Analysis of Arbitron People Meter data from 16 markets shows that more than half (52.4%) of the average quarter hour audience of most stations comes from just 22.2% of the cume listeners, age 6+. That continues a phenomenon long noticed in Arbitron’s diary work, and The Research Director Inc. says the proportions of P1 listeners in PPM are “smaller than in the diary, but still demonstrate the major role that first preference listeners play in driving ratings results.” The study shows that spoken-word formats (talk, sports, news) are the “most impacted by P1 listeners.“ More than a third of their cume listeners are P1, or first preference. Download The Research Director Inc. research here.