Effective with the February 2013 PPM report period, stations that begin simulcasting after the start of a quarter will be eligible for Total Line Reporting (TLR) in the Arbitron local PPM Radio Market Report and PPM Weeklies services for any PPM report month during which the stations simulcast 100%. Previously, stations had to simulcast for the entire quarter in order to be eligible to receive TLR.
Here’s what Arbitron sent to clients:
Arbitron is pleased to announce a new option for stations that simulcast. Effective with the February 2013 PPM report period, stations that begin simulcasting after the start of a quarter will be eligible for Total Line Reporting (TLR) in the Arbitron local PPM Radio Market Report and PPM Weeklies services for any PPM report month during which the stations simulcast 100%.
A combo that simulcasts throughout a PPM report month will be eligible for TLR that month in the local PPM Radio Market Report service—including Arbitron eBook, the PPM Analysis Tool, TAPSCAN Web, the Summary Data Set, and PPM Weeklies—regardless of whether the combo began simulcasting by the start of the quarter.
Key features:
Stations that simulcast the entire report period are eligible for TLR for that report period.
In PPM reports, since the currency report period is a month, stations only need to simulcast for the report month to be eligible.
In quarterly services, such as Standard Diary Radio Market Reports, the report period covers three months. Stations therefore need to simulcast for the three-month quarter to be eligible.
A combo that simulcasts for an entire PPM report month, but not for the entire quarter, will be eligible for TLR in any PPM Radio Market Report for which the combo meets Minimum Reporting Standards (MRS). The stations will be reported separately in any Diary Radio Market Report (or other quarterly service) for which the stations meet MRS.
Once a combo notifies Arbitron of its request for “Monthly” TLR, it will receive TLR in the local PPM market report service for the remaining month(s) in the quarter. The combo will not need to reconfirm its TLR relationship each month.
Because simulcasting relationships change from time to time, the combo will still need to confirm its request for TLR each quarter. This can be done via the quarterly Station Information Packet or other written communication with Arbitron.
A list of combos that have requested TLR is available on the Arbitron TLR website. The TLR website can be accessed through the Arbitron subscriber portal, my.arbitron.com, under “Station Information Profiles.”
Starting and stopping TLR can have a substantial effect on prior-survey trends and multibook averages. Stations contemplating a short-term simulcasting relationship should carefully consider these effects when determining whether to request TLR.
