Nielsen Announces 6% PPM Sample Size Increase Set For Second Half Of 2014

PPM Upgrades Coming

Some very welcome news for PPM markets TODAY (11/7), coming from NIELSEN which has announced some major upgrades for its NIELSEN PPM clients, which are presently set for the second half of 2014.

Those changes are grouped into three pillars, and include: an overall boost in PPM sample size of approximately 6%; better sample representation of Hispanics and African-Americans; as well as improved in-station monitoring of the PPM encoding system.

According to NIELSEN, the stabilization of ratings with an overall sample size boost of approximately 6% -- that's 3,400 PPM panelists across all markets -- will see the biggest gains in markets 31-48, where the average sample increase will be approximately 20%.

As part of these changes, NIELSEN promises to do a better job in recruiting Hispanic and African American panelists, saying, "We are also working to include in our panel those demographics that are typically challenging to recruit. By investing in sample improvements to recruit the hardest-to-reach demos where it is needed most our sample will be even more representative of the overall U.S. population, further enhancing our ability to provide our clients with the most accurate measurement of audio reach and engagement."

NIELSEN is also working "to improve in-station monitoring of PPM encoding -- the audio codes that only a PPM can capture and identify which stations a consumer is listening to -- by automating alerts and adding additional ways for our clients to monitor their encoded audio."

NIELSEN COO MITCHELL HABIB commented, "We created this action plan around the core broadcast radio business following a series of conversations with our clients.  As we make progress against the plan we will share additional insight into our investments."

And, NIELSEN SVP/Local Media FARSHAD FAMILY told ALL ACCESS, "While sample size and sample composition gets a lot of attention, the encoding infrastructure improvements are important to the backbone of the overall upgrades of our PPM services, so that client stations can be alerted when their PPM encoding goes offline.  This will involve setting up a media monitoring site similar to what we do with our TV measurements.

"These are all starting points and NIELSEN will continue to look at improving the quality of our metrics and continue evaluating sample size."

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