Nielsen’s BDS airplay to link to PPM data in Canada

Broadcasters in Canada own the consortium which provides their ratings data, BBM Canada, so it is free to mix and match products from anyone willing to sell them. Thus, radio stations in Canada will soon be able to integrate Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems’ airplay performance data with PPM ratings produced by BBM under license from Arbitron.

Beginning in July 2010, BBM Analytics, a subsidiary of BBM Canada,  will introduce a new version of its PPM analysis software, InfoSys+ Radio, which will be able to integrate Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems’ airplay performance data with PPM ratings. InfoSys+ Radio will aggregate the data for a song or artist over days, weeks or months. In addition, all the Nielsen BDS airplay information is linked to weighted ratings data, rather than just sample sizes. Programmers will not only be able to see how individual songs are rated on a minute-by-minute basis, but more critically, will be able to view how listeners react over a period of time, the announcement noted.

“Integrating Nielsen BDSradio’s data into InfoSys+ Radio will help programmers get the most value out of their research,” says Stephanie Friedman, General Manager, Nielsen BDSradio North America. “Nielsen’s alliance with BBM Analytics is another step forward in our goal to always provide the Canadian broadcast industry with the most efficient and innovative analysis technology,” she added.
 
“PPM has brought a huge amount of data to the market already, but we’re always looking for ways to make it easier for our clients to access real insights from our software. Adding Nielsen BDS data into the InfoSys+ Radio program will give programmers even better tools to make sense of the data, which will help them to make better choices,” said David Phillips, Vice President of BBM Analytics.

Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, a business of The Nielsen Company, tracks airplay of music in many countries. With complete Canadian Content coding and accurate music recognition, Nielsen BDS is designated the Charts of Record by the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) and is the exclusive data provider to SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada).