ARN has welcomed comments by Austereo chief, Michael Anderson, that in the future the success of commercial radio will be measured by success in target demographics not by overall ratings.

Anderson is quoted in The Australian’s Media supplement today saying: “the nature of a survey win is changing… [in the future] it might not be about being number one or two overall but winning in a target demographic.”

The Australian Radio Network has “known for a long time that station success has little to do with being at the top of the overall ratings but rather that it’s being at the top your target audience that matters,” according to ARN’s National Program Director, Jeremy Millar.

Millar says the company is concentrating on its target audience – the commercially powerful 25–54 demographic group and is “beginning to see the fruits of this effort, as demonstrated by the latest ratings results.”

He says Anderson has conceded that “when it comes to commercial radio success, being Number One or Number Two overall may not be as important in the future as winning in a target demographic.

“Listeners aged 25 to 54 are the big spenders in a competitive market and are responsible for 71 cents out of every dollar spent in Australia on consumer goods.”

ARN is “obsessed” with its target audience and is now “seeing the positive results” of this effort Millar told radioinfo.