BRIDGE RATINGS ANALYZES JACK Bram Teitelman – Billboard Bridge Ratings has released a study looking at the adult hits format, most commonly known as Jack, over a period of eight months. The study was done with 1500 listeners aged 25-54 who said that Jack stations were their favorite. They were listeners of six adult hits stations that have been in the format for longer than nine months: KAJC Denver; KPKX Phoenix; KJKK Dallas; KBPA Austin, Texas; KCJK Kansas City; and WWKJ, Jackson, Miss.
“We have been tracking listeners’ passion for the format over time,” Bridge Ratings president Dave Van Dyke said in a press release, “and we are seeing a slight time-spent-listening fall-off for the format as a group after about six months.” For example, of listeners that said Jack was their favorite, the "favoriteness" metric went from over a 5 share in January, peaking with a 6 in February, and declining slightly to just above a 4 share in August.
Listeners were also asked to rate, on a scale of one to ten, the most important things about Jack stations. Not surprisingly, the variety of music was of the most importance to listeners, rating a 9.4. The least important thing to listeners was 'long sets of music.' Minimal talk was also important to fans of the stations. Listeners weren't bothered by the lack of announcers or lack of news, sports and weather.
The study also asked 35-44 year-old adults if they were listening to the adult hits stations more, the same, or less than they were three months ago. The majority, or 67%, said they were listening the same amount. 10% said they were listening more, and 23% were listening less.
"While this new study shows preference declines over the past six months for this group of Jack-formatted stations, the format's strength continues to be its unique combination of assets," Van Dyke said. |