From the Corner Office
This
Month's Topic:
The Future of Media Measurement
Hello Everyone,
Thank you for reading my newly launched on-line column.
I was recently asked about my thoughts on the future of media measurement.
As we all know, one of the most critical aspects of success in the contemporary competitive radio marketplace is based on how many target listeners your station has. We all live and die by the ratings! But that process is on the verge of changing, and changing dramatically.
With the advent of more precise measurement for other media and the internet where server logs can produce specific, accurate counts of how many impressions an ad is making, advertisers want more from radio.
Business owners nationwide are focusing on ways to determine more accurately what their total return on investment (ROI) is from their marketing departments.
There's an old adage that half of my marketing money is effective; I just don't know which half. They now demand to know.
That's where passive audience measurement as proposed by several different systems comes into play. The most developed of these is the portable people meter, or PPM, produced by Arbitron and tested in Philadelphia and Houston.
Several other partnerships have produced concept systems that involve pager-like devices, or programs imbedded in smart cell phones. Greater Media is represented on an industry-wide panel of broadcasters and advertisers who are meeting to make a formal recommendation to the industry.
What is most significant about all these contenders is that they will eliminate listener recall from the equation for the first time. In addition, we will have the potential to measure not only listeners' real consumption of radio, but where it fits in relationship to their use of other media as well.
We will be able to track listener behavior and response to specific songs, specific talk topics and specific commercials. Some of the predictions include indicators that radio's reach is far more expansive than the diary system indicates; that will make us more competitive with other media.
We will be receiving more reliable ratings on not just a monthly basis for sales, but on a weekly basis for programming purposes and we will get them virtually overnight.
There will be competitive realignments and changes....some day parts and stations may lose audience, and others may gain. Younger listeners will be better represented than in the past, and kids may be included in the ratings sample.
There's just no question that this form of measurement will be far superior to our present antiquated ratings system. But there are issues still to be resolved. This ratings system may turn out to be far more costly to radio operators at a time when revenues are stagnant; this is a significant obstacle to adoption.
We also need extensive training to understand the conversion to people meters; and we must be sure that radio will receive an adequate return on our investment in better measurement.
Every salesperson, program director and manager will have to become completely versed on the metrics this system will provide. We will have to learn and teach others simultaneously.
We will all have to go back to school on the ratings. But I am confident that local radio will prove its value as a friend, information source and advertising medium and that the Greater Media stations will prove their worth in their individual markets.
Please feel free to e-mail me any questions or thoughts you may have by clicking on the "ask peter" icon located below.
Have a great month,
Peter
April 2006