Nielsen has told clients that it plans enhancements to its “newly acquired audio business” that it plans to implement in the second half of 2014.
Nielsen says it plans to expand the panel size in the Portable People Meter markets where the need is greatest. The result will be a larger overall PPM panel by some 6%, with most of the change happening in markets 31–48. The average increase across these markets would be 20%, according to the company.
The company also plans to boost demographics that are typically more challenging to recruit, like African Americans and Hispanics, for example. The changes would make the sample more representative of the overall U.S. population, according to the company.
The audience research firm is also looking to improve in-station monitoring of PPM encoding. Remember each subscriber has two encoders (a main and backup) for each audio channel being encoded, be that AM, FM, HD or a web stream. The company is looking to automate alerts and add additional ways for stations to monitor their encoded audio.
“We created this action plan around the core broadcast radio business following a series of conversations with our clients,” said Nielsen COO Mitchell Habib. “As we make progress against the plan we will share additional insight into our investments.”
