PPM News & Comment (beta)

PPM News & Comment Returns June 9

2008-05-31T17:18:00.000-07:00

We're back from hiatus beginning Monday, June 9. We intend to bring you news, in-depth and timely, on Arbitron's PPM initiative along with comments as appropriate. Please join us. Bookmark this page or put us in your reader.

New P1 Study - Arbitron and dmr - Houston data

2007-10-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

Arbitron and dmr have released a summary of findings via PDF. Available here.

P1s or first preference listeners - those who listen the most to a particular station - continue to represent the majority (two-thirds) of a typical station's Average Quarter-Hour audience in the PPM world.
Heavy radio users (those who spend more than 7 hours a week listening to radio) represent 50% of all consumers, but they generate the vast majority, almost 90%, of the market's AQH.
Half of consumers spend 57% of their radio listening with their P1 station.
Consumers who spend a lot of time with radio and have Deep Loyalty to their P1 station are called Prime P1s - and they are, not surprisingly, the most important radio consumers to a station.
Consumers who spend a lot of time with radio but are not yet deeply loyal to their P1 station are called Best Prospects.
Time spent with radio is very consistent over time.
Two-thirds of consumers have only one or two P1 stations over a ten week period.
Consumers who tune in to fewer P1 stations over time are significantly heavier radio listeners.

The entire twenty-three page PDF here.

Urban Radio in a PPM World

2007-10-10T10:17:00.000-07:00

Arbitron is providing access to the ROI Media Solutions presentation made yesterday at the Urban Radio/PPM Fly-In. You need to register, name and email address required. More here.

Seducing PPM - NAB Radio Show

2007-09-29T07:01:00.000-07:00

The Mark Ramsey presentation, "Seducing PPM: The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Ratings" is available via Quicktime video and related PDF here.

Commentary - Keep a diary

2007-09-24T07:53:00.000-07:00

The early days of PPM include a growing store of advice, counsel on how to win in a PPM world. My thought is one of the most important and effective strategies is not yet getting the attention deserved.

Keep a diary.

As a practical matter keeping a diary, or journal if you prefer, affords an outstanding return on investment. Your diary will prove invaluable in gaining an understanding of the PPM data.

What is happening? What is not happening? What are the players doing to influence the action?

Monthly report

2007-09-21T12:32:00.001-07:00

Here's a brief on visitors to this blog since our debut last month.

Top five countries outside of the USA by unique visitors

United Kingdom
Canada
Egypt
Australia
Germany

Top ten US cities by unique visitors

Columbia
Chicago
New York
Los Angeles
Dallas
Tampa
Philadelphia
Houston
Detroit
Denver

Most emailed post: Commentary - A Call for Leadership

Client update

2007-09-21T06:20:00.000-07:00

Arbitron has made available the PowerPoint images from yesterday's client update (New York Launch). Presenting were Pierre Bouvard and Jay Guyther. Download the presentation (PDF file) here.

Delivery of the first weekly reporting period for New York is scheduled for November 13.

Also included: an update on average daily sample sizes in Houston and Philadelphia. Plus a brief on markets beyond New York; data update on the number of panelists recruited for Los Angeles, Riverside and Chicago.

Arbitron has added more dedicated metro web pages. Now available: Nassau-Suffolk and Middlesex-Somerset-Union.

Arbitron introduces dedicated metro page

2007-09-20T23:48:00.000-07:00

As part of their ongoing education initiative, Arbitron has introduced a market specific page with topical and relevant PPM information. The first to debut - New York. Take a look at the new "PPM in New York" page here.

Commentary - A call for leadership

2007-09-15T12:13:00.000-07:00

"What ultimately constrains the performance of your organization is not its business model, nor its operating model, but its management model...management innovation has a unique capacity to create a long term advantage for your company...frankly, today's best practices aren't good enough...I dream of organizations that are capable of spontaneous renewal, where the drama of change is unaccompanied by the wrenching trauma of a turnaround. I dream of businesses where an electric current of innovation pulses through every activity, where the renegades always trump the reactionaries. I dream of companies that actually deserve the passion and creativity of the folks who work there, and naturally elicit the very best that people have to give. Of course, these are more than dreams; they are imperatives. They are do or die challenges for any company that hopes to thrive in the tumultuous times ahead - and they can only be surmounted with inspired management innovation...'management' as currently practiced, is a drag on success" Gary Hamel, The Future of Management (Amazon info)

Walt Kelly may have said it best when it comes to understanding our situation today: "We have met the enemy and he is us."

We are witness to one of the greatest moments of opportunity in the history of ad supported measured media. Contemporaneously, a new day dawns in the measurement of radio. We are moving away from dead tree diaries, cognition, literate behavior (and the vagaries of recall) and into a new era of behavior estimates created using passive electronic capture. Without question this represents a sea change for buyers and sellers. Not since the telephone coincidental methodology have we made a serious and successful attempt to capture media behavior in real time; never before have we made a more serious effort to measure real time behavior without a primary dependence on cognitive process (beyond carry and dock).

