First January Nielsens Bring Holiday Hangover Relief

The first ratings of 2016 are rolling out and - at least on the first day - it’s “thank goodness!” for Country.

While a number of formats are no doubt looking forward to a ratings period that does not include Christmas music, probably no format is more excited to turn the page than country which lost more November-Holiday audience than any other major format.

Here’s how Nielsen trended the 6+ November-Holiday book change-in-share; this includes record 6+ and 18-34 shares for AC (12.9 and 11.5 respectively) as well as a 4-year tie for highest shares 25-54 (12.1).

For country, the first 6+ PPMs that were reported Tuesday (2/16/16) were like a double dose of aspirin and prickly pear extract.

15 of the 21 measured country stations were up (5 were flat and one HD2 channel was off). 

Country, while taking the biggest November/Holiday audience ‘hit,’ is also the major format that tends to ride its January increase the longest increasing shares from the first of the year well into the summer and, last year, to September.

As I posted in an earlier blog, a number of formats see post-holiday increases that begin with a January "build."

Certainly country has challenges ahead. However history suggests that the calendar isn't one of them.

Can I get an “Amen” from country and formats that show steady growth with the start of the new year?