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Radio One Encodes For Arbitron PPM Trial
August 25, 2006 at 6:26 AM (PT)
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Among the items discussed at ARBITRON's meeting about the results of its PPM trials in HOUSTON was the news that previous PPM holdout RADIO ONE has started to encode its signals for the test. Non-subscribing stations may voluntarily encode their signals and will show up in the ratings.
ALL ACCESS also hears that consultants and programmers at the meeting were also given an overview of trial results beyond the numbers using data from MEDIA MONITORS overlaid onto the trial numbers, including that the correlation between spot loads and listening has shown that listening to music stations dips as stop sets go longer, but that listening is not affected by the length of stop sets for talk formats. Interestingly, the tests show that listeners are less likely to bail out due to long stop sets in morning drive, with about 3% leaving a station between the first and last spots (the number is 12% for afternoon drive).
Regarding the habits of "core listeners," the meter trials show most listeners listening for several short periods rather than long stretches (about 45 minutes tends to be the maximum stretch). The percentage of P1s was lower than expected, about 23%, and those listeners tend to switch their loyalties after a few weeks.
The tests also showed spikes in the numbers for big-name guests, with KRBE/HOUSTON's morning show experiencing its best numbers with an appearance by NICK LACHEY, and contests, with the best results for contests tied into a particular event such as tickets to a concert (KILT/HOUSTON showed 2-3 share point spikes for a GEORGE STRAIT ticket giveaway the day before the concert).

