BIRCH RATINGS

AccuRatings

BIRCH RATINGS

Throughout the 1980s and into the early 90s, the Birch Research Corporation was the primary competitor to Arbitron in the radio ratings business.  The methodology of the two services was what set them apart.  While Arbitron relies on people to recall what they have listened over a seven-day period in a written diary, Birch utilized phone interviews to gather its data.  Respondents were asked to recall their radio listening over the prior twenty-four hours.  Because the phone methodology often yielded higher listening estimates for stations that targeted younger listeners, Birch became the favored ratings service in the eyes of top 40 and rock stations.  Birch also utilized its phone interviews to gather detailed qualitative information through a service it called Scarborough.  This allowed stations to obtain a clearer picture of the audience that was listening.  After Birch's demise, the Scarborough division was purchased by Arbitron, which still produces annual qualitative reports under that name.  What follows is the Birch data I have managed to gather thus far, please let me know if you can help fill in any of the holes!

ACCURATINGS

After the demise of the Birch ratings, Strategic Radio Research launched a service designed to fill the void called "AccuRatings".  Like Birch, AccuRatings utilized phone interview methodology, and also provided more detailed demographic information than Arbitron.  Unlike Birch, which queried people's listening habits over the previous day, AccuRatings asked people to name the station they thought of as their "most listened to".  Also unique to AccuRatings was the fact that in their initial surveys, no trending data was listed in their reports.  Instead, respondents were asked what station they listened to most six months ago, this resulting figure was listed as the "Recalled Former Share" or RFS.  This was to give an idea of a station's rise or decline based upon listener's perceptions rather than simply comparing past raw data. 

AccuRatings later abandoned the "RFS" methodology and simply trended their data from survey to survey.   AccuRatings became "AccuTrack" in 1997, and a year later Strategic Radio Research put an end to its market-wide surveys in favor of focusing on research projects for individual radio stations.  What follows is the AccuRatings data I have managed to gather, please let me know if you have any information you may be able to contribute.