It appears Pandora is becoming savvy about how radio air time is bought and sold, and that trait is showing up in its July ratings.
After analyzing and converting data from Pandora into average quarter hour, Edison Research believes the data demonstrates the Internet music service has significant audience at the local level, especially among 18-34 and 18-49 year-olds.
Speaking to media buyers in announcing the ratings recently, Pandora Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Tim Westergren characterized his company as a “smart buy” for both national and local advertisers. In fact, some advertising agencies are designating Pandora with the call letters “WPAN.”
Edison Research examined how many listeners tuned into Pandora, how long each person listened and then converted that data into Average Quarter Hour metrics. In order to qualify as a listener, a person had to listen for at least five minutes within a quarter-hour. For this analysis, Edison did not include Pandora One subscribers who are not served any ads.
Here’s the Pandora listening data released by Edison Research in the top 10 markets:
New York
Adults 18 – 34 = .7 AQH rating
Adults 18 – 49 = .5 AQH rating
Los Angeles
Adults 18 – 34 = .9 AQH rating
Adults 18 – 49 = .6 AQH rating
Chicago
Adults 18 – 34 = .7 AQH rating
Adults 18 – 49 = .5 AQH rating
San Francisco
Adults 18 – 34 = .9 AQH rating
Adults 18 – 49 = .6 AQH rating
Dallas – Ft. Worth
Adults 18 – 34 = .8 AQH rating
Adults 18 – 49 = .5 AQH rating
Houston
Adults 18 – 34 = .8 AQH rating
Adults 18 – 49 = .5 AQH rating
Atlanta
Adults 18 – 34 = .7 AQH rating
Adults 18 – 49 = .5 AQH rating
Philadelphia
Adults 18 – 34 = .7 AQH rating
Adults 18 – 49 = .5 AQH rating
Washington, DC
Adults 18 – 34 = .9 AQH rating
Adults 18 – 49 = .6 AQH rating
Boston
Adults 18 – 34 = .8 AQH rating
Adults 18 – 49 = .5 AQH rating
The data covers June 23 – July 20.
