Portable People Meters or PPM radio ratings measurement begins in Raleigh – Durham.

This week, Arbitron begins activation of the Portable People Meter or PPM radio audience measurement system in the Raleigh – Durham market. As of Thursday, Raleigh – Durham, the counties 43rd radio market, will forever change the way it measures the radio audience’s listening habits.  Local media companies such as Radio One Inc., Clear Channel and Curtis Media are a buzz over the dramatic change the Arbitron Portable People will bring.

What is the PPM?  According to wikipedia;

“The Portable People Meter (PPM) is a system developed by Arbitron to measure how many people are listening (or at least exposed) to individual radio stations and television stations, including cable TV. The PPM is worn like a pager, and detects hidden audio tones within a station or network’s audio stream, logging each time it finds such a signal. It has prove to be much more accurate than the old handwritten logs or wired meters, and is immune to forgetful test subjects.”

Will the Arbitron Portable People Meter effect radio ratings? Yes, no, maybe, who knows?  The concept of measuring ratings with the use of a PPM makes some veteran radio sales managers and programmers nervous.

Will the Arbitron PPM change a station’s ratings (for good or bad)? Most likely yes, it has already been implemented in several other markets for the past 5 years and has been analyzed by independent researchers. According to Research Director Inc., a major research company who completed a study using Arbitron’s PPM data from sixteen major markets, much like standard diary results, First Preference, or P1 listeners, continue to have a significant impact on a station’s Average Quarter-Hour audience.

If you would like to learn more or contribute information about selling radio advertising in a PPM™ World, join our Radio Sales Form

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts