So You Want to Know Who Has a Meter?

January 21, 2019

Radio station programming and marketing directors joke, “If only I knew who was carrying those meters, then I could really grow my ratings.” Many organizations, including Research Director, Inc., have built tools to focus on those listeners who are carrying a meter. Most just drill down by age and geography.

Nielsen will now deliver to its clients a report that lets them know the profile of those that are carrying meters in their market. Now, it does not give you their name and address, nor does it focus on individual meter keepers. Instead, this report, called “PPM Panel Characteristics,” outlines the characteristics of your market’s meter keeper with detail that is not available elsewhere.

Now you can understand the characteristics of your market’s panel beyond gender, age, and ethnicity. There are 30 different characteristics, including:

• Expanded income categories
• Expanded education categories
• Number and year of cars bought
• Number of radios in the home
• Number of TVs in the home
• TV-connected devices and streaming capability
• Internet streaming services
• Music streaming Services
• Podcast usage
• Access to desktop computer/laptop/tablet and smartphone

Delivered four times a year, this report will help you understand the characteristics of those who are carrying a meter in your market.

While programmers can do little with this information to impact their reported audience, Research Director, Inc. believes that this is a good step in transparency. While understanding who is carrying a meter may not change how you program or market your radio station, it is valuable to have a good understanding of the characteristics of your market’s panel since they are the people who most influence your reported audience.

Would you like more information? Feel free to contact us at Research Director, Inc. here.

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