Missing PPM?

[SirRoxalot]

Buffalo & Rochester don't appear to be likely to get PPM ratings soon. Is that bad? Check out the take from Mark Ramsey Media:

http://www.markramseymedia.com/2012/02/which-is-better-ppm-or-diary

 

[therealjm12]

My opinion (for what's it worth) is that in Rochester PPM's would benefit the stations that people listen to at work or in stores. So WRMM would be the BIG winner. I think WLGZ 102.7 would take a giant step up. Maybe come out # 2 12+ . Maybe WBEE would drop somewhat but still do ok. Probably WDKX would drop the most and maybe 98PXY & WHAM would lose some.
What you have you to remember, is that if you are wearing a meter it will register what the person in the next cubicle is listening to whether you are listening or not. If you walk into a store, with a radio on, it will register that as well.

 

[chas108]

Buffalo & Rochester don't appear to be likely to get PPM ratings soon. Is that bad? Check out the take from Mark Ramsey Media:

http://www.markramseymedia.com/2012/02/which-is-better-ppm-or-diary

SirRox, Mark Ramsey makes an excellent point. Based on recall, we have to assume there's some passion involved here...a diary keeper was moved to action by what they heard that day and filled in the page accordingly.

I've never thought of it quite that way vis-a-vis PPM. Accuracy vs. results for clients.

Speaking from personal experience, I prefer PPM and have stated such before. I believe WNY radio could get better w/PPM as the discipline would move from diary reinforcement to disciplined, compelling content. Kinda hard to react with passion to a great new song when you're spending the first :05-:08 of your break reinforcing the station position for diary holders.

Working with PPM and a good PD, I'd like to believe I'm making the best radio I've ever made in 30-plus years in this business. No liner cards...we gotta take the station stuff and make it relate to the listener. No rambling...get to the point and make an emotional connection. :60 of compelling personality content beats :15 of rambling every time. It's ultimately common sense.

Yes PPM gets a bad rap because of the human tendency to overreact...especially when your title is "GM" or "PD" or "group head". Hopefully the word's getting out that you can't take one or even two isolated pieces of data and draw a conclusion...because you simply don't know why the radio was turned off. Maybe the listener arrived at their destination...or simply went to the bathroom. PPM has also been used to stymie or silence air talent and that's also a gross misuse of the data. Listeners don't want mindless chatter...but they do react positively when you talk about the things they're thinking about that day.

Yes PPM is passive and I'm not sure in that respect there's any substitute for the diary.

But in my experience...it's a compelling ad message, properly placed, that gets results for clients. Depending on station/format, passion for the station may translate into a client benefit but it should neither be a given nor should it be allowed to substitute for a well-written, well-produced, properly-placed campaign.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[Bob1370]

There seems to be a pattern emerging from PPM markets on how various formats are affected...so whether a change in ratings methodology in western NY will be bad or good news depends on what format you run.

--Personality classic hits and soft rock stations (which are popular in workplace and retail settings) enjoy a bounce, which tends to be sustained over time. It may be no coincidence that in New York, for example, soft-rock WLTW and classic hits WCBS-FM always finish 1-2. In Buffalo that'll be good news for WHTT and WJYE, in Rochester, for Warm 101.3 and Legends 102.7.

--Urban and ethnic station often take a hit, UNLESS they skew in a contemporary direction and appeal to the broad swath of 12-34s across demographic lines--the way WDKX in Rochester has succeeded in doing. DKX will be OK because it owns 12-34s and consistently outperforms CHR competitors, but in Buffalo where there's a strong CHR rival, WBLK may have a harder go of it.

--AC and Hot AC stations, and commercial news/talkers, tend not to be affected a whole lot either way by ratings methodology. So WTSS and WBEN-AM will come out the same, and so will WHAM (Rochester really doesn't have a station quite like WTSS).

--CHR stations tend to weaken a little when the meters come to town although that eventually washes out in time, so short-term bad news but long term stabilization will happen with stations like Kiss 98.5 or 98PXY.

--Country stations also tend to break even with a switch from diary to PPM, so WYRK and WBEE will fare equally well, and may remain at the top regardless of ratings methods.

--Noncomm spoken word stations tend to get a substantial boost in PPM markets. That bodes well for WBFO and for WNED-AM (if it stays with news and talk) in Buffalo, and especially well for WXXI-AM in Rochester, which has been healthy under the diary system and could get stronger once PPM comes to town.

--Specialty format stations like classical stations in the English Language also get a little help from PPM--so some good news there for WNED-FM and WXXI-FM.

All these observations are based on what's happened in top-20 markets that have made the move from diary to PPM methodology, and every market is a little different (some of the very biggest markets have a lot higher percentages of listeners who prefer stations with other than English language formats, while the big upstate NY markets have no non-English speaking stations and aren't likely to get any in the near term). So your mileage may vary...but we might see some slight shifting in measured format preference along these lines within the English-speaking radio universe around here, if this region does get metered in the next few years.