Dear Diary...

Dear Diary: 

We've been keeping you for quite some time now but we've become a little concerned that some of the stories you've been telling us are less than accurate.

In the world of radio measurement in Canada, we've been forced to court the BBM diary since radio revenues are married to its figures.  You can dally with Angus Reid, Birth or other suitors, but you must eventually come back to BBM.

The problem is, of course, that the diary methodology brings with it baggage that can weigh down the results.  In this issue I want to take a look at the problems facing the diary and the promising alternatives which are looming on the horizon.

Every methodology has its own set of built in biases.  The diary consistently under reports Men 18-24, much to the chagrin of rock and CHR stations.  The poor response rates for that demo indicate an entrenched reluctance among young men to "put it in writing".



Additionally the fact that diaries are not rostered may favour better known stations.  Promotion campaigns are geared to cementing call letters and slogans in diary keeper's minds.  Is secondary or peripheral tuning being accurately accounted for?  After testing a rostered diary, BBM concluded that for the additional expense and effort involved, repose rates and accuracy were not significantly improved.

Diaries also have proved to be consistently deficient in capturing the habits of multilingual listeners.  These respondents are particularly uncomfortable with having to provide a written response in English.  As the multicultural nature of our society becomes more vibrant, this group of consumers becomes increasingly difficult to ignore.

Few would argue that passive metering systems if properly implemented, offer us the best hope for the future.  Relying on people's memories for the reporting of tuning habits is so problematic that -- I forget what I was going to say.  At any rate, the experience of watching diary respondents recount their activates --- when, where and how they filled in the books --- is more than a little entertaining.

The first passive system to get up and running is Mobiltrak.  It is currently available only in Toronto (where it has been tested prior to moving into U.S. markets).  This system electronically measures tuning in passing cars.  Electronic Measurement Units are placed along busy thoroughfares where tens of thousands of car radios can be monitored in a day.  when thinking about the value of in car tuning measurement to advertisers, consider the fact that 98 per cent of shoppers drive to stores and 90 per cent of shoppers listen to the radio on the way to making a purchase.

Mobiltrak offers timely (daily) measurement with huge sample sizes and unerring accuracy, given that the respondents don't have to do anything.

Geographical areas can be limited (e.g. Scarborough) so that destination retailers can look only at cars passing through their buying area.  Still, the downside is not insubstantial.  Demos can't be broken out.

There is no qualitative / product usage data.  Lastly the system only covers FM tuning, ignoring AM patrons.  This measurement methodology must be viewed as a complimentary system.

With all this discussion on the relative merits of different methodologies, it is interesting to note that the results reported for Howard Stern's launch on Q107 in Toronto very closely reflected the A12+ numbers which were eventually reported in BBM.  Is it possible that the diary isn't so bad after all?

Different passive systems are currently being developed in Switzerland, Germany and the U.S.A.  Both Radiocontrol and Infratest Burke are on the verge if implementing promising systems which involve participants wearing watches (isn't that a sing of the times?) which pick up audible radio broadcasts in the listener's vicinity.  The data is decoded through the comparison of captured waveforms with those of the broadcasting stations.  When combined with a questionnaire to get further demo and qualitative data, these systems provide a vastly improved measurement system.  I'll let the cynics decide whether or not their projected implementation over the next couple of years is overly optimistic.

The Personal Portable Meter (what happened to the 4 P's?) is still being developed by Arbitron in the U.S.  This system is somewhat more complex in that it involves broadcasters encoding their signals.  The pocket-sized meters are carried by listeners and docked nightly for decoding.  BBM entered into an agreement with Arbitron a few years back to share in the development of this product.  After being highly touted, implementation hasn't proceeded as quickly as expected.

When we get do get true passive measurement what can we expect?  We'll probably see higher levels for occasional stations and unplanned listening stations, off peak hours and out of home tuning which have in the past relied most heavily on respondents' memories.  Taking recall out of the equation will undoubtedly add up to a more accurate reflection of overall tuning patterns.

Dear Diary:  I guess we'll be keeping you for a while yet.  But when it comes to change, the writing is on the wall.