Ad Age on Arbitron PPM

Great piece in Ad Age about Arbitron’s PPM announcements from Houston.

In a nutshell:

– Morning shares down – Cumes up – AQH down

The conclusion: Radio is more of a reach medium, less of a frequency one.

I have an additional conclusion: Because the meters capture more of the passive, peripheral listening that is now accounting for increased cumes and decreased TSL, they reveal radio to be more background, more passionless, more a random act of dial-switching, than the diary methodology ever indicated.

If I listen to more stations that means I’m less satisfied with any one.

From a sales perspective perhaps the reach vs. frequency metrics are good news. From the programming perspective this news shows how far we have to go.

Diminished passion, reduced TSL. That means more vulnerability.