From Media Life Magazine
By Louisa Ada Seltzer

Jun 22, 2010

Arbitron’s Portable People Meter is a huge advance over the diary system for tracking radio listenership, in no small part because it is portable, thus able to pick up radio listenership in bars, offices and other venues outside the home. Now the PPM is about to get even more portable. Arbitron is testing a new model, the 360, that is truly wireless, capable of sending data back to Arbitron as if it were a cell phone. The current model requires that the user dock the device in a special transmitter at night that then sends the data back to Arbitron via landline. The new PPM will also enable Arbitron to send users messages, which will appear on a screen. The new device is smaller and sleeker, but perhaps a bigger advantage for Arbitron is that it will be simpler to send out an install, without the docking station. Once testing is complete, which should be in several months, Arbitron will start distributing the new 360 to panelists.

Inserted from <http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Hereandthere/Arbitron-s-PPM-gets-a-wireless-makeover.asp>

Posted under PPM, Radio

From Radio Ink Magazine
June 16, 2009

COLUMBIA, MD — June 15, 2009: The latest RADAR report on network radio shows that radio reaches more than 235 million Americans 12+ every week. That’s 92 percent of people 12+, and Arbitron points out that radio also reaches 89 percent 12 to 17-year-olds weekly, and 85 percent of the “ad-elusive and media multi-taskers” between 18 and 34. The 7,700 RADAR network stations reach 213 million people each week. Read More…

Posted under PPM, Radio, Research

From Media Life Magazine
By Diego Vasquez
October 23, 2008

Arbitron’s new tool for measuring radio listenership

There’s been lots of hand-wringing over the rollout of Arbitron’s portable people meter in New York City and seven other markets earlier this month, with many minority-focused stations claiming the new device undercounts its listeners and politicians pushing into the protests to win votes in an election year. The New York and New Jersey attorneys general went so far as to file lawsuits against Arbitron, which debuted the device a couple days earlier than expected in order to avoid outside interference. But in a few months, this may all simply be background noise. Buyers in the two markets that have already been using the PPM for more than a year, Houston and Philadelphia, say that despite some adjustments, the new data has been a big improvement over the old paper diary system. Ratings arrive in a more timely fashion, and while numbers have slipped, they’ve done so almost across the board, demonstrating the inaccuracies of the old system. Overall, media people believe the PPM allows for a much better way to buy and plan radio. Kelley Mohr Rodriguez, media director at Richards/Carlberg in Houston, and Bernie Shimkus, vice president and director of research at Harmelin Media in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., talk to Media Life about the PPM, which stations have seen the biggest declines, and whether Arbitron will have any more rollout problems. Read More…

Posted under PPM

From Radio Business Report/Television Business Report – Voice of the Broadcasting Industry
October 9, 2008

One of the true highlights of the NAB Radio Show in Austin was the report from Coleman Insights on its “Real PPM Panelists Tell All.” A summary is now available for everyone who didn’t make it to Austin (and those who did as well). A link to the pdf is posted on the Coleman website and in the next few weeks the entire presentation should be there as video on demand. Read More…

Posted under PPM, Radio, Research

From MediaWeek
By Katy Bachman
August 14, 2008

The July PPM ratings showed that 7 percent of PPM panelists listened to encoded online radio streams during the month.

For the first time, Arbitron ratings for portable people meter markets included estimates for radio station Internet streams and HD side channels. The July PPM ratings, released Wednesday for 10 markets, showed that 7 percent of (or 1,207) PPM panelists listened to encoded online radio streams during the month. Read More…

Posted under PPM, Radio, Research

From Radio Ink
July 17, 2008

Arbitron has released preliminary Portable People Meter results for Los Angeles — one of eight markets due to go live with the PPM in September — and it’s reporting that cume across various “format groups” is up substantially from what’s been shown in the diary ratings. Read More…

Posted under PPM