The changes
Sept 5, 2006 1:51:08 GMT -5
Post by Rinaldo on Sept 5, 2006 1:51:08 GMT -5
Wow! Admittedly my hiatus from the boards has been shorter this time than last time but I have to say the changes going on in the past few months are unbelievable.
To start off doesn't it seem coincidental that 2006 is becoming the year that long time mega rivals are coming together? First in January Apple Computer decides after 22 years to switch to Intel to power their Macs after endless debates about how Intel chips suck and how PowerPC was way better. None of that matters now anymore does it? Fast forward to August and 33 year old rivals R&R and Billboard merge after endless debates on who had the superior airplay charts! I dunno about you guys but these to me are things that were at one time unimaginable! What's next? Democrats and Republicans get together and form a united party? Lol, ok not a chance but the way things are heading, jeez!
So I took a bit of time to reflect what's going on here. My opinion is that there is good and bad in all of this. For starters, what is up with the chart dates? I received a copy of the "new" R&R dated August 11th. It basically is the same size as a billboard magazine and is in full color. Comparing it to an R&R I had from a few years back, the old newsprint R&R was jam packed with tons of stuff. I have an old one that was 120 pages. This new one, only about 70. Unbelievable, but a closer look revealed that their new website actually has MORE chart information than what is in print. For example online i can get the panels for all the formats and Top 20 recurrents. In the mag some formats are not showing their reporting panel breakdown nor the Recurrents. Usually it's the other way around where you are forced to buy the magazine to get extended charts or pay a membership for online access. Knowing this is now the Billboard Information Group we are dealing with makes me wonder how long until the access is blocked or reduced. Not a good thing.
Another thing which is strange are the inconsistencies. It seems before Billboard took over there were less errors on the site. (whichever way you look it. You could say Billboard bought them out and killed the old R&R by transforming it into Billboard Airplay Monitor, or that it's the same old R&R and the fact that it kept is name implies it was the superior brand and that it therefore killed off the Airplay Monitor)
Now this may be a transition issue, but you would think the biggest industry conglomerate like Billboard would have the best web designers in the industry! They make the old independently run R&R site look top notch! (not capping on the former staff, but you'd expect more from Billboard).
For example take the case that the charts are randomly available. Sometimes I'll load the AC, Hot AC or Pop Charts (the formats I check out) and I'll notice that the VNU media sign in page is covering a random portion of the chart like most added, recurrents or N&A. As an IT guy, these glitches are what scares me that they are all modules that can be assigned passwords in the future if they want and access will limited or blocked. It makes sense. if your giving out all this info, you want to secure profits for it right? Why even buy R&R? However it did work for the old R&R to show all the stuff, but there were still exclusive things to the magazine not in the site. Regardless those glitches look cheap. And what is up with the funky dates? R&R is still published as a Friday magazine. So the Friday 08/11/2006 mag has charts dated Sunday August 6th in it. However on the site, the chart is dated for week of August 7th. To make it more complicated, the site is updated on Tuesday the 8th. And to top it off the Billboard chart in which the corresponding airplay chart appears is the 08/19/2006 one! Whew. Let's try to streamline the dates!
Other problems I have is that some items appear to be showing up in triplicates or double. Like the Most Increased Plays section is being shown redundantly like so:
KT Tunstall +68 Plays
Gnarls Barkley + 35 Plays
Natasha Bedingfield +32 Plays
KT Tunstall +68 Plays
Gnarls Barkley + 35 Plays
Natasha Bedingfield +32 Plays
KT Tunstall +68 Plays
Gnarls Barkley + 35 Plays
Natasha Bedingfield +32 Plays
or on the N&A
Nickelback Far Away 106/33
Nickelback Far Away 106/33
Nickelback Far Away 106/33
Nickelback Far Away 106/33
Mark Harris Find Your Wings 41/3
Mark Harris Find Your Wings 41/3
Other problems include not citing the correct recurrent rule. In the chart legend for AC and Hot AC, the under 15 over 26 weeks rule is now stated correctly but underneath the recurrent chart it shows 15/20 and nowhere does it list the 52/10 rule. For pop the rule is 20/20 I believe now but the legend shows 20/26. So all that is screwy. At least the panel size seems to be correct.
