website lift). This is the language of modern advertising and the only way to prove radio’s value beyond GRPs (Gross Rating Points).
Today’s Reality
Now compare Rich’s thoughts to how most stations operate:
- Programmers may glance at TSL, often dismiss it as another number that wobbles — and rarely give heavy attention to AQH Persons.
- Sales teams understand Cume, but don’t usually sell it. The goalpost remains Rating, unless the buy is strictly attribution-based.
Before anyone starts rewriting bonus plans or tearing up sales decks, a few habits matter:
- Many ad buyers are wired — or tasked — to talk and buy Rating (GRPs). That may not change overnight, but radio can at least negotiate or fight for dollars with more data-based facts and clearer rationale.
- PDs aren’t typically bonused on AQH Persons or TSL, but they are two of the best indicators of brand health, even though both can be impacted — like Share or Cume — by a panel change.
- Format realities still matter. Alternative won’t nationally out-Cume Country, and very few brands will ever beat NPR in TSL. That doesn’t mean Country wins all revenue or that NPR PDs should lead the league in bonuses.
The Opportunity
What can change is the narrative.
Rich is right: Cume — pure reach — is one of radio’s most compelling selling points, and sales teams should wave that flag every chance they can. TSL tells a powerful story about audience usage and product stickiness — a story that matters to advertisers trying to achieve reach and frequency efficiently.
There will always be complaints about ratings. Nielsen freely admits they are statistical estimates, not literal headcounts. But from one data nerd to another: if we focus on the right numbers to define success, there are stories to be found in the data that we often miss — even in a down book.
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