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
Posted by Cheri on October 23, 2008
