Media Rating Council Accredits Portable People Meter AQH Television Ratings Data in Houston

PPM becomes the first accredited portable meter service, collecting data on radio, local television and cable use from one sample of consumers, at home and away

NEW YORK; Aug 1, 2007 – Arbitron Inc. (NYSE:ARB) announced today that the Media Rating Council® (MRC) has accredited the average-quarter-hour, time-period television ratings data produced by the Portable People MeterTM ratings service in Houston.

“This is a significant milestone for Arbitron,” said Owen Charlebois, president, Operations, Technology and Research & Development, Arbitron Inc. “The Portable People Meter is the only personal, portable electronic meter system that’s ever been subjected to an MRC audit and has met the accreditation standards of the Media Rating Council for a portable meter service, collecting data on radio, local television and cable use from one sample of consumers, at home and away from home."

[ Full Text of Press Release ]

Arbitron Releases Philly PPM Data For May

...“Some have suggested that P1 can be seen as a measure of 'loyalty' or 'engagement.' In the case of the Philadelphia May data, you see that eight stations garner more than two-thirds of their AQH audience from P1 listeners with Contemporary Inspirational WPPZ-FM at the top of the ranker at 79 percent.

“The new PPM metric that replaces time spent listening – Average Weekly Time Exposed – also says a lot about the 'loyalty' and 'engagement' of P1 listeners. In the May 2007 Philadelphia PPM data, two stations, Smooth Jazz WJJZ-FM and Urban Adult Contemporary WDAS-FM have a time spent exposed among their P1 listeners at 10 hours or greater.  [ MORE ]

MediaPost - Commercial Ratings: Yes, but...

THE DEVELOPMENTS OF THE PAST 12 to 18 months regarding commercial ratings have certainly been fascinating to follow. With continued pressure from advertisers for increased accountability, it's encouraging to see the industry getting closer to more precise and relevant data. And regardless of its quality at this early stage, the data has been laid in front of buyers and sellers who must now come to terms with it and figure out how to shape and work on its evolution. However, in the industry's mad dash to obtain average commercial ratings, I believe a crucial issue has been overlooked. Specifically, how compliant are members of Nielsen households in "punching out" on their People Meters when they leave the room during commercial breaks?

... While average commercial audiences are reported to be lower than program minutes, advertisers/agencies may find themselves still paying for some viewers who aren't actually present. That's why it's important for continued industry pressure on Nielsen for deployment of a passive meter, perhaps similar to the one being used by Arbitron in Houston and Philadelphia as well as in the test of Project Apollo (the joint venture between Arbitron & Nielsen). This meter picks up imbedded audio signals (for radio and some in-store media as well) and dispenses with button punching by respondents.

... Analyses of minute-by-minute data show that during the average commercial minute, audiences are generally 5% to 10% lower than during the average program minute. But does this reflect the reality of TV viewing? 20 years ago a company named RD Percy tested a passive heat meter for TV measurement. I recall reviewing a presentation that showed audience levels dropped significantly, 25% to 40% during some commercial breaks. That strongly suggests that Nielsen overreports audience levels during commercial breaks. It would be helpful if Arbitron had minute-by-minute data to share from Houston & Philadelphia that might confirm (or refute) that audiences indeed drop more than what the People Meter reports.  [ MORE ]

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 ]

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 ]

P1's in a PPM World: New Insight Into Who Matters Most

DMR and Arbitron set to release groundbreaking PPM research this summer

CINCINNATI, Ohio – May 31, 2007   DMR, Arbitron and the University of Wisconsin's AC Nielsen Center for Marketing (UW-Madison) are set to release in depth PPM research this summer. The new study, entitled: P1's in a PPM World: New Insight Into Who Matters Most is the first-ever study of listener loyalty and preference (P1, P2, etc.) patterns over time. The research team analyzed over one year’s worth of daily panelist-by-panelist level data from Houston PPM.

...not all radio listeners are created equal: heavy radio users drive nearly 90% of the ratings. According to UW-Madison’s Ty Henderson PhD, “The listening preference patterns in this analysis mirrors what we see in many consumer products: a select few drive the majority of the category. Knowing who matters and who to target will be critical to stations’ marketing and programming.”

Another important finding is that not all P1's are created equal. Although this was more or less known to be true in the diary world, a new measure, "percent of listening" (POL) uncovers the select few who REALLY matter the most. In fact, even so-called "mass appeal" stations derive the majority of their listening from a very small, important group: less than 2% of the Houston market drives nearly half of the listening for a leading AC station. Bill Rose, senior vice president of marketing, Arbitron Inc. says, "Understanding P1 listening is crucial for radio programmers and this study will provide fresh insight into the dynamics of how it works in the PPM world.”   [ Full Text of the Release ]

PPMNews Note:  We will post a link to download the study as soon as it is available.

FMQB - What we've learned from the Philly PPM... So Far

Useful Insights for PPM and Diary Markets  by Gary Marince

With the successful launch of the Arbitron Portable People Meter as the official source of ratings in Philadelphia late last month, we’re witnessing history in the making: electronic ratings for radio is finally a reality. And as exciting as it is for markets who are converting to PPM, the lessons learned from Philadelphia and Houston are easily translatable to markets which may not see PPM anytime soon.

Keep in mind that PPM is actually a form of behavioral research. Among the benefits of using a panel of consumers who wear the PPM over a long period (as opposed to Diarykeepers who are engaged in the ratings process for only a week), we’re observing the same group of people using radio over time. We see how they change listening habits and often can associate why they do so. Programmers now have unprecedented insight into how people use and listen to radio.

So, what behaviors are we seeing and what lessons can we learn?  For programmers, the importance of P1 listening is...  [ MORE ]

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