Monmouth/Ocean to go year round measurement

[bigtom101]

From Taylor on Radio: "It wasn’t on the schedule to go PPM anyhow, but one of its two counties, Monmouth, has been getting PPM measurement as part of the New York metro. That made Monmouth-Ocean a blended market of electronic measurement and diary, and some broadcasters weren’t comfortable with the situation. Arbitron tells TRI it was approached by the broadcasters and the ultimate decision was to upgrade its diary-measured frequency from two books a year (Spring/Fall) to continuous measurement. Also to enlarge the number of diaries by about 730, to 2,200, starting this Fall. The market will see its first-ever Winter book in 2011, ending an anomalous situation that had it as a large market that wasn’t "continuous measurement" in the diary world."

1) Wonder who held out on PPM, 2) Glad the market is finally continuous...now maybe if they have consistent diary placement the numbers won't swing wildly.

 

[nd2023]

This should have been done before January 19, 2009.

 

[bigtom101]

This should have been done before January 19, 2009.

Would it have made a difference? Would Press have made more money off of G-Rock if Arbitron had gotten a larger sample size and/or went to year round ratings? Maybe, but I wouldn't put money on it.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=105876279448817&ref=ts has more info about Arbitron and its PPM issues...I can see why some groups and many PD's are up in arms over the lack or MRC accreditation and sample sizes.

 

[SoulCrusher]

I think PPM would have more accurately reflected the amount of people who listen not only to alternative rock stations, but to Top 40 as well.

As it stands right now, Hit 106 still gets topped by similar out-of-market stations (Z-100) and more established stations that it dwarfs in signal coverage (94.3 The Point) ... PPM would have shown just how strong these stations are, and made the point that challenging them would not be a wise move (and contrary to what Press executives want to believe, the shift in WJLK's programming was NOT because of their presence, but because of the nationwide shift of Hot AC programming from "'80's, '90s & Today" to more of an "Adult CHR" approach - in other words, CHR sans the Lil Waynes and Eminems of the world).

PPM would have also shown just how strong the audience for G Rock was. It was the only station providing modern/alternative rock to the market - every displaced listener who chose to navigate the wasteland that radio in the market has become had to settle for something different, including one of the myriad classic and classic-leaning rock stations around here.

We're a market of a decent size. We have long needed to replace the archaic, flawed "diary" method of tracking ratings, which have been known to reach a greater percentage of people from older demos ... and thus, reflect artificially high shares for "soft rock" stations. I'm not saying that I don't think they would perform well under a PPM system, I just don't think the ratings would be slanted in their favor as much as they are in a system where diaries are distributed on weekday mornings or afternoons at hotel ballrooms. This ratings system will also reveal that Greater Media was extremely foolish to go in a soft rock direction with WJRZ, alienating their entire audience in an effort to target the very well served demos that already had tons of options for the type of programming they're doing now.