Comments on: Cooking the book

By: Janice

Janice — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 04:58:10 +0000

Nope. No chance in your or my lifetime. We’ve moved up in the Nielsen world (which is who originated the PPM technology), but in the five years they’ve had the setup, I think they’ve only rolled it out in the top ten markets. So…for them to get around to Market 116???? Um…it’s not at all likely. There’s no upside for Nielsen to putting the program to work in this market, because stations won’t pay the increase in premiums to access the data. And it would be (I’m guessing) a pretty substantial increase.

By: Daisy

Daisy — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 21:02:19 +0000

Will Boise get the PPM (People Meter) anytime soon?

By: Cliff Topp

Cliff Topp — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 20:58:39 +0000

Janice, I don’t think that you and I have that much to disagree about. The Arbitron is, as you have pointed out an old method of measurement that has not been up dated. I believe the reason, is that Arbitron has no competition for radio audience research.Boise radio stations are so fluid ( constant format changes )it would seem that a survey or market research would have to take place every 60-90 days in order to have any accuracy.

By: Can't Use Real Name

Can't Use Real Name — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:41:08 +0000

Arbitron is a joke. And to think this hasn’t happened before? How many of us know industry folks who have filled out a diary? Look, I don’t know of RECENT abuse, but when I worked in SLC (well over a decade ago), it was rampant! I was at a station that we felt should have been higher rated so I decided to poke fun of the Arby books. We paid people 50 bucks a piece for them and had a bonfire to burn them up. We always told people that we were in ratings and hell, we didn’t give a crap if there was rating disortion because our station would get screwed anyway. I am not saying I approve of those tactics, but it was nice to have the intestinal fortitude to tell those “fornicators” to go to you know where!

By: Janice

Janice — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 05:11:16 +0000

…diary-based ratings, I mean. My post is as full of holes as an Arbitron or Nielsen diary typically is. ;)

By: Janice

Janice — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 05:01:33 +0000

Cliff, these are all good points, however, you’re presuming that anyone still believes diary-generated are valid. They’re not, haven’t been for eons, and anyone who does put any creedence in them is foolish anyway. Granted, they’re all we have in a market as insignificant as ours, but that doesn’t make them a valid, scientifically-based, research tool.

By: Cliff Topp

Cliff Topp — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:16:16 +0000

The real damage here, is the cost of doing an Arbitron in any given market. Large, medium or small it costs a fortune to do a listenership survey. The admission of having a radio employee or emplyees getting and filling out a diary kills the credibility of the study so now you have a tainted market study, which no one will consider as legitimate. Results from that study will mean nothing to anyone in the radio business and partucularly the Ad agencies.

By: The

The — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:45:21 +0000

Glenda Lee also said, “I am not gay. I never have been gay. I have a wide stance and I was merely reaching for what I thought was a piece of toilet paper on the floor which turned out to be three Arbitron diaries.”

By: I Know Busted

I Know Busted — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:51:05 +0000

Slightly off the focus of the subject, what pisses me off about Arbitron is they send THREE diaries to one household, which usually come back with very similar or shared listening patterns.
If Arbitron is only sending out, say, 2000 diaries, they should go to 2000 different households so every station gets a fair chance.

By: Questions for those in the biz

Questions for those in the biz — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 13:50:45 +0000

Can 3 people disrupt the ratings? And why would someone in the business get diaries in the first place? It seems the process should be getting equally harsh indictments …