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Media Audit/IPSOS To Include "Cell Phone-Only Households" Immediately
April 4, 2006 at 2:28 PM (PT)
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THE MEDIA AUDIT/IPSOS have announced that "Cell Phone-Only Households" will be included in Smart Cell Phone Media Measurement Methodology from Day One.
BOB JORDAN, President of THE MEDIA AUDIT, said, "For many consumers, particularly, the young mobile demographic, the cell phone has displaced the landline in many households. Indeed, FRED JACOBS of JACOBS MEDIA just released (an) Internet poll of Rock listeners that indicated 37% of 18-34 year olds were 'cell-only Households.'"
JORDAN added, "We are also seeing a strong trend to 'cell-only' in the Hispanic and Black markets. These are key demographic groups for media measurement. Historically media research companies have used landlines as the first contact for drawing samples. Following the demographic trends to 'cell-only' we now have to take this into consideration."
"For the Smart Cell Phone initiative, THE MEDIA AUDUT will use an addressed based methodology," explained JIM HIGGINBOTHAM, Chairman/Chief of Research at THE MEDIA AUDIT. "We will randomly select addresses proportionate to the residential population. These addresses will be cross-tabbed for matches with the phone databases. When we get a match we will communicate with the household over the phone. We don't get a phone number, we will use the mail and in-person contact."
That counters ARBITRON's announced plan to include Cell Phone-Only Households in 2008 in all diary markets. But ARBITRON's VP/Communications THOM MOCARSKY is quick to point out that Cell Phone-Only Households are part of the current PPM sample of 2000 individuals in HOUSTON, and "going forward, ARBITRON plans to include Cell Phone-Only Households in the samples we draw for every PPM market that we deploy."
And, the debate on Cell-Phone-Only rages on. Following last week's "JACOBS MEDIA: CELL PHONE ONLY PROBLEM GETTING WORSE" (NET NEWS 3/31), PAUL JACOBS said, "So far today, MEDIA AUDIT has sent out a press release about the inclusion of CPO's in their passive measurement system, and ARBITRON has responded. While we'll let them argue it out, we're happy that this critical issue is being discussed.
For our take on the issue, we've just made a posting on the JACOBLOG.

