« October 2007 | Main | April 2008 »
Arbitron has decided to regroup amid growing criticism about its roll-out of PPM and put a hold on things. The company will continue to release "pre-currency" PPM numbers in New York, but delay until September 2008 the formal switch to PPM. In addition, Los Angeles, Riverside, Chicago, San Francisco, San Jose, and Dallas will be delayed.
Arbitron's CEO Steve Morris responded tersely to growing criticism of Arbitron's roll-out of PPM by declaring:
Over the last few years, as PPM has been brought through its long testing process, many of these issues have been extensively discussed, and trade-offs versus cost debated.
It is a particularly ironic response because the biggest complaint is that Arbitron is failing to hit its own panel targets. The only "trade-off versus cost" debate Morris can be talking about must be within Arbitron as it will have to spend money to increase panels to the sizes the markets were promised. Radio is shouldering the lion's share of the cost of PPM with 65% rate increases. It isn't unreasonable to ask that Arbitron now deliver on its end of the deal.
According to Inside Radio, Clear Channel, Cox, Cumulus, and Radio One have sent a letter to Arbitron demanding immediate action to fix problems with the People Meter. Inside Radio writes:
The four broadcast groups are demanding Arbitron formulate an action plan to solve PPM problems in the next 30 days. While remaining supporters of electronic measurement, they say "PPM has not provided accurate or reliable data for all demographic groups." The biggest issue is sample size, particularly among 18-34s, Blacks, and Hispanics. The four say "The situation is clear: To secure a legitimate representation of listener activity, the number of people participating in the PPM survey must be increased." They also blast an Arbitron proposal to lower the number of market-level respondents needed to issue a ratings report. They say the proposal is "dangerous" because it could result in some stations selling ad time against ratings based on a single listener.
The important point here is that these four groups are not critical of electronic measurement. They are critical of Arbitron's implementation of electronic measurement. It is in Arbitron's financial interest to maintain the smallest possible panel size that radio will accept. Arbitron will not increase panel sizes unless radio pressures them to do so.
When Media Audit/Ipsos announced the development of their Smart Phone device to measure radio listening, Arbitron dismissed their announcement derisively declaring that, "If all you’ve got is a gizmo, you’ve got a long way to go." The line became the title of an article on the Arbitron website by David Lapovsky who wrote, "Its not the electronics of a metering device alone, but the whole system that surrounds the metering device that determines the usefulness of the audience estimates it collects." Truer words were never spoken.
The success of Arbitron's PPM, the Media Audit/Ipsos Smart Phone, or some yet undiscovered method will rest on not only "the gizmo," but everything else that surrounds the metering device. InSights was created to examine radio's leap into electronic measurement, developments in this rapidly evolving technology, and its impact on radio.
