Nielsen loves the PPM so much that the very reason it acquired Arbitron is finally coming to fruition.
The Portable People Meter, which has been used for nearly a decade as a tool for measuring a consumer’s listening and exposure to AM and FM radio stations, will now be used for the measurement of in-home and out-of-home viewing of television stations in 2017.
In an announcement made Thursday (Sept. 29), the addition of PPM panelists to Nielsen’s Local TV service effectively doubles the sample size and provides local clients with ratings that reflect “precise measurement of local viewing behaviors and insights, and boost ratings fidelity.”
The PPM was first rolled out in January 1997, with the Philadelphia market, after market tests in Houston that began in 2005.
The shift to PPM for Local TV ratings comes following Nielsen’s Sept. 14 news that by July 2017, it will provide all electronic measurement in its local television ratings across all 210 designated market areas (DMAs).
With the move, Local TV ratings will now include viewing from more than 75,000 PPM panelists across 44 local TV markets. “This enhancement is estimated to lead to a 40% decrease in zero audience estimates, providing local TV clients with increased opportunities to monetize their in-home and out-of-home viewing audiences,” the company said in a release.
What’s still unclear is how advertisers and marketers will react. The Media Rating Council (MRC) has been a stickler with regard to its accreditation of PPM-derived ratings in no less than 20 markets, including New York; Boston; Seattle; Washington, DC; and Nashville.
Megan Clarken, president of Nielsen’s product leadership team, says Nielsen “is maximizing the strengths of various data sets, including PPM data and Return Path Data, to help our local clients understand their total audience by capturing all sources of viewing. The media industry is in the midst of an important transition and people have endless options for viewing their favorite content. We are the only measurement provider that can directly measure the out-of-home television audience.”
OUT-OF-HOME DATA OPTION
The first quarter of 2017 will also see the release by Nielsen of a stand-alone service that gives local clients in the 44 designated market areas the ability to see incremental audience provided by out-of-home viewing.
The portability of the PPM technology will measure TV viewing in locations including bars, offices, hotel rooms, and other places outside of the home where TV is watched.
Impact data for out-of-home measurement combined with PPM measurement of in-home viewing is expected in Q3 2017.