I'm sure these glitches will get ironed out. The biggest drawback are the panel sizes. For example 87 in AC, 75 for Hot AC and 117 for Pop. The old R&R had 20-30 stations more in each panel. I have to admit I was always partial to the old R&R as being far superior to even Billboard because it had more accurate airplay due to larger panel sizes giving a clearer representation of sample size. Statisticians know that it may be impossible or too costly to survey the entire population, but larger sample sizes tend to give more accurate tendencies. My biggest gripe is this. being Billboard the king of all trades you'd think that it would be able to have BDS monitor more stations. I've read that many in the industry are unhappy with BDS.
So that brings us to the inevitable. Mediabases role in all this. Well, mediabase started 4 years earlier than BDS in the monitored airplay field and has the human as well as computerized element where as with BDS no humans are detecting the plays. Mediabase has made a name for itself in the industry. Partnered with the old R&R they made quite a match for Airplay Monitor. So I'm not sure if this was mostly a way for Billboard to save face in the publication wars or to put a dent in Mediabase or that legitimately R&R was in financial trouble and needed the money. I read somewhere that Billboard bought R&R for an 8 figure sum... read $ XX,XXX,XXX.XX. Hardly pocket change right?
Now Mediabase looks a bit desperate giving free airplay or more extended chart info to several different outlets like Allacess.com, FMQB, insideradio.com and even USA today of all places. Now tell me something, they make it seem like it isn't a big deal, but losing R&R (remember the new R&R is completely BDS, NO MORE MEDIABASE) was severe and now they need to build new alliances or they will get marginalized. That being said that doesn't mean their data is inferior. The end result is that the old R&R "raw data" will be available to us in one form or another. See my related Mediabase topic.
I just ranted the cons of this new "unholly alliance". So what is actually good? What I do appreciate is the amount of information we now have! The Top 10 N&A's as opposed to 5. Top 20 recurrents as opposed to 5 As well as the weeks on tally on play and audience details. Very professional looking chart and more detailed breakdown of reporting panels and chart legends. Also having the Billboard brand will make R&R much more known to the general public.
To sum it up guys, our old beloved R&R may in some ways be history but with it a new beginning has emerged. New format, new charts, data and methodologies. Many questions to be answered. In the end, Billboard knew that R&R has left it's mark on radio and had an important history and decided to stick to the name, even to the point of being faced with the obvious option of scrapping R&R and keeping the Billboard Monitor brand. Time will tell if it will remain as the "industries newspaper" or if the corporate takeover was the beginning of the end of the original R&R legacy.
To start off doesn't it seem coincidental that 2006 is becoming the year that long time mega rivals are coming together? First in January Apple Computer decides after 22 years to switch to Intel to power their Macs after endless debates about how Intel chips suck and how PowerPC was way better. None of that matters now anymore does it? Fast forward to August and 33 year old rivals R&R and Billboard merge after endless debates on who had the superior airplay charts! I dunno about you guys but these to me are things that were at one time unimaginable! What's next? Democrats and Republicans get together and form a united party? Lol, ok not a chance but the way things are heading, jeez!
So I took a bit of time to reflect what's going on here. My opinion is that there is good and bad in all of this. For starters, what is up with the chart dates? I received a copy of the "new" R&R dated August 11th. It basically is the same size as a billboard magazine and is in full color. Comparing it to an R&R I had from a few years back, the old newsprint R&R was jam packed with tons of stuff. I have an old one that was 120 pages. This new one, only about 70. Unbelievable, but a closer look revealed that their new website actually has MORE chart information than what is in print. For example online i can get the panels for all the formats and Top 20 recurrents. In the mag some formats are not showing their reporting panel breakdown nor the Recurrents. Usually it's the other way around where you are forced to buy the magazine to get extended charts or pay a membership for online access. Knowing this is now the Billboard Information Group we are dealing with makes me wonder how long until the access is blocked or reduced. Not a good thing.
Another thing which is strange are the inconsistencies. It seems before Billboard took over there were less errors on the site. (whichever way you look it. You could say Billboard bought them out and killed the old R&R by transforming it into Billboard Airplay Monitor, or that it's the same old R&R and the fact that it kept is name implies it was the superior brand and that it therefore killed off the Airplay Monitor)
Now this may be a transition issue, but you would think the biggest industry conglomerate like Billboard would have the best web designers in the industry! They make the old independently run R&R site look top notch! (not capping on the former staff, but you'd expect more from Billboard).
For example take the case that the charts are randomly available. Sometimes I'll load the AC, Hot AC or Pop Charts (the formats I check out) and I'll notice that the VNU media sign in page is covering a random portion of the chart like most added, recurrents or N&A. As an IT guy, these glitches are what scares me that they are all modules that can be assigned passwords in the future if they want and access will limited or blocked. It makes sense. if your giving out all this info, you want to secure profits for it right? Why even buy R&R? However it did work for the old R&R to show all the stuff, but there were still exclusive things to the magazine not in the site. Regardless those glitches look cheap. And what is up with the funky dates? R&R is still published as a Friday magazine. So the Friday 08/11/2006 mag has charts dated Sunday August 6th in it. However on the site, the chart is dated for week of August 7th. To make it more complicated, the site is updated on Tuesday the 8th. And to top it off the Billboard chart in which the corresponding airplay chart appears is the 08/19/2006 one! Whew. Let's try to streamline the dates!
Other problems I have is that some items appear to be showing up in triplicates or double. Like the Most Increased Plays section is being shown redundantly like so:
KT Tunstall +68 Plays
Gnarls Barkley + 35 Plays
Natasha Bedingfield +32 Plays
KT Tunstall +68 Plays
Gnarls Barkley + 35 Plays
Natasha Bedingfield +32 Plays
KT Tunstall +68 Plays
Gnarls Barkley + 35 Plays
Natasha Bedingfield +32 Plays
or on the N&A
Nickelback Far Away 106/33
Nickelback Far Away 106/33
Nickelback Far Away 106/33
Nickelback Far Away 106/33
Mark Harris Find Your Wings 41/3
Mark Harris Find Your Wings 41/3
Other problems include not citing the correct recurrent rule. In the chart legend for AC and Hot AC, the under 15 over 26 weeks rule is now stated correctly but underneath the recurrent chart it shows 15/20 and nowhere does it list the 52/10 rule. For pop the rule is 20/20 I believe now but the legend shows 20/26. So all that is screwy. At least the panel size seems to be correct.
I'm sure these glitches will get ironed out. The biggest drawback are the panel sizes. For example 87 in AC, 75 for Hot AC and 117 for Pop. The old R&R had 20-30 stations more in each panel. I have to admit I was always partial to the old R&R as being far superior to even Billboard because it had more accurate airplay due to larger panel sizes giving a clearer representation of sample size. Statisticians know that it may be impossible or too costly to survey the entire population, but larger sample sizes tend to give more accurate tendencies. My biggest gripe is this. being Billboard the king of all trades you'd think that it would be able to have BDS monitor more stations. I've read that many in the industry are unhappy with BDS.
So that brings us to the inevitable. Mediabases role in all this. Well, mediabase started 4 years earlier than BDS in the monitored airplay field and has the human as well as computerized element where as with BDS no humans are detecting the plays. Mediabase has made a name for itself in the industry. Partnered with the old R&R they made quite a match for Airplay Monitor. So I'm not sure if this was mostly a way for Billboard to save face in the publication wars or to put a dent in Mediabase or that legitimately R&R was in financial trouble and needed the money. I read somewhere that Billboard bought R&R for an 8 figure sum... read $ XX,XXX,XXX.XX. Hardly pocket change right?
Now Mediabase looks a bit desperate giving free airplay or more extended chart info to several different outlets like Allacess.com, FMQB, insideradio.com and even USA today of all places. Now tell me something, they make it seem like it isn't a big deal, but losing R&R (remember the new R&R is completely BDS, NO MORE MEDIABASE) was severe and now they need to build new alliances or they will get marginalized. That being said that doesn't mean their data is inferior. The end result is that the old R&R "raw data" will be available to us in one form or another. See my related Mediabase topic.
I just ranted the cons of this new "unholly alliance". So what is actually good? What I do appreciate is the amount of information we now have! The Top 10 N&A's as opposed to 5. Top 20 recurrents as opposed to 5 As well as the weeks on tally on play and audience details. Very professional looking chart and more detailed breakdown of reporting panels and chart legends. Also having the Billboard brand will make R&R much more known to the general public.
To sum it up guys, our old beloved R&R may in some ways be history but with it a new beginning has emerged. New format, new charts, data and methodologies. Many questions to be answered. In the end, Billboard knew that R&R has left it's mark on radio and had an important history and decided to stick to the name, even to the point of being faced with the obvious option of scrapping R&R and keeping the Billboard Monitor brand. Time will tell if it will remain as the "industries newspaper" or if the corporate takeover was the beginning of the end of the original R&R legacy.