Arbitron Releases Early PPM Data

As a run-up to next week's release of the first station-level TV and radio ratings from its portable people meter trial in Houston, Arbitron released data Wednesday demonstrating the reliability of the sample.

If all goes as planned, Houston could become the first market measured with the PPM, in development since 2000. It would also bring electronic measurement to radio, which has based on a diary-based ratings system since 1965.

"The Houston mission has been accomplished. The PPM device works, people comply and the sample is representative," said Pierre Bouvard, president of PPM for Arbitron. "Compared to the diary, PPM ratings are consistent; there's a lot less bounce."

After testing the PPM in Philadelphia in 2002-2003, Arbitron chose Houston as its second market trial because of the market's diversity. According to Arbitron, the 2,100 sample panel is representative of the market's ethnicity: 20.1 percent of the panel is African American compared to 16.3 percent of the market; 31 percent of the panel is Hispanic compared to 30.3 percent of the market; 16.3 percent of the panel is Spanish-dominant Hispanics compared to 16.7 precent of the market.

Among age and sex demographics, the PPM sample is in line with the population, but fell short among 18-24 year-olds by 1.4 percentage points among Women and 1.7 percentage points among Men.

Arbitron also improved response rates for PPM compared to its performance in Philadelphia. Household sample performance index is in the high 30s and the persons SPI is in the high 20s.

There are still a few hurdles to overcome. While all of the market's TV stations and cable networks have agreed to participate in the trial, as well as several of the market's largest retailers, both Cox Radio and Radio One have refused to participate, meaning that next week's ratings won't include ratings for seven radio stations.

Since June, Arbitron has been meeting with groups presenting proposals for a rollout of a PPM service. "We've completed everything on the industry's 'to do' list," Bouvard said.

Arbitron is pursuing commercialization on two tracks. The first priority is to bring electronic measurement to radio, which took on renewed urgency in June when Clear Channel issued a request for proposal for electronic measurement. The second approach is through a joint venture with Nielsen Media Research to roll out the PPM service to local TV markets. Nielsen, owned by Mediaweek parent VNU, is expected to make a decision about the PPM by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, in preparation for the PPM rollout, Arbitron also announced it had beefed up its PPM research team with two promotions.

Beth Webb was named director, PPM research, from PPM methods and analysis. In her new position, Webb will direct the analysis of test restults from the Houston panel and coordinate activities with the Media Rating Council, which is currently auditing the PPM service. Dan Ames was named director of international research, from manager, international methods and standards.