Arbitron Asks Consultants to Get Behind PPM

“We can’t ram the PPM down the throats of the broadcast industry.”
That’s what Owen Charlebois, president of Arbitron’s U.S. Media Services, told radio research consultants Thursday.
He said interpreting data from the Personal People Meter for stations is complicated, and Arbitron needs research consultants’ help to explain to stations how the new ratings gathering system will work.
Arbitron still cannot address a big issue for stations – the cost of the PPM vs. the cost of the traditional diaries.
The company won’t know until the end of the year whether its development partner, Nielsen, will help pay to commercialize the PPM.
If the answer is yes, Philadelphia, site of the trials, would convert to the PPM for audience measurement by the middle of next year.
If Nielsen’s answer is no, Arbitron would try to commercialize the PPM overseas only. It plans to start a 650-person trial in London in October.