Arbitron Rolls Out Sports Radio Metric

In the US, Arbitron's Custom Sports Services arm has created the Event Retention Index (ERI); a new metric for its Portable People Meter (PPM) radio ratings service which provides information on the extent to which audiences 'stay tuned' to sports broadcasts.

The division uses the PPM technology to measure out-of-home and on-the-go sports audiences, by tracking an individual's exposure to any audio signal, no matter where they are.

Earlier this year, the team launched a report on radio listening to Pro Football games, team by team, which enables advertisers to evaluate the sports play-by-play audience throughout the season and across the US.

Its new ERI estimates the proportion of a station's audience that remains tuned in to a program for each complete quarter hour (ie listens for all fifteen minutes) during a game, relative to the average of the top 20 stations in the same market.

For example, an ERI of 120 would indicate that 20% more listeners stay tuned for a complete quarter hour of a game broadcast, than for the average quarter hour across the top 20 stations.

The Custom Sports Services team measured ERI during the 2010 Major League Baseball (MLB) season and found that people who tuned to MLB play-by-play on the radio were more likely to stay tuned in to a complete quarter hour of the broadcast than listeners to typical programming among the top 20 stations.

'The Event Retention index can provide tangible evidence that people who listen to sports broadcasts 'stick around' during games and are more likely to be exposed to advertising during the broadcast,' states Chris Meinhardt, Arbitron Sports Manager.

Web site: www.arbitron.com .