Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

It’s about time. Radio audience measurement is emerging from the dark ages with the implementation of Portable People Meters (PPM) instead of diaries. Since most radio listening is done outside of the home and much of it in the car, this is a definite improvement. Radio experts are forecasting how this will affect an industry that went from being a local market cultural phenomenon to a homogenized, computer-programmed medium owned by conglomerates.

One thing’s for sure. PPMs will clearly change audience estimates. Advertisers will have a better understanding of who’s listening and stations may have to adjust their formats and pricing. Will the dominant stations in each market be proven to be as dominant as they were under the diary methodology? I doubt it. Radio PPM may do for smaller-rated stations what television people meters did for independents and cable – show that audiences are even more fragmented that we thought.

Stations will react to the new paradigm. They’ll have better real-time data on promotions, formats and personalities enabling them to make quick changes. The results? Listeners may need to get used to moving around the dial along with station format changes. The morning personalities that they wake up to may be here today, gone tomorrow. This could result in lower listener loyalty and lower time spent listening.

As a media buyer, I’m looking forward to quick adoption of PPMs across the country. It’ll help provide a truer sense of what’s happening and produce smarter advertising plans.