Advisory Council wants PPM dates spelled out ASAP
Regardless of whether Houston or Philadelphia proves to be the first market for implementation of the Portable People Meter by Arbitron, the Arbitron Radio Advisory Council wants the company to give stations a clear time table so they can prepare. Outgoing Council Chair Bill Kelly, who is Clear Channel VP/Market Manager in Youngstown, OH, told RBR that training is the chief concern. "We started a training subcommittee which will work with Arbitron in getting PPM training up and rolling, getting feedback about what's good, what's bad, because training on both sides of this issue is the key." Kelly said the Council is also pushing the Media Rating Council and Arbitron to wrap up the accreditation process for Houston and "get it done." Arbitron has committed to completing MRC accreditation before making PPM the ratings currency in Houston, but other markets, beginning with Philadelphia, will require only completion of the MRC audit process before PPM is used for ad buying and selling. The Council has now endorsed that approach.
In response to the resolution, Arbitron VP/Communications Thom Mocarsky noted that the company had already released a roll-out schedule with the target month for each of the top 50 markets, but said Arbitron will supply the Council with more exact dates, such as January 11, 2007 for Philadelphia. "We take training seriously," he said and said Arbitron will be working to make sure clients get PPM training for their staffs. He noted that there is already considerable PPM training material available on the Arbitron website.
The resolution
Here is the resolution adopted by the Arbitron Radio Advisory Council on 10/25/06:
Arbitron will soon be going live with PPM as currency in selected markets.
PPM presents many advantages over diary-based methodology and provides better measurement requested by advertisers.
The Council continues to believe that MRC accreditation of the PPM process will contribute to industry acceptance and support radio's credibility with advertisers. The Council appreciates Arbitron's commitment to gain MRC accreditation for the Houston PPM methodology prior to commercialization. The Council urges the MRC and Arbitron to complete the accreditation process.
The Council also supports Arbitron's commitment to complete the MRC audit process in each market prior to introducing PPM as currency in that market.
The conversion from diary-based measurement to PPM will change many of radio's business practices. In order to better manage the transition from diary to PPM in each market, the Council recommends that Arbitron provide a minimum of 60 days prior notice before PPM becomes currency in any specific market.
The Council also requests that Arbitron announce its planned implementation dates for all markets scheduled to convert to PPM in 2007. While the Council understands that these dates may be subject to revision, earlier notification of scheduled PPM currency dates will help the industry educate the marketplace, better train its people and work cooperatively with advertisers and agencies to position radio's value.
