PPM improvement in Detroit, but still a problem

The Black 18-34 Portable People Meter (PPM) sample grew in the Detroit market in June, but still remained under target. Arbitron has released June sample quality metrics for what are now 20 PPM currency markets, with most targets met, but still a few places where the PPM sample came up short.

RBR/TVBR has been tracking the crucial Black 18-34 Designated Delivery Index (DDI) for Detroit, a 22.2% African American market, since it dropped from 62 in March to 59 in April. Arbitron’s target for a first year PPM market is 70. Arbitron officials told us in May that initiatives were already underway in Detroit to deal with the underperformance, but that it would take 30-60 for the impact to be seen in the monthly DDI reports.

After sticking at 59 in May, the Black 18-34 DDI moved up to 66 in the June data released last week. That’s an improvement, but still the second-worse showing, with Dallas, another problem market, at 60. Of the 15 PPM markets where the percentage of African-Americans is high enough for Arbitron to have a Black 18-34 target, two other first year markets are below the 70 mark, Miami at 67 and Seattle 68.

PPM has also been attacked by broadcasters who target Hispanic listeners, but no market was below target for Hispanic 18-34 in June. The lowest DDI was for Phoenix, at 71.

In its monthly commentary on PPM sample metrics, Arbitron emphasized its overall success in hitting its targets. On average, it said, the June survey reports across 20 markets delivered: An average 101% of target for Persons 6+; an average 96% for Persons 18-54; an average 102% for Black Persons 6+; and an average 100% for Hispanic Persons 6+. In the eight PPM markets where Spanish-language weighting is used, the Hispanic Spanish-Dominant samples averaged 124% of target and Hispanic English-Dominance 100%.

Since there is so much interest in the 18-34 delivery, particularly for ethnic demos, here is the June report by Arbitron for the 20 PPM markets.

Persons 18-34 Sample Performance by Race/Ethnicity 
Designated Delivery Index (DDI) 
June 2009 PPM survey month (May 28, 2009-June 24, 2009)

– Population in indicated market too small to meet reporting standards 
* “Year Two+” market; DDI benchmarks/guarantees based on a 13 survey-month rolling average
Source: Arbitron