An average radio audience of 1800 is not as low as you think.
1 M people within range of the average radio station /
10 radio stations per market *
5% of the time the average person spends listening to music radio
=
5000
I am not any sort of industry expert, and I could conceive of my numbers being off by a factor of 10. My point is that I don't think you can dismiss out of hand the chance that radio stations are getting fewer than 1800 pairs of ears per play.
1 M people within range of the average radio station /
10 radio stations per market *
5% of the time the average person spends listening to music radio
=
5000
I am not any sort of industry expert, and I could conceive of my numbers being off by a factor of 10. My point is that I don't think you can dismiss out of hand the chance that radio stations are getting fewer than 1800 pairs of ears per play.