Arbitron Portable People Meter Passes Second Test

  • by September 26, 2001
Arbitron Inc. yesterday released a second round of ratings comparisons for its new television, cable and radio audience measurement system, the Portable People Meter (PPM), which is currently undergoing U.S. market trials.

The PPM is a pager-sized device that is carried by consumers. It automatically detects inaudible codes that TV and radio broadcasters as well as cable networks embed in the audio portion of their programming using encoders provided by Arbitron. At the end of each day, the survey participants place the meters into base stations that recharge the device and send the collected codes to Arbitron for tabulation. The meters are equipped with a motion sensor that allows Arbitron to monitor the compliance of the PPM survey participants every day.

Marshall Snyder, president of Worldwide PPM Development at Arbitron, said this second ratings comparison is “more complete than our first because more media outlets are participating in the test by encoding their audio. Yet, the conclusions are the same: the PPM delivers logical ratings results and a more complete picture of how consumers use electronic media.”

Since December of 2000, the Portable People Meter has been undergoing U.S. market trials in Wilmington, Delaware, which is within the Philadelphia TV market. Arbitron released the first ratings results on July 19, 2001. Additional ratings comparisons are planned for the fall.

According to the results of this second test, on a 24-hour day, total-week basis, the PPM continues to report higher average quarter-hour audiences for the combined electronic media outlets that encoded full time, just as it did for May/June 2001 comparisons. Compared to existing methods of measuring media audiences, the PPM reports increased average quarter-hour audiences for broadcast TV and cable and equivalent average quarter-hour audiences for radio, a finding consistent with the May/June 2001 comparisons released on July 19.

For radio, the PPM again reported a higher average daily cumulative audience: 79.8% for the PPM vs. 65.6% for the radio diary. The PPM also showed less time spent listening for radio: 3 hours and 5 minutes per day for the PPM vs. 3 hours and 42 minutes per day for the diary. Arbitron says the same pattern was also found in the June 2001 comparisons to Spring 2001 radio diaries.

The PPM also continues to report shifts in listening patterns by daypart. Morning-drive and midday AQH ratings are lower according to the PPM, while Monday-Friday evening and overnight AQH ratings are higher as are weekend AQH ratings.

As with the May 2001 findings, these comparisons for July 2001 indicate that, for broadcast TV and cable, the PPM is reporting higher AQH audiences for all dayparts. These increases are due in part to increased viewing for Men 18+ and people under age 35, as well as substantially higher cable viewing overall and the PPM’s ability to track viewing out of home.

For the month of July 2001, 38 radio stations, 7 broadcast television stations and 15 cable outlets were encoding their audio full time and are included in these ratings comparisons. The July 2001 ratings comparisons include 3 additional radio stations and 7 additional cable outlets that were not in the May/June 2001 comparisons. The panel of consumers used for these ratings comparisons is representative of the market being measured, and the panelists have carried the meters with them more than 15 hours a day (median value) throughout the month of July.

The radio ratings comparisons are between July 2001 PPM data and the Summer 2001 Phase I radio diary data. These comparisons are for Persons 12+, as the diary radio survey begins at age 12.

TV ratings comparisons are made with data from the Nielsen meter/diary integrated estimates for the total Philadelphia DMA for the July 2001 Nielsen survey. These data are compared with the July 2001 PPM results for total Persons 6+, which is currently the lowest age for PPM measurement.

The next phase in Arbitron’s demonstration of the PPM is to expand the sample to at least 1,500 people across the entire Philadelphia DMA beginning in January 2002. Arbitron says the increased sample size in the second phase of the trial would allow direct comparisons of audiences for individual radio stations and formats, TV stations and cable networks.

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