Ratings to the Highest Bidder!

This one is a little off topic, but we couldn't resist.

Here's a great way to drive ratings:  Arbitron diaries via eBay.

Here's an enterprising soul who has two for sale for the current ratings week.

The text for this listing is tremendous.  We love this line: 

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better ...

YOU WILL RECEIVE NOT ONE (1) but TWO (2) ... YES, THAT'S RIGHT ...

Here's a link to the original listing on eBay.

Here's a PDF of the listing in case the eBay listing gets removed.  Download eBay-Arbitron-Diary.pdf  (It would appear that the bidding on this item HAS been shut down - we forwarded it to our Arbitron contact as soon as we saw it.)

Here's the text of the listing...

NYTimes: Google, Online Ad Giant, Looks at Radio and TV - New York Times

If there were any doubts about the scope of Google's ambitions in the advertising world, one of its recent job postings should dispel them: It seeks a "head of national TV sales" to help build "a world-class national TV advertising sales team."

Then there is radio. Google's chief executive, Eric E. Schmidt, said last year that the company would eventually have 1,000 employees dedicated to radio advertising alone.    [ MORE ]

Rick Cummings, president of Emmis Broadcasting, said he had been pleased so far with using Google to sell advertising spots.

Link to NYTimes story

M:Metrics Launches MeterDirect (tm)

M:Metrics Launches MeterDirect (tm) - The First Syndicated Mobile Audience Measurement Service Using Metering Technology

Measurement firm finds carrier domains rank highly in UK; Americans prefer Web brands

SEATTLE, WA and LONDON -- March 26, 2007 -- M:Metrics, the mobile market authority, today announced the launch of MeterDirect, the first research service to directly and continuously measure consumer mobile media behavior, unlocking mobile as a viable medium for advertisers.

For the first time, media companies will be able to understand how, when and how often consumers engage with the mobile medium, including mobile Web audience rankings by site, the demographic composition of mobile Web domains and day of week and time of day behavior that defines mobile Web traffic. The MeterDirect service also collects detailed information about mobile application usage, including messaging, title and channel level music and video consumption.

"Direct media measurement is critical to programmers, media planners and advertisers as they come to rely on the mobile channel as a component of their traditional and new media campaigns," said Andy Brown, CEO, KMR Group, advertising giant WPP's media research business.  [ MORE ]

[Full Text of Press Release ]

Arbitron, Coleman and Media Monitors Release Study on New Country Music

Landmark Study Reveals that New Songs Do Not Undermine the Audience of Country Radio Stations

The full report from the What Happens When New Music Gets Played: The Impact of New Songs on the Radio Audience study is now available from Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB), Coleman and Media Monitors. This is the landmark study the three companies previewed at last month’s Country Radio Seminar in Nashville in a presentation by Coleman president Jon Coleman.

Through an extensive analysis of data from Arbitron’s Portable People Meter (PPM) measurement of Houston radio listening and music monitoring data from Media Monitors, What Happens When New Music Gets Played: The Impact of New Songs on the Radio Audience reveals how the exposure of new songs on KILT-FM did not undermine the station’s audience levels.  [ MORE ]

Full Text of Press Release

Download PDF of the Report

Ratings Service du Jour: ITvRatings.com

What People are Really Watching on Television

ITvRatings.com has a unique method in placing Television Ratings in the fingertips of every TV viewer.

Dulless, VA, March 17, 2007 --(PR.COM)-- itvratings.com is a product of the new media age. Itvratings.com, a privately owned company based in Dulles, Virginia, has developed a first-rate system to measure television audience preferences via the Internet. With a patent pending system, iTvratings.com is an internet-based service that allows television viewers to vote for their favorite shows and puts the television ratings business at the fingertips of the television viewing public.

Itvratings.com offers the unique opportunity for the public to directly vote for their favorite TV shows as they air. It also places this information in the hands of TV networks to help them better identify the needs and preferences of their viewers.

[ Full Text of Release ]

Arbitron Names Vice President of Research for New Product Development

Dr. Pat Pellegrini appointed to new position in support of new services including Project Apollo and custom research projects for Television and retail media.

NEW YORK, March 14, 2007 – Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) today announced the appointment of Dr. Pat Pellegrini to the new position of vice president, Research, New Product Development. Dr. Pellegrini will apply his extensive expertise in media research and the Portable People Meter^TM system to Arbitron’s new services and initiatives, including Project Apollo and custom research projects using the PPM^TM technology to gain new insights about television and retail media audiences, along with other types of new media.

[ Full Text of Release at Arbitron.com ]

Media Buyer Planner: PPM 'Currency' Survey Begins Today in Philly

The survey for the PPM radio ratings that will be used as currency in the Philadelphia market begins today.

According to Arbitron, 51 stations are prepared to be measured electronically, representing 98.95 percent of the share of listening among radio stations in the market.

That number of stations encoding will continue to increase, as additional stations in the Philadelphia market have requested and are currently installing PPM encoding equipment.

Arbitron has installed a representative panel of more than 2,040 persons age 6 and above. Approximately 8 percent of the panel was recruited from cell-phone-only households.  [ MORE ]

Houston Chronicle: A new plan for tracking listeners

City to be a test market for Arbitron system

Arbitron apparently has a new plan. The company, which measures radio listenership and compiles quarterly ratings to stations and advertisers, is rolling out an electronic system they claim is quicker and more precise than the antiquated paper-booklet method that has been used for decades.

Houston is one of two test markets for Arbitron's Portable People Meter, a pager-sized gadget that radio listeners can take anywhere.

...

Because it "passively" measures music, all someone has to do is carry it with them. And, if department stores and stadium songs are coded with a high-frequency digital output, music from those sources will be captured, as well.  [ MORE ]

Houston Chronicle: Arbitron Rises on PPM Deal, Upgrade

NEW YORK — Shares of Arbitron Inc., which provides broadcast ratings, rose in Monday midday trading after Clear Channel Communications Inc. agreed to use an electronic ratings system championed by Arbitron and an analyst upgraded the stock.

Clear Channel's acceptance of the Portable People Meter (PPM) in Philadelphia after holding out for a lengthy time, may jump-start a wider adoption of the system in the radio industry.  [ MORE ]

Arbitron Releases PPM Ratings for Philadelphia

NEW YORK, March 1, 2007—Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) has released the first “pre-currency” monthly audience estimates for Philadelphia produced by the Portable People Meter ratings service, and has taken another step in transitioning the market from diary-based radio ratings to electronic measurement.

The PPM ratings released this week are for the monthly survey of January 11 through February 7. This survey is based on an installed panel of 2,139 persons aged 6 and above against a target panel of 2,040.

This is the first release of two monthly “pre-currency” estimates that Arbitron is providing to allow subscribing stations and agencies the time to understand the differences between PPM-based and diary-based ratings, and to provide ample time for radio stations and agencies to train their sales and buying staffs on how to do business in an electronically measured marketplace.

[ Full Text of Release at Abitron.com ]