In the previous PPM conference call, Arbitron Chief Research Officer Bob Patchen said that 18-24 panel participation had moved back up in Philadelphia after temporarily dropping as the company worked on boosting the 25-34 demo – the two parts of its promise to broadcasters to focus on the 18-34 area that constitutes the bulk of radio ad buys. But RBR/TVBR reported early this month that 18-24 numbers had been down in the first two weeks of April. In yesterday’s call, Jay Guyther, Arbitron’s Sr. VP, Ratings Services, assured clients that 18-24 numbers began moving up in week three of April for Philadelphia and that the upward trend has now continued for four consecutive weeks.
As usual, Arbitron presented data on how it is meeting its panel benchmarks in the various PPM markets, both active and in the pre-currency stage. The two embedded markets within the New York metro continue to be the panels still needing work, while Arbitron proudly showed that it is at or above its benchmarks just about everywhere else.
Panel installation is well underway for the planned resumption of the PPM rollout. San Francisco is already at 100%, with the embedded San Jose market at 98%. Dallas is at 88%, Atlanta and Detroit at 23% each and Washington DC at 20%.
