Statistics – Sweet or Stinky?

Here on the Gold Coast, Australia, the 3 major FM radio stations have just been surveyed to see who has the audience share in the various categories.

The results were very clear cut:

• 1st Gold FM
• 2nd Sea FM
• 3rd Hot Tomato

Hot Tomato is the newest station here and has had a pretty poor result. There is a ‘honeymoon’ period when a new station comes on air – many people will have a listen to see if they like them and then switch over if they like what they hear.

With Hot Tomato most people switched right back.

More spin than an Australian cricketer...

Anyway, Gold FM duly sent out a triumphant media release announcing their comprehensive win. The bit that amused me was Hot Tomato’s response to this. The Hot Tomato spin went something like this;

“Hot Tomato is delighted with their very successful entry into the Gold Coast radio market. The survey results show Hot Tomato was the # 1 station......... for females aged 18-34, who listen to the radio between 2 and 4 pm, who live in houses with green ceilings and who drive purple Fords......... and who are left handed.”

I may have made that last paragraph up. But it’s close to the real release!

Don’t spin bad news. Sure, put it in a positive light but, like my 14-year-old daughter says, you don’t want to look like a try-hard.

Brendon Sinclair