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Upgraded PPM to Track Unencoded Stations
Arbitron is field testing the addition of an audio matching capability to its Portable People Meter (PPM) which would allow it to track the audience of radio stations that choose not to encode their signals. Existing PPMs can be upgraded over a phone line.
The dual-function meter can pick up the usual inaudible codes from stations equipped with the Arbitron PPM encoder, but also has the new ability to collect audio signatures for any radio station – these are later matched to signatures collected by an in-market monitoring system. The current trial will test results from one method against the other, for encoded stations, to see how accurate the match is.
The company says it has also successfully downloaded updates for the audio-matching software into the PPMs of existing triallists, via household phone lines – effectively converting them into dual-function audience meters.
Pierre Bouvard, President, Sales and Marketing, says, 'Once the new technology is fully developed, advertisers and broadcasters can rest assured that they will get a comprehensive picture of listening in the local market.'
Owen Charlebois, Arbitron's President, Operations and Research, says he hopes the new capability will further demonstrate the PPM's flexibility and adaptability. 'Over the past ten years, we've kept the PPM system ahead of the curve in terms how it can handle any number of compression schemes, distribution platforms and location tracking technologies. At the same time we have been expanding the technical capabilities of the PPM system, we've also been improving the methodological foundation that is essential to the reliability of an electronic audience measurement service. This can only be accomplished through years of experience in the field working with a large number of real respondents.'
The PPM uses a passive audience measurement device – about the size of a small cell phone – to track consumer exposure to media and entertainment, including broadcast, cable and satellite television; terrestrial, satellite and online radio as well as cinema advertising and many types of place-based electronic media. Carried throughout the day, the PPM is then placed in a docking station that extracts the codes and signatures and sends them to a central computer.
Arbitron Inc. has approximately 1,700 employees, executive offices in New York City and a web home page at www.arbitron.com .
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