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Portable People Meter
Arbitron has put plans to introduce Portable People Meters to its radio ratings measurement service on hold over accuracy concerns.
The wearable meters, which may be introduced in the UK by TNS/Arbitron to measure television audiences, identify hidden audio tones in TV or radio programming and are in theory supposed to be superior to diaries.
In a statement, Arbitron said it would delay the introduction of the meters until September 2008 in key markets such as New York City and Los Angeles.
Arbitron chairman, president and CEO Steve Morris said: "We remain confident in the audience estimates that the Portable People Meter service is producing. However, over the past three weeks, feedback from our customers, the Media Rating Council and other constituencies has led us to conclude that the radio industry would be better served if we were to delay further commercialisation of the PPM in order to address their issues."
Among the concerns raised are poor performance among adults 18-34 and minority groups.
"We already have a number of initiatives in the pipeline for implementation in the first quarter of 2008 that we believe will improve the performance of our PPM samples," said Morris. "Our intention is to expand significantly this list of improvement initiatives by working closely with customers, industry organisations and community groups. We expect that the Media Rating Council will be a particularly valuable source of guidance and advice on the more technically oriented aspects of this review and improvement process and we intend to work closely with the members of the MRC over the next several months.
"We also plan to use the additional time to work closely with community leaders to review the workings of the Portable People Meter service and to gather their insights as to how we might improve compliance among persons 18-34, including ethnic young adults, across the diverse communities of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and subsequent markets."
