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| Hooper Ratings | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hooper Ratings |
| Founded | 1934 |
| Founder | C. E. Hooper |
| Country | United States |
| Defunct | 1950s (merged into other services) |
| Industry | Broadcasting measurement |
Hooper Ratings Hooper Ratings were an early American system for measuring radio and early television audience size and program popularity pioneered in the 1930s and 1940s. Developed and promoted by C. E. Hooper and the C. E. Hooper Company, the service competed with contemporaries to influence programming decisions at networks such as NBC, CBS, and ABC. Hooper data shaped advertiser choices at firms like Procter & Gamble and Lever Brothers and affected scheduling at stations including WOR (AM), WABC (AM), and KDKA. The system intersected with media research by organizations such as the Radio Research Council and academic departments at Columbia University, Harvard University, and University of Chicago.
Hooper Ratings emerged in the context of radio expansion after the Radio Act of 1927 and during the rise of networks like NBC Blue Network and NBC Red Network. Founded by C. E. Hooper in 1934, the company sought alternatives to diary-based measurement used by the Crossley Ratings and later the Arbitron methods. The service gained prominence through high-profile coverage of events such as broadcasts of the 1936 Summer Olympics, 1939 New York World's Fair radio tie-ins, and election-night programming for the United States presidential election, 1940. Hooper collaborated with stations including WGN (AM), WLS (AM), and WLW and was cited by publications like Variety, The New York Times, and Broadcasting Magazine. During World War II, Hooper studies informed broadcasters and advertisers responding to wartime mobilization overseen by agencies such as the Office of War Information. In the postwar era, the rise of television networks including DuMont Television Network and the consolidation of measurement led Hooper to compete and eventually yield market share to firms associated with Nielsen Media Research.
Hooper Ratings employed telephone surveys and spot-check sampling to estimate listening audiences, contrasting with diary methods promulgated by groups associated with A.C. Nielsen and Arbitron Inc.. The technique relied on probability sampling frames drawn from telephone directories and United States Census tracts in cities such as New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Detroit. Interviews targeted households during or immediately after broadcasts, referencing programs on networks including Mutual Broadcasting System, CBS, and NBC. Hooper adapted statistical methods from researchers at institutions such as Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, University of Michigan, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology and employed weighting and stratification to account for demographic categories recognized by advertisers like General Motors and Ford Motor Company. Field operations involved regional offices in markets including San Francisco, Boston, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Miami, and used trained interviewers similar to those employed by polling firms such as Gallup and Roper Center.
Hooper Ratings influenced programming choices at networks like CBS and NBC and guided sponsorship deals by companies including Johnson & Johnson and Colgate-Palmolive. Stations and producers—examples being programs featuring stars such as Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Orson Welles, Edward R. Murrow, and Fred Allen—used Hooper data to argue for renewals or cancellations. Advertising agencies such as J. Walter Thompson, BBDO, and Ogilvy & Mather relied on Hooper numbers alongside creative testing to allocate media buys. Hooper metrics also informed regulatory hearings at bodies like the Federal Communications Commission and were cited in trade conferences hosted by Radio Club of America and industry journals such as Radio Daily. The ratings affected market strategies of broadcasters ranging from regional chains like Metromedia to network executives at Westinghouse Electric Corporation and program syndicators such as Ziv Television Programs.
Critics compared Hooper methodology unfavorably with diary-based counts and questioned telephone sampling biases tied to Great Depression and wartime telephone ownership patterns. Scholars at University of Chicago and commentators in The New Republic raised concerns about underrepresentation of rural listeners in markets such as Mississippi Delta and Appalachia. Advertisers from sectors like Packard Motor Car Company and Sears, Roebuck and Company sometimes disputed Hooper figures, prompting debates in Advertising Age and Billboard. Technical limitations included recall bias, exclusion of children without phone access in areas like Bronx neighborhoods, and difficulties measuring out-of-home listening at venues such as USO clubs and movie theaters. Competing firms, including A.C. Nielsen Company and early operations that prefigured Arbitron, highlighted these weaknesses during contract negotiations with networks and agencies.
Hooper's telephone spot-check approach contrasted with A.C. Nielsen's diary-based and later electronic measurement strategies. While Hooper emphasized immediacy and short-term tuning metrics useful for live broadcasts, Nielsen developed longitudinal panels and, later, electronic meters used with programs on NBC, CBS, and ABC television schedules. The two systems informed different advertising rate cards adopted by media sellers such as The New York Times Company and broadcasters operating stations like WPIX (TV) and KTLA. Debates between Hooper proponents and Nielsen advocates occurred in forums including National Association of Broadcasters meetings and trade publications like Broadcasting & Cable. As television supplanted radio, Nielsen's expansion into TV measurement and alliances with sponsors such as RCA and networks contributed to its dominance.
Hooper Ratings left a methodological legacy visible in contemporary audience research at Nielsen Media Research, Kantar Media, and Comscore. Elements of spot-check sampling, rapid-response surveys, and market stratification influenced practices at digital analytics firms including Google, Facebook, and Amazon when they developed cross-media measurement tools. Academic programs at Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at USC, and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism teach historical methods that trace to Hooper techniques. Modern debates over passive measurement, panel recruitment, and demographic weighting echo earlier discussions involving Hooper, Nielsen, and Arbitron, and inform standards set by organizations like the Media Rating Council and industry consortia such as the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
Category:Audience measurement