Thoughts on the Voltair by 25-Seven?

[dfwupallnight]

So, I know of at least one station in DFW that is currently using the Voltair box in their audio stream. I'm curious what your thoughts are on the use of such a device to enhance PPM encoding? How common are they? Do you consider them ethical? Are they the future, like it or not?

For those not familiar with it, here's an article on it: http://www.radioworld.com/article/buzz-erupts-over-voltair/275552

 

[xmtrland]

I'm curious if any one would admit to running it. I look at it as a tool. It's such a hot topic that no one is really discussing. Has PPM development been asleep at the wheel. Does the Voltair expose issues with PPM. When will Nielsen give a thumbs up or down? If they have sold close to 300 of these boxes that would mean that there are 2 or 3 in the top markets. The boxes are pricey $15K I think. Would I use one, tough question. I might go back to Nielsen and ask WTF, I pay you x$$ amount and your development of the product sucks compared to what 25-Seven has done. The ones who don't want to wait for the slow pace of Nielsen have an option now. Voltair raises a lot of questions. Is it ethical for Nielsen to not further develop PPM or do it at a snail pace?

25-Seven has done a lot of development and research obviously finding a way to punch the PPM code through difficult listening situations and formats such as talk. Most stations are going to stay mum till Nielson comes out with further comments on the box. One basic question that I think is safe. Does Voltair expose issues with the current PPM model that should have been addressed by Nielson? Do some formats suffer because of PPM? 25-seven says yes and the Voltair gives a station with a PPM challenged format a tool to improve how they are reported/credited for listing. Which takes you back to Nielsen and development. Right now more questions than answers because we are still waiting on Nielsen.

One problem is the more an individual talks about the box the more they must know from use or seen it in action. Like I said not everyone is willing to out their station so it may be tough to get a real user to comment. But if they have sold around 300 boxes at $15k a pop someone believes in it. Now try to get some one with hands on to talk about it. It should be easy for a station with the book to see if another station has peeked in key demos and when that peek started. I don't have access to the ratings but I'm sure if I asked I could see them.

SO there is a question. If you know what to look for can you tell a station is using Voltair based on the previous 6 to 9 months of ratings. Voltair hit the market in September so you would think you might be able to figure it out. And if it's working for them then maybe you should too, or put pressure on Nielsen to step up to the plate.

I have another question (see more questions than answers), does Voltair have a signature sound when used with talk? meaning if you know what to listen for can you tell if a station is using Voltair based on just how the announcer voice sounds?
Is any one running smooth Jazz and noticed a difference with Voltair?
If you think Voltair is a box of snake oil, why?
I find it interesting that it's only mentioned in 2 other threads on this board and those are just brief mentions. This is the first thread to ask questions about Voltair. And you can tell I have my own questions some of those questions are waiting to be answered by Nielson.

From audio processing wars to PPM processing wars.

 

[davideduardo]

I'm curious if any one would admit to running it. I look at it as a tool. It's such a hot topic that no one is really discussing. Has PPM development been asleep at the wheel. Does the Voltair expose issues with PPM. When will Nielsen give a thumbs up or down? If they have sold close to 300 of these boxes that would mean that there are 2 or 3 in the top markets. The boxes are pricey $15K I think. Would I use one, tough question. I might go back to Nielsen and ask WTF, I pay you x$$ amount and your development of the product sucks compared to what 25-Seven has done. The ones who don't want to wait for the slow pace of Nielsen have an option now. Voltair raises a lot of questions. Is it ethical for Nielsen to not further develop PPM or do it at a snail pace?

There is no issue with Nielsen's development. What the Voltair does is increase the audio energy in the various frequency bands that Nielsen uses to mask the PPM ID code. In essence, it changes the nature of the audio so that more codes can be transmitted.

But more codes per quarter hour do not mean a station will get credit for quarter hours they "miss" getting credit on now. All it means is more detections; in the extreme case, it only takes 3 detections in a 15-minute period to "take credit for" a quarter hour. That's three out of a potential for about 150 code bursts every 15 minutes.

25-Seven has done a lot of development and research obviously finding a way to punch the PPM code through difficult listening situations and formats such as talk.

They have done absolutely nothing to change the way the PPM device detects the code tags. What they have done is create a device that changes the spectral content of station audio so that the code can be broadcast more often than with "pure" audio.

