Second Phase of Portable People Meter US Market Trial

Arbitron Inc has begun recruiting consumers for the planned second and final phase of the American market trial of its revolutionary new radio, television and cable TV audience measurement device - the Portable People Meter (PPM).

Over the next 12 to 16 weeks, Arbitron expects to recruit a representative panel of 1,500 consumers, aged 6 and older, in the Philadelphia Designated Market Area.

Results from the first phase of the test indicated that the PPM system is capturing TV viewing and radio listening that is not being measured by current audience measurement systems. This second phase is designed to give the industry its first direct look at individual station ratings for radio and television as well as individual cable network ratings generated by the Portable People Meter with audience estimates. These estimates will be compared with individual station and cable network ratings delivered by current audience measurement systems.

'Not only will we be able to make direct comparisons of station and cable outlet ratings, the increased sample will give us the critical mass we need to continue our system,' said Marshall Snyder, president, Worldwide Portable People Meter Development.

As Arbitron begins the second phase of the PPM trial, eight TV stations, 38 radio stations and 22 cable networks serving the Philadelphia market are participating in the trial by encoding their signals using the latest generation of Arbitron encoders. Many of these outlets have been using Arbitron PPM encoders since August 2000.

Nielsen Media Research is providing financial support as well as its television survey research expertise in this trial of the Portable People Meter. Nielsen also has an option to join Arbitron in the commercial deployment of the Arbitron Portable People Meter in the United States.

The PPM is a pager-sized device that is carried by consumers. It automatically detects inaudible codes that TV and radio broadcasters as well as cable networks embed in the audio portion of their programming using encoders provided by Arbitron. At the end of each day, the survey participants place the meters into base stations that recharge the devices and send the collected codes to Arbitron for tabulation. The meters are equipped with a motion sensor that allows Arbitron to monitor the compliance of the PPM survey participants every day.

The successful first phase, conducted from December 2000 to November 2001, included three separate comparisons of total radio, TV and cable audiences generated by the PPM and existing audience measurement systems. Arbitron found that, compared to ratings reported by current TV and radio audience measurement systems, the Portable People Meter reports higher total-day average quarter-hour (AQH) estimates for consumer use of electronic media - radio, TV and cable. At its peak, 300 individuals were carrying portable people meters in the Wilmington, Delaware Radio Metro, which is embedded within the Philadelphia DMA.

This first phase effectively demonstrated that:

• Broadcasters could encode their audio with no adverse effect of the quality of their signal.
  
• Arbitron could recruit a representative panel of consumers for the PPM system.
  
• Consumers would regularly carry the meter on average 15 hours a day.
  
• The total radio, TV and cable ratings indicated that the PPM system is capturing television viewing and radio listening that are not being measured by current audience measurement systems.

All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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