RE "some areas matter more than others, including EG and Bristol Co MA"
Good point about all-that-AQH concentrated-in-one-week.
luvcoors said:
Arbitron DOES NOT over-weigh certain zips per se...
To clarify: When I noted that "some areas matter more than others, including EG and Bristol Co MA:"
Demographics are
weighted.
Geography is about
placement, critical for AM stations whose footprint changes day-to-night, and THAT changes month-to-month, with sunset time.
The-point-I'm-making about geography is less-complicated than the-point-I'm-making-about demography.
For this-particular-station, in this-particular-survey, East Greenwich is a bigger deal than, say 02915, where the AM signal is strong enough to come in on THE TOASTER on night pattern. But take it from a longtime night time WPRO DJ, EG has always been that station's post-sunset Twilight Zone. So in the station's first FM simulcast book, fringe Zips sure will matter...and, to your point, be conspicuous. In political jargon, these diarykeepers are "swing voters."
Historically, Bristol County MA has always been important, for several reasons:
1. It's real populous, so there'll be lots of placement in any event. In some Providence surveys, MA + CT In-Tab > RI In-Tab.
2. Some of those diaries are also used in other surveys (i.e., Boston TSA), so Arbitron carpet-bombs the county with diaries.
3. Often, Providence-based talk topics are stated-in-a-way that make-the-station-sound-like-someplace-else to people-living-outside-RI.
But it's all just data.
Or, it SHOULD be all just data...until someone messes-with-the-data.
Much-of-the-discussion here wanders into personalities.
And if a personality messed with the data, there'll be trouble alrighty.
And there IS "a smoking gun." These diaries aren't anonymous.
But it's all just data.
However-it-got-corrupted will soon be explained.
Remember two things:
1. Innocent-until-proven-guilty.
2. Two of Arbitron's biggest customers are Citadel and Clear Channel.
