New Headache For Arbitron. PPM Not Certified in US

Michael Hedges June 14, 2006

Not that long ago US audience measurement company Arbitron was poised to revolutionize the system. That was then. Today that revolution just got delayed…again.
Go To Follow Up & Comments

Advertisers and the agencies have been berating commercial radio to get with the program and start using passive audience measurement. Arbitron, the primary US radio audience data supplier, invested millions – ZILLIONS – developing an alternative to diary surveys for audience measurement. The Personal People Meter (PPM) has gone through countless internal development, tests and more tests until the company was convinced the time was right for a switch-over.

The switch would begin with the summer quarter ratings period…in Houston, Texas; one of America’s prime test markets. Now it’s off. Maybe not off but certainly delayed.

Arbitron fully intended to simply switch-over. Broadcasters would install the encoding devices and a new world of granular data would be available to normally data-insatiable media buyers. Well, two companies owning stations in Houston – Radio One and Cox Enterprises – balked at encoding, or that was the reason stated. The interesting relationship between Cox and Radio One can be discussed later.

Then, horror of horrors, THE major US radio broadcaster Clear Channel started asking questions. And Clear Channel research director Jess Hansen organized a committee of other broadcast research directors to ask questions. Nobody doubts that PPM, the device, works. The questions are about other research issues – compliance and reporting – and, then, the big questions. Does passive measurement measure what we want it to measure? Will this fundamental change have unintended consequences.

Unlike the UK where RAJAR, the joint industry committee, is pledged to provide radio audience data and Germany, where Media Analzse is paid by the radio sales houses, or France and Spain, where Médiamétrie and AIMC, respectively, consult long and often with the stakeholders – Arbitron, for radio, and Nielsen, for TV, mostly do what they decide they must do and DO IT. Then they send broadcasters an invoice. 

Only in Switzerland has passive measurement been adopted as the sole currency for radio audience data. But that was less a matter of adoption and more fait accompli. The measurement provider, controlled by the dominant broadcaster – which invested significantly in the system development, simply made the switch.  

There is the Media Rating Council (MRC), which “accredits” US media measurement services. Last Friday (June 9) MRC denied this accreditation to Arbitron for the PPM. Earlier it denied Nielsen accreditation for a passive measurement system for TV. The MRC is a self-regulatory body, formed originally in the 1960s when the US Congress investigated radio and TV ratings practices. Accreditation is voluntary and Arbitron volunteered the PPM for evaluation.

Arbitron boldly announced that MRC accreditation was forthcoming and the Houston test, designed as the first US market switched-over, would be on schedule. Now, according to a company statement, the old (and accredited) diary will be used again in Houston with “complimentary data” on radio and TV exposure collected from PPM devices.

The US industry committee, now asking some of the same questions raised by UK broadcasters, expressed displeasure at Arbitron’s “superficial” response. An email memo from Clear Channels’ Hansen to Arbitron’s President for PPM Pierre Bouvard, provided to US radio industry trade press, was strongly worded but revealed few details. In fact, strict confidentiality agreements – required wherever evaluations are conducted – prevent any disclosures of specifics.

In the quest to change audience measurement currency, Arbitron and other suppliers have made incremental steps forward. Major media buyers and a few US broadcasters have signed on with Arbitron to use PPM data once its available. In Europe, the prospects for PPM adoption rise and fall on RAJAR’s evaluation, which recently set full adoption back at least two years. Norway’s broadcasters are using PPM for some surveys. Germany voted no. Others are still looking.

ftm Follow Up & Comments

Arbitron’s eDiary Launched - November 3, 2006

Radio ratings producer Arbitron plans to offer sample subjects an alternative to paper and pencil diaries starting with the US Winter 2007 surveys. An internet-based diary has been tested and found to offer no significant statistical differences. Response rates from younger subjects are expected to improve with the eDiary.

Though confidentiality agreements prevent any official comment it is believed that the US Media Ratings Council (MRC) has again denied accreditation for Arbitron’s PPM at an August meeting.

The Arbitron Radio Advisory Council, a committee of US broadcaster clients of Arbitron, passed a resolution encouraging Arbitron and the MRC to resolve outstanding issues. The group also asked Arbitron to give 60 days notice to broadcasters at minimum before switching from diary to PPM measurement in any US market.