Nielsen: Three-Minute Qualifier Has ‘Modernized How We Credit Radio Listening.’

One year after Nielsen modernized its listening qualifier, a full-year review shows measurable gains across radio. Speaking during an RAB webinar on Wednesday (Feb. 4), Nielsen’s Jon Miller said the change has driven higher average audiences, expanded daily cume, and increased ad impressions across formats, dayparts, and key demographics.

“Nielsen is very pleased with what we’ve seen,” Miller says. “All these things have come to pass — more ad impressions, higher average audience, more daily cume at a station level — which helps improve stability [and] expanded advertiser choice, because we see different dayparts and formats having higher audiences than we traditionally captured.”

From a programming standpoint, Miller says, “You see different dayparts and formats having higher audiences than maybe we traditionally captured. Programming freedom, not being so tied to the quarter-hour change rules, was part of the impetus behind making this adjustment.”

On the advertising side, he adds, “Looking at indexes for national buys, PPM markets are seeing the immediate impact, and it flows into the national data sets as well. Higher instances of audience and ad occurrence give you more impressions, which feeds into things like mixed models and ultimately aligns to more inputs into our attribution and outcomes measurements.”

A comparison of January-December 2025 to 2024 shows total listening has increased for all demographics, with a 14% lift overall. “The bottom line is that tide has risen for all boats — all formats, all dayparts,” Miller says. “Whether you’re talking about Black panelists [or] Hispanic panelists inside language breakouts, we’re seeing higher radio use, higher average audiences across the board.”

For Nielsen, Miller says, it serves as a reminder that “three minutes of credit more aligns with how people use radio — how young people in particular use radio and audio. It captures those short-duration events that some of our competitors were already getting credit for, so it modernized the way we credit radio listening.”

Nielsen’s comparison shows double-digit increases in average quarter-hour and time spent listening in all key dayparts for persons 6+ and 25-54, with PM drive showing the largest gains, which, Miller says, “matches with what we know about radio listening.” Radio should note the weekend lifts, he says. “[It’s] a daypart that has been maybe traditionally undervalued, maybe sold differently. We’re seeing significant audience on the weekends, because we know that radio is an away-from-home platform. When you are outside your house, when you’re in your car, you’re engaging primarily with radio. That’s something to think about as an advertiser.”

Overall, daily time spent has seen a 12% boost. “Our three-minute qualifier is capturing more listening minutes, and therefore it has increased daily time spent,” Miller says.

Also notable, Miller says, is how the qualifier change has brought in more reported stations, as it now counts shorter listening events. That has especially impacted the 18-34 demo, which sees a 5% increase in daily cume. “Nothing about people’s listening habits have changed, [but] the measurement has changed, so now we’re able to capture more listening that was already going on,” he says. “That’s where advertisers really benefit.”

A look at the top 20 radio formats for adults 25-54 shows daily cumes, time spent and occasions all up year-over-year, with bigger boosts for P1 listeners. “We’re not seeing more radio users in general than we saw before, but stations are seeing it, because now those short-burst listeners that you weren’t being credited for before are now in your audience,” Miller says. “No matter how you compare it, going to three-minute qualifier is delivering more for your radio schedules in every single market.”