• Back
• Print Article
• Email Article

New Jack City: Radio Ratings Shake Up About to Begin

After decades of what many in radio and advertising have considered to be an outdated system of surveying listenership, local radio ratings will never be the same!

Last Thursday, ARBITRON---the leader in collecting radio listening data---changed Greater Kansas City's way of measuring listening habits from the antiquated diary-based reporting to PORTABLE PEOPLE METERS. a.k.a. PPM's.

So what's the difference?


Until now people chosen to participate in the ratings process were asked to keep a diary of their daily radio listening (i.e. jotting down the stations they listened to at any given time of the day and how long they tuned in).

This obviously was not the a very scientific way of keeping track.

Stations that scored high in the ratings would swear by them. Others not so lucky would swear AT them. Would call them a fluke. Badly placed books---and worse.

That's all about to change!

Newly selected sample listeners will now carry electronic PORTABLE PEOPLE METERS during their assigned measuring period.

And the meter---about the size of a pager---will detect everything its master is listening to---keep track of it---then relay it back to ARBITRON.

How do these PPM's differentiate between the various local stations?

It's actually quite a simple process as every local station now includes a special identifying signal in its broadcasts that the PPM then encodes and ultimately credits back in terms of ratings to the station it identified.

It's a much faster and definitely more accurate way of measuring local listening habits.

Take it a step further and follow our selected sample listener (wearing the PPM device on his or her belt) walking into NEBRASKA FURNITURE MART - which just happens to be playing 96.5 The Buzz over the store's audio system. You guessed it the PPM will pick it up and give credit to The Buzz for the period of time the sample listener was in the store.

Advertising agencies are thrilled with Arbitron's introduction of the PPM system in Kansas City.

Some radio types are concerned! And here's why...

In larger markets where PPM's are already cranking out local ratings, the TIME-SPENT-LISTENING---or TSL---often shows listeners spending less time with certain stations than they have reported in the old diary way of keeping track.

By the same token, the CUME (tune-in factor) has shown significant increases for many broadcasters,

So there could be new winners and losers!

The losers in all  this could be urban and hispanic formated stations whose TSL could show hefty declines as button-pushing listeners may not actually be staying with their station quite as long as they may have indicated in the old survey diaries. PPMs tell it like it is.

And let's not forget that the diaries from urban and hispanic listeners have always been weighted heavier than those submitted by other demographic listening groups.

But that's a story for another day.

The bottom line: radio ratings for the 21st century with PORTABLE PEOPLE METERS have arrived in Kansas City.

And radio broadcasters will be able to make use of this new and far more accurate data AFTER December 31st.

Finally on a personal note, as a buyer of  commercial radio time in various markets via my SPECTRUM SOUNDS + PRODUCTIONS advertising agency, I too applaud this new age technology for gathering critical listeners data. It's been far too vague for us for far too long.

Jack Poessiger