Is Arbitron doing all that it can to solve sampling problems among the African American community?
ZJ: I don’t think so. I think they are genuine in their efforts to solve it, but they’re hampered by the belief that if you throw a couple more dollars at this sample base, you’ll get them. They’ve been under-sampling African Americans, and they have the same issues with young white males. RI: How are new technologies and new media affecting the urban audience in particular, and the radio audience in general? Are satellite, iPod, or other personal entertainment media having much impact on listenership? ZJ: There’s evidence that the under-25 audience, the teen audience particularly, is spending less time on radio than they did a decade or two ago. The decrease in those younger demos hasn’t been at the same rate for African Americans at that same age group, but we are concerned about it, and we’re making sure that we don’t lose touch with our audience. One of the advantages is that African Americans have a different relationship with radio than non-African Americans. There’s a reason why
