Column: Radio Activity

Big deal for B101 owner Jerry Lee, who on Sept. 28 will get the National Radio Award from the National Association of Broadcasters. Lee is a rare solo owner of a big-signal FM radio station. Light rock WBEB (101.1) had the highest audience share in Philly in May, according to Arbitron figures released yesterday.

WDAS-FM (105.3) saw a ratings bounce last month. Arbitron figures say the urban adult-contemporary station rose from fifth to second in the "money demographic" of listeners ages 25 to 54, behind rock WMMR (93.3). In third was B101, followed by oldies WMGK (102.9) and classic hits WOGL (98.1). Among listeners 18 to 34, WMMR was tops, followed by top-40 WRDW (96.5), top-40 WIOQ (102.1) and a tie between hip-hoppers WPHI (100.3) and WUSL (98.9).

WJJZ (97.5), the smooth jazz outlet, should be [ MORE ]

Crawford Broadcasting Signs for PPM Service in Chicago

NEW YORK, June 18, 2007 – Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) announced today that Crawford Broadcasting Company has entered into a multi-year agreement for the Arbitron Portable People MeterTM audience measurement service when the PPMTM system is deployed in Chicago, starting in January 2008.

Crawford Broadcasting owns four FM stations in Chicago and its suburbs: WPWX - 92.3 FM; WSRB - 106.3 FM; WYRB - 106.3 FM; WYCA - 102.3 FM.  [ Full Text of Press Release ]

RW Online: Arbitron Cites User Commitment to PPMs

Arbitron, saying its panelists are committed to PPM, passed along anecdotes about people who wear the Portable People Meter.

“Many of our PPM panelists go to great lengths themselves to live up to their commitment to carry the meter with them wherever they go,” the company stated in a press release.

In one household with seven people, everyone had a meter except a 4-year-old who was...  [ MORE ]

PPM Data Released in Houston

Without editorial or fanfare, Arbitron released the Houston PPM data this afternoon - late but confident that it had passed their quality assurance review.

Arbitron Notice - PPM Delay

Here is the notice that Arbitron sent to clients yesterday regarding the delay in releasing the Houston PPM numbers this week:

To: Subscribers to Arbitron’s Houston-Galveston PPM Weeklies Service

Houston-Galveston PPM Weeklies Data for Week 3 of May 2007, originally scheduled to release this morning at 10:00AM Central Time, will be rescheduled. While conducting quality control reviews, we observed some unusual listening patterns warranting further review. A rescheduling of the release date will allow the time necessary for additional quality control measures to help ensure we can have complete confidence in the audience estimates we release.

We will notify you as soon as a release date is available. We appreciate your patience and regret any inconvenience that may result. Please direct any questions to your Arbitron representative.

This morning's Inside Radio reports:

Arbitron isn't answering questions and there's no telling when the numbers will be will be released.  The note to clients suggests it may be more than just figuring out whether an individual panelist strapped a PPM to his dog.  Arbitron says it needs time to come up with "additional quality control measures to help ensure we can have complete confidence in the audience estimates."  In Philly - where PPM ratings are now the currency - there's no immediate impact.  But Arbitron says it may need to make adjustments if it decides changes are necessary beyond Houston. [ MORE ]

Inside Radio: A PPM glitch delays Houston numbers.

Arbitron is rescheduling today’s release of Houston data after observing “some unusual listening patters” in the third week of May. Arbitron says it’ll release the data as soon as they have “complete confidence” in the estimates. [ MORE ]

Just Say No: Viacom Nixes Commercial Ratings As Upfront Standard

WHILE ACKNOWLEDGING THAT COMMERCIAL RATINGS will inevitably become the standard, Viacom has no plans to make upfront deals based on them this summer, the company's CEO said Friday.

But Viacom isn't the only cable programmer to express concerns that the new commercial ratings have accuracy issues. Many prefer to wait before using them in deal-making, despite some buyers' eagerness to use them posthaste.

Dauman did add that commercial ratings will ultimately emerge as the dominant currency.  [ MORE ]

Newark Star Ledger: People Meters let radio tune in to audiences

... the radio ratings game is about to catch up to technology. The imminent arrival of a device called a "Portable People Meter" in the New York radio market could spell big changes for listeners as programmers and advertisers get faster, more detailed and more accurate information about who listens to what.

Will rock stations come back into vogue? Is disco really dead? Will talk radio recover from the controversies involving Don Imus and various zinger-slinging shock jocks?

The Portable People Meter just might tell the tale.

The small electronic device, which gets clipped to a user like a cell phone, listens for signals embedded in programming and records that information. It goes beyond traditional radio, recognizing programming delivered via satellite radio and broadcast, cable and satellite TV. Arbitron says it can even detect cinema advertising.

In other words, if you can hear it, Arbitron will know.   [ MORE ]