Link: Radio Ink - The Voice of Radio Revolution.
PPM & PBP: A Whole New Ballgame Arbitron VP of PPM Sales John Snyder yesterday outlined "The Value of Play-By-Play in a PPM World." Snyder pointed out that “changing the measurement system (from diaries to PPM) will have an impact on sports on radio.”
He said that “with PPM you're going to notice that there are some real numbers that you can attribute to different (sporting) events. I think that the number of people who buy on gut instinct and pure passion and loyalty will diminish to some extent.”
Using Boston as an example, Snyder said that under the existing system, “the Spring book dates are March through June and we release it around July 21st. So you've got an MLB season that starts in early April, and the numbers aren't delivered until late July, so you have roughly four months of selling without current data. Once the ratings are released they're current for three months, and thus, you've got a Spring survey that's the most recent data until October or November. So you've got a couple months of the season determining the rest of the year from the Spring book. And when the Summer book comes out, the numbers reflected in that book are no longer relevant to the station since the season is over.”
But, he continued, “PPM will shift things around...
“The PPM survey is one month, as opposed to three. So you would have (for example) a survey from April to May, and that would be delivered about two weeks later, on May 17. The MLB season begins on April 4th, and the results are delivered six weeks later, in mid May. So you have roughly six weeks of selling without current data versus four months. And (those results are) current only for one month, not three, as with the diary service.” So, “if you're having a great year and your team's hot, you want more data quicker.
“Also,” Snyder continued, “we've now added another month: December 13th to January 9th. That period was never measured before with the diary. It captures about three or more games what were previously unmeasured with the diary. And that's huge if you've got (an NFL) team that's going down the stretch in playoff contention. Having those last weeks in December and a possible playoff week in January, those are your biggest numbers."
Snyder says that having more immediate information will have an impact, although he warns, it may be good or bad, depending on how your team is playing on the field.
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