Download the Portland, OR October 2009 station rankings

October marked Portland’s first month under the new PPM (Portable People Meter) radio ratings system. PPM participants wear an electronic meter daily for eight months to two years (vs. a one week survey period for the former Diary system) and listening is recorded automatically from an encoded digital signal in radio broadcasts. This eliminates human error inherent in the old diary system that required participants to recall what they listened to that day and then record it later. PPM also picks up stations overheard by participants in public places such as stores, offices, taxis, etc. The ratings data is now released monthly vs. quarterly allowing advertisers much more recent, reliable data when placing buys.

PPM replaced the Diary measurement, wherein selected listeners would hand write what stations they listened to in a journal, and mail it to back to Arbitron. Arbitron then released the ratings in quarterly “books.” This slow, inefficient system left advertisers to place new radio buys based off months old ratings data that was entirely dependent on participants recording their listening habits accurately. This underscored the importance of advertisers having a strong knowledge of the market, the stations, their formats and target audience as media buying is both an art and a science.

While it’s still vital for advertisers to understand the radio market and the psychographic attributes of a station’s audience, delivery of ratings data has improved greatly under the new PPM system.

Here are some points of interest from PPM’s premiere month:

Download the report

• Clear Channel had the strongest showing among the major clusters, placing four stations in the top 10 for Adults 25-54, including KFBW-FM, KKCW-FM, KLTH-FM and KKRZ-FM.
• Clear Channel’s new classic rocker KFBW-FM posted very strong numbers, tying for first in Adults 25-54 and placing second in Women 25-54.
• Most stations saw an increase in cume (cumulative audience).
• Most stations saw a decrease in TSL (time spent listening).
• The same amount of people overall are still listening to radio, they just listen to more stations than previously thought.

Moving forward, it’s important to keep in mind that listening habits haven’t changed, just the system of measurement has. If an advertiser’s radio buy has been performing well, it’s not suddenly going to quit delivering because of the switch. PPM is a win for advertisers and stations alike because it delivers more frequent and reliable data that will help both parties become more successful in the long run.

This fish was caught on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 and is in the Media Buying net. You can follow wrap entry through RSS. You can also comment, or link to it from your own site.