Arbitron Acquires IMMI, Unveils Next-Gen PPM Device

Arbitron revealed two major additions to its radio ratings capabilities on Monday, with the acquisition of Integrated Media Measurement, Inc. and the unveiling of a new version of its portable people meter -- the passive electronic measurement device that anchors its electronic ratings for radio audience size in top media markets -- called PPM 360. Arbitron hopes to introduce the new PPM 360 device in PPM markets next year.

Announced late in the day, the acquisition of IMMI -- including its technology, assets, trade name, and intellectual property -- gives Arbitron access to IMMI's cellular phone-based technology, which is designed to capture consumer cross-platform media usage. IMMI's system allows media clients to track panelists by location, for a more detailed picture of their out-of-home media consumption. Its measurement capabilities include television viewing outside the home, time-shifted and on-demand viewing, radio, DVDs, audio CDs, theatrical films, live concerts and sporting events, and cell phone videos and games.

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Two years ago IMMI had a pilot measurement program for TV viewing outside the home in partnership with Arbitron rival Nielsen, but this was canceled due to worsening economic conditions.

Also on Monday, Arbitron unveiled the new PPM 360 device, with a new design that promises to make it easier for Arbitron panelists to participate in radio ratings measurement. This in turn could help resolve some of the sample size issues which Arbitron has wrestled with over the last couple of years.

Smaller and sleeker than its predecessor, PPM 360 doesn't have to be returned to a docking station in the panelist's home to transmit its measurement data, which is instead communicated via wireless signal.

Together, these improvements should make it more practical for panelists to carry the PPM device with them on their daily routines (some balked at the size of the old device -- with female panelists, for example, complaining it took up too much space in their purses, while the home docking requirement made it hard for panelists with irregular work schedules to participate).

The addition of wireless communication also addresses one of the complaints of Arbitron's radio ratings clients, who noted that the old PPM device -- a cutting-edge technology when it was first developed in the 1990s -- had fallen behind the times, surpassed by even the cheapest cell phones.

The real-time wireless updates should allow Arbitron to deliver ratings for big events to clients more quickly. On that note, it may also help head off potential competition from rival radio measurement systems based on smartphones, like that proposed by Ipsos earlier this decade.

The unveiling of Arbitron's new PPM 360 device comes just a week after the ratings firm announced a multi-year deal with WPP/GroupM, giving all of the agencies under the GroupM umbrella (including Maxus, MEC, MediaCom and Mindshare) access to Arbitron's PPM and diary ratings services, as well as Tapscan, Arbitron's software sales tool incorporating customized demos, geographies, dayparts and overall audience averages.

Earlier this year, Arbitron apparently reached a tentative resolution of a longstanding conflict with a number of minority radio broadcasters, who charged that Arbitron's PPM sampling methodology under-represented certain key minority demos, especially among African-American and Hispanic listeners.

The rapprochement follows Arbitron's commitment to enhance minority audience sampling, and the decision by some groups -- including the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies -- to join the Media Rating Council, which oversees accreditation for media ratings.

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