Most stations are going to stay mum till Nielson comes out with further comments on the box. One basic question that I think is safe. Does Voltair expose issues with the current PPM model that should have been addressed by Nielson? Do some formats suffer because of PPM?

A number of groups that have tested the Voltair find that it emits the code more often, but that does not mean that it increases ratings since, as I mentioned, it takes as few as 3 code detections per 15 minute period to get quarter hour credit. You get no more credit for 100 detections than for those 3.

25-seven says yes and the Voltair gives a station with a PPM challenged format a tool to improve how they are reported/credited for listing. Which takes you back to Nielsen and development. Right now more questions than answers because we are still waiting on Nielsen.

Nielsen's system embeds the ID tag in any content that has the spectral range and duration to mask the tag. Unless stations modify their audio to game the system, there is no way for Nielsen to embed the code any more times than it does at present.

But if they have sold around 300 boxes at $15k a pop someone believes in it.

It's like insurance. You don't want to be without it in case your competitor has it and puts you at a disadvantage should it be seen to work.

Now try to get some one with hands on to talk about it. It should be easy for a station with the book to see if another station has peeked in key demos and when that peek started. I don't have access to the ratings but I'm sure if I asked I could see them.

The ratings books don't show granular enough data for what you are asking. What can be seen is minute by minute views of how many ID tags are broadcast with and without the Voltair. By looking at that, you can tell if each minute had at least one ID tag, and where you might lose credit.

SO there is a question. If you know what to look for can you tell a station is using Voltair based on the previous 6 to 9 months of ratings.

No, you can't. There are so many other variables that come into play, ranging from competition to promotion to the individual songs played that you can't track the Voltair over long periods of time. But you can look at the minute by minute encoding and determine where you would lose credit without the box.

I know of as many stations that have put the box on that have gone up as those that have gone down or stayed the same.

Voltair hit the market in September so you would think you might be able to figure it out. And if it's working for them then maybe you should too, or put pressure on Nielsen to step up to the plate.

Nielsen is not going to tell stations to distort or grunge up their audio, which is essentially what the Voltair does. It's a station decision... and when run at its higher range, the Voltair really is fatigue-inducing.

Is any one running smooth Jazz and noticed a difference with Voltair?

Nobody in a PPM market is running smooth jazz on a commercial station.

And you can tell I have my own questions some of those questions are waiting to be answered by Nielson..

More important is the analysis that the MRC is conducting. And it is the most tightly sealed discussion I ever recall the MRC having conducted.

 

[xmtrland]

Thank you David very informative, refreshing and confirms a few things. Most fancy thing I get to play with is a Nautel NXX50 and contactors.

 

[xmtrland]

Would it be safe to draw an analogy between "Fix a Flat" and "Voltair"? Both get you down the road to your destination but also mask the problem?

 

[tested]

I would say it highlights the problem Nielsen has with the PPM system more than anything else.
The goal of the PPM is to passively measure the listening of the people who have them.
If the participant is listening to something and the PPM isn't measuring that, the PPM system has failed.
Whether Voltair helps or not is not really the big issue. Nielsen needs to fix the PPM system so that it measures the listenership that is taking place and eliminates the demand for something like Voltair.

 

[Ravens]

I'm not sure I would even subscribe to Nielsen/Arbitron at this point. So a device that games the PPM system would be useless to me.

 

[davideduardo]

I'm not sure I would even subscribe to Nielsen/Arbitron at this point. So a device that games the PPM system would be useless to me.

If you are in a PPM market and are a "player" for large audiences and don't subscribe, you will miss out on many agency sales opportunities since agencies buy by the numbers.

The PPM was developed to please agencies, not radio. It measures impressions.

Yes, agencies buy Nielsen data but unless stations are subscribed, they can not use that data in their pricing offers and sales presentations.

 

[Groove1670]

It is time for ALL stations to be measured thru a non profit ratings service with a larger sample size...! Wow the Daytime NyQuil© just kicked in LOL.

 

[davideduardo]

It is time for ALL stations to be measured thru a non profit ratings service with a larger sample size...! Wow the Daytime NyQuil© just kicked in LOL.

Stations won't pay for a larger sample size, or we would have it now.