It is my sense that Arbitron has done their homework. They have invested years of serious study and millions in R&D with one goal - to develop a better, more reliable system. However, from the first day PPM was green lighted until today a great many operating variables have changed. Truth be known, today is not the survey research world Arbitron signed up to measure all those years ago. No, as a practical matter, sample, placement, consent and cooperation are becoming the stuff of Sisyphean challenge. Some of the decades of working knowledge in the Arbitron storehouse is relevant and applicable, most of it is probably not. We are breaking new ground. Those involved in panel management might find the Google Moon Challenge an easier assignment by comparison.

My thought is during these early days of PPM Arbitron is doing an exemplary job in three key areas. Transparency. Learning. Communication. Further, without any hard evidence to support this let me also suggest that team Arbitron is seriously preoccupied with process innovation, a direct benefit of the considerable learning now in progress. We are living this game-changing research innovation in the moment, in the real world where things are messy, imperfect, and ever changing. Hey, we're playing with live ammo here. We are now creating a new construct, a new reality that will demand intellectual vigor, rigor and, above all else, intellectual honesty.

In my opinion too many buyers and sellers are making judgments without the benefit of being fully informed or even current on the PPM initiative. Perspective is important here. We are making this up as we go along. Beyond generally accepted survey research principles, practice and standards there are simply no rules at this point. The time has come to write the new rules. To do this we will need to abandon long accepted practices, we will need to let go of a past that is increasingly irrelevant and perhaps even toxic to our future.

In summary, Arbitron is betting their company on PPM. They have everything to gain by getting it right, everything to lose by getting it wrong. The same can be said of radio. The first tribe of wireless can elect to be bold, to move forward, to participate in the reinvention of industry metrics and get the new right, right or not. No matter, the PPM ship has sailed. The words of Admiral Art Cebroski come to mind "Plant the flag downrange and then turn your forces loose. Don't tell them how, just give them the vector." Folks, the flag has been planted.

What's needed now are the advantages inherent in creative collaboration and education. Moreover, we have an urgent need for leadership in these important areas.

The time has passed when it was acceptable to stand on the sidelines and be critical without the offer of informed suggestion, we should no longer allow comment without commitment, no longer tolerate snark without a solution set. The time has come to begin the serious work needed to make the best of PPM. The time has come for leadership to stand up and make a difference. To paraphrase Dr. Hamel, this is no longer just a good idea or a dream, it's an imperative. Make no mistake, this is a do or die challenge. Management as currently practiced, is a drag on success. This is a call for leadership. Game on.

PPM Rulebook - New rules

2007-09-14T06:27:00.000-07:00

Paragon Media Strategies adds two rules to their PPM Rulebook...

#14. Demand better internal sample management from Arbitron

#15. Don't sweat the rankers

Check out the PPM Rulebook with comments here.

Replay of PPM client update now available

2007-09-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

Now on offer - replay of yesterday's Arbitron monthly PPM client update - access here.

Make decisions much faster

2007-09-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

Fred Jacobs writes...

"The spread of PPM will usher in a similar ability to make decisions much faster. We are already seeing the time frame for judging a new station dramatically shrink in Philadelphia, as Clear Channel's WRFF made a quick impact. In just a few weeks, it was possible to track that station's rise. In the 'old days' of the diary, it would have taken a couple of books."

Read the entire post via the Jacobs Media blog here.

Monthly PPM Client Update

2007-09-12T15:56:00.000-07:00

Pierre Bouvard, Jay Guyther and Bob Patchen presented the Arbitron monthly PPM client update today.

The first issue addressed: Why current sample delivery is under target.

To improve in-tab we removed poor responders at a more rapid pace
It has taken longer than expected to replace the panelists we removed.
Compounded by impact of panelist summer vacations.
We expect to return to full panel sample sizes by end of September (Philadelphia) and early October (Houston)

View today's entire PowerPoint presentation via PDF here.

Lessons Learned from Philadelphia's PPM Rollout

2007-09-07T14:21:00.000-07:00

Tom Webster shares his pov...

"The only "trick" to PPM is to make great radio, every day, and leave deeper footprints on and off the air. Embrace change, and it'll hug you back."

Read Tom's post via The Infinite Dial at Edison Media Research here.

Jacobs - Joust not in front of buyers

2007-09-06T07:01:00.000-07:00

Fred Jacobs offers his perspective...

"PPM is far from perfect, but it's our best shot at regaining credibility in the ad community. How we go about making PPM better is going to say a great deal about whether we're serious as an industry about becoming contenders in the media future."

Read Fred's comments via the Jacobs Media blog here.

Let's take our time

2007-09-01T07:14:00.001-07:00

Gary Marince (left) Arbitron's VP of Programming Services has written an article now on offer at FMQB...

"Information, which is important to Programmers, is flowing from the PPM well daily. And this information will be helpful to programmers in markets which will remain diary based for the foreseeable future. Hang with us. We've got the info which will help you make the most of your programming skills."

Read Gary's entire writing here.

What works and what doesn't?

2007-08-31T10:31:00.000-07:00

Mark Ramsey, president of Hear 2.0 and Mercury Radio Research, presents Seducing PPM at the upcoming NAB Radio Show. From Mark's blog...

"My goal is to draw marketing lessons from PPM outcomes that you can take back to your stations whether or not you are measured by PPM.

This is not a presentation of silly rules. It's a hard-nosed assessment of what works and what doesn't, based on the first few months of available PPM data."

Read the entire post here.

Key points learned

2007-08-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

Chris Conley and Mike McVay share their thoughts on The People Meter...

"Biggest Challenges are a) getting people to wear the PPM daily and stay in the panel b) adult 18-24 and Hispanic representation c) reach and frequency models for sales are based on diary models."

Read the entire article here.

Rich people like to listen

2007-08-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

Peter Kafka writes in Silicon Alley Insider...

"Under the old diary system, Aribtron found that listeners who made less than $25,000 a year or less spent the most time with radio. And that will be a nice nugget for radio stations to trumpet to marketers as their audience declines." (sic)

Read Peter's post here.

It's time for radio to get on the PPM train

2007-08-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

From the Paragon Media Strategies blog...

"The current PPM quibbling is ridiculous and it’s a waste of time. Anyone who believes the diary methodology is superior to PPM is simply wrong, and probably disingenuous. CLEARLY, the PPM is a better reporting measurement. It’s imperfect, the results are different, but it is such a leap beyond the diary that any comparisons between the two are moot."

Read the entire post here. Thanks to Dan Kelley for the tip.

Programmers voice PPM concerns

2007-08-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

Bill Tanner, the accomplished programmer and president of Bill Tanner & Associates is commenting on PPM. AllAccess has an exclusive interview with Bill...

"TANNER, who speaks publicly for the first time, told ALL ACCESS, "I have seen the ARBITRON charts and heard the slick 'data glitch' denials. I watched as they used 'rating points' to demonstrate PPM stability; easy to say because rating points are so rounded. I've heard 'Rankers don't matter that much.' Try telling that to buyers angling for a lower rate. Try telling that to stations in a fierce, neck-and-neck battle. Let the PD say that to the manager or owner. How many programmers get bonuses based on cume?

"It's here that the lack of PPM respondents matters. Delivering 55% of the 18-34 target in PHILADELPHIA matters. Weighting matters. It matters that ARBITRON doesn't disclose the ethnic in-tabs by age/sex, as they promised to do on last week's call but have not. Why not? Surely it's right there in their computers. Why don't they disclose the 'per person meter value' -- as they did with 'per person diary values'?

"Indeed, ratings are compressing, and better sampling may well confirm that. But better sampling is what the radio industry is paying for and, as ARBITRON's ADAM GLUCK said, bigger samples mean greater reliability."

TANNER goes on to take issue with tools ARBITRON has provided programmers. "The DMR study presented THURSDAY afternoon (8/23) pointed out the huge importance of P-1 and P-2 listeners to a station's ratings. I believe that is true. But where is that in the PPM Analysis Tool, which is software so slow that radio users have to set it, go to lunch and then come back for their report, only to discover the computer has timed out?"

Read the entire piece Programmers Still Voicing Concerns About PPM Data at AllAccess here. Item may be found in NetNews dated 8/27 (free sub req). My thanks to Joel Denver.

Let the conversation begin

2007-08-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

All of the discussion about Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPM) initiative seems to suggest the subject matter deserves a dedicated blog.

The objective will be to share news, comments and provide links to other writings about PPM.

Disclosures: I'm on the record as a supporter of PPM. This should not be understood to mean I will only support Arbitron's PPM. In fact, I remain open to any other credible electronic measurement initiative. I approach this project from a user perspective. On the day job I am an adviser to measured media and those who have professional relationships and other interaction with measured media. Our firm also buys advertising from time to time including commercial and public radio. I am not employed in any manner whatever by Arbitron Inc.

Your suggestions, comments and contributions are welcome. Please be aware comments will be moderated as a safeguard against spam and off topic comments.

All the best,

David Martin

LATER: Harv Blain weighs in via comment. Harv, a bright guy, is a gentleman and an entrepreneur who makes his living as a programming maven. He may be found in the front row at each Columbia fly-in aside the other smart kids (whereas my typical preference is the far back of the room). Thanks for joining the conversation Harv and for your contribution. Read Harv's note from last week's fly-in here. fyi - started a sidebar for fly-in notes.

Thanks too to Dan Kelley for his mention of this humble beta.