11-7-13
It was one of the biggest complaints radio had with Arbitron: sample sizes were too small to accurately reflect radio listening. Arbitron would always respond, if you are willing to pay, sample sizes can increase. After only a few short months under the new ownership, sample sizes will be increasing and Nielsen says there will be no additional cost. Bigger companies have their advantages. Stations were notified with a letter yesterday and the Radio Advisory Council, which concludes today, was notified yesterday.
Nielsen Audio, formerly Arbitron, is planning to expand sample size across all PPM markets. The largest increases will be in markets 31-48, where the typical sample size will grow 20 percent, and the number of PPM panelists overall will rise by 6 percent.
The larger samples will be in place in the second half of next year; Nielsen said it will focus on African-Americans and Hispanics as it adds new panelists. Nielsen COO Mitchell Habib said "We created this action plan around the core broadcast radio business following a series of conversations with our clients.
The company also said it's working to include demographics typically challenging to recruit. "By investing in sample improvements to recruit the hardest-to-reach demos where it is needed most, our sample will be even more representative of the overall U.S. population, further enhancing our ability to provide our clients with the most accurate measurement of audio reach and engagement. Finally, we?re looking to improve in-station monitoring of PPM encoding?the audio codes that only a PPM can capture and identify which stations a consumer is listening to?by automating alerts and adding additional ways for our clients to monitor their encoded audio."
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