The introduction of the new Online Radio Diary (ORD) in the Fall 2016 diary ratings across Canada may cost radio stations millions of dollars in lost revenue next year. The new digital radio diaries forced people to select the quarter hours they listened to, resulting in as much as a 30 percent drop in hours tuned in some markets. Less tuning means radio stations are forced to lower the rate they charge clients for their commercials.

Numeris admits in a statement that the introduction of ORD during the 13 week 2016 Radio Diary Ratings conducted September 5th to October 30th “has created inconsistent tuning patterns for some markets” across Canada.

The ORD forces people to be more accurate with their reporting when they listen to radio. The old paper ballot is easier to fill out. Many people just draw a line down the page indicating they listened for hours to the same radio station. No one in radio believed these results but were happy to charge advertisers higher rates because of good ratings.

In the Fall 2016 ratings, both the ORD and paper ballots were used. Younger people preferred to fill out the online ballots while older people stuck with the paper ballots. Numeris says the number of people using the ORD varied from market to market with the minimum usage at 11% and the maximum at 49%.

Patrick Grierson is president of Canadian Broadcast Sales (C.B.S.), the largest national radio sales organization in Canada. Its clients include 43 broadcasters and more than 400 radio stations in 221 Canadian markets.

“It’s all people want to talk about,” says Grierson who estimates total radio revenue could be down by an average of eight per cent because of ORD.

Click here for more details about the impact ORD had on the Fall 2016 diary ratings.