News/Talk Pubcasters Deliver During News-Heavy July Survey.

During a rare Nielsen July survey period where three of its four weeks included major national news events, the 48 public radio news/talk stations in 44 PPM metro markets saw average quarter-hour persons 6+ hit unusual-for-summer highs all day, and especially in morning drive.

According to an analysis from Radio Research Consortium, the survey covering the period from June 20 to July 17 — which included the presidential debate in Week 2, speculation on whether President Biden would withdraw from the race in Week 3, and the assassination attempt on former President Trump in Week 4 — saw AQH persons 6+ hit a 275,900 high during that Week 4, a 4.5% increase from total July 2024 survey delivery and an 11.3% lift from Week 3.

Not surprisingly, audience levels were even stronger weekdays 6-10am, where AQH persons 6+ averaged 398,000 and soared to 421,600 in Week 4. That Week 4 delivery was 5.9% higher than overall, and 15.5% higher than Week 3.

RRC’s hour-by-hour comparison of Weeks 3 and 4 shows the biggest listening bumps from 7-9am and 4-6pm.