Nielsen rules the airwaves

31Jan08

In the first alteration to the ratings methodology in 15 years, the
diary-based system will be retained with a number of changes. The most
significant of these will be the change in sampling placement from the
household flooding method – where one diary is given for each member of
a household – to single person placement, where one diary is given to
one person in the house. The same sample sizes will be retained.

This would allow for "much more control of the demographic markets
and the accurate placement and completion of diaries", said CRA chief
executive Joan Warner.

"We believe we’ll get even better data than we do now and a better
controlled sample," she added. "It’s quite a big and expensive move."

Among other changes from 2009 will be the option for survey
respondents to fill out the diary online and the introduction of
smaller sticker diaries, which allow respondents to place station
stickers over quarter-hour boxes rather than look through a bulky list
of stations that could possibly double or triple upon the introduction
of digital radio in 2009.

Different platform measurement will also be trialled this year ahead
of the new contract, meaning radio streaming through the internet or PC
or on mobile phones will be measured.

"It was a very well-rounded tender, let’s put it that way," said Ms
Warner of Nielsen’s proposals. "We put out a number of elements we
wanted the tenderers to address, such as online diary and single-person
placement and the other two were high quality but obviously one has to
be the best."

NMR, through its McNair Anderson and AGB McNair subsidiaries, has
held the radio ratings contract for more than 20 years and is reported
to receive $5million a year from CRA. The figure for the upcoming
contract will be "a significant increase over the three years and a
signal from us about what we and our stakeholders are getting out of
it", Ms Warner said.

NMR put in other proposals, including the capacity to survey a
24-hour diary; previously the midnight to dawn time slot was surveyed
only once a year.

The electronic measurement issue remains a crucial one for media
buyers and their clients, despite Ms Warner’s valid claims that
electronic technologies being trialled globally have not moved ahead as
swiftly as promised. The new contract effectively locks out electronic
radio ratings measurement until 2012, and possibly longer.

The US roll-out of Arbitron’s Personal People Meters has stalled and
anticipated trials of other electronic methods here, including the
Ipsos MediaCell device, are unlikely to come to fruition in the short
term.

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