TORONTO – After extended testing, the portable people meter will make its official market entry in Montreal on December 10th.
As Cartt.ca has repeatedly reported on, The Montreal market launch is the first phase of BBM Canada’s radio rollout plan which will see PPM carried every day by hundreds more people in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton in Fall 2009. The PPM was introduced in the U.S. over two years ago and has been under test in Montreal for over a year.
The PPM is a pager-sized device that recruited citizens will carry around with them all day (they get a small fee for doing it) which picks up inaudible, encoded signals buried within each radio station’s broadcast. That data is then uploaded each day when those users place the units in their recharging docks. They are seen to be far more reliable than paper diaries which rely on listeners memories – and PPM data has shown some surprises – such as lower ratings during morning drive and far higher ratings on weekends.
The device also shows that people are exposed to far more radio than they had been recording in their diaries. For example, diary users in Montreal during the testing period reported listening to an average of two radio stations per week. With the PPM, that figure rose to 4.8.
“Advertisers, agencies, and broadcasters are eager to see radio move from paper based audience systems to state of the art portable electronic measurement, and PPM really delivers,” said Jim MacLeod, president and CEO, BBM Canada.
“One of the significant benefits of PPM is that its panel methodology will deliver continuous measurement, and provide the industry with a clearer and more consistent picture of radio audiences throughout the year”, said Gary Belgrave, president of the Radio Marketing Bureau. “Our organization is excited by the prospect of PPM and the comprehensive data which it will provide.”
“We’ll finally be able to look at our ratings from one week to the next, one day to the next, and one hour to the next. The PPM will assist radio broadcasters in retaining audiences and providing better service to advertisers intent on reaching increasingly targeted consumer groups,” added Mario Cecchini, BCRQ (Bureau de commercialisation de la radio du Quebec) chairman and vice-president, Corus Quebec.
The BCRQ held a press conference today in Montreal to promote the launch and provide context on the dramatic changes in store for Canadian radio.
