Posted by chicagomedia.org on May 24, 2009 at 19:53:14:
Portable People Meters bring seismic shifts to Chicago radio programming
End of 'Kathy & Judy' show, WNUA's smooth jazz format tied to how audiences are measured
Phil Rosenthal | Tribune Media
May 24, 2009
Friday was one of the most tumultuous days ever in Chicago radio.
Within a single hour, Clear Channel's WNUA-FM 95.5 dumped smooth jazz after 22 years for a Spanish format, and Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co.'s WGN-AM 720 announced it was canceling "Kathy & Judy" after 20 years.
Each was a veritable institution, having broken new ground in their heyday, and the abruptness of their demise caught many by surprise. Yet the ground had been eroding beneath both for some time.
Factoring into both moves was Arbitron's switch last year in this market from compiling ratings through handwritten diaries to Portable People Meters, or PPMs, pager-like devices that effectively eavesdrop on sample listeners. The change forced marketers and broadcasters to look at formats and personalities through a new prism and some no longer looked as attractive as they once did, especially with ad revenue growing tight anyway because of the economy.
"The landscape has been rearranged," John Gehron, an ex-Chicago radio exec who is now a consultant, said Friday. "Every ratings system has its biases. We got used to the diary after so many years. But I remember when the diary became dominant, we used to complain it didn't reflect as well as the old phone systems."
Some personalities and formats with devoted followings benefited from the handwritten diary system in that the faithful would report they were tuned in at every opportunity. PPMs track actual listenership, so a fan who checks out other stations during breaks or lulls -- consciously or not -- can be followed, almost second by second.
Some have questioned the quality and weighting of the sample listeners and cast aspersions on the results. Others point to the difficulty of getting some to participate, for one reason or another.
"I haven't worn a beeper in years, and nothing I've got goes with it," Tom Joyner joked after he was bounced from Clear Channel's WVAZ-FM 102.7, forcing him to buy airtime on Crawford Broadcasting's WSRB-FM 106.3 and WYRB-FM 106.3. "PPM has systematically rated urban stations much lower than they have been in the past. The diary method that Arbitron used to use was more favorable."
The Federal Communications Commission last week announced an inquiry to determine if the new methodology undercounts audience for radio stations targeting minorities. Arbitron responded by saying it welcomed the opportunity to explain the advantages of PPMs.
Others point to how initial discrepancies have smoothed out in some markets as both Arbitron tweaked its samples and stations tweaked their approaches, adding gimmicks such as teasers to encourage listeners to stay tuned. And the momentum of the industry, despite complaints, is still with increasing acceptance.
"It's here to stay," Rod Zimmerman, senior vice president and market manager of CBS Radio Chicago, said Friday. "It is a new reality. In PPM versus diary, there are winners and losers in formats and personalties, and we're seeing the results of that now."
That's not to say there aren't inherent glitches in PPMs.
"Until you have your driver's license, when you're 13, 14, 15, mom or dad drives you to school and they're in the driver's seat, so they control the radio," Eddie Volkman said with a measure of amusement last year after CBS Radio dropped his show. "So dad's listening to news radio and the 13-year-old is listening to his iPod, but the kid's PPM picks up news radio."
But, as Steve Dahl said shortly after CBS Radio took him off the air late last year with 2 1/2 years remaining on his contract, "They completely changed the rules 30 years into the game." Dahl had honed his show over the years "to appeal to diary-keepers" yet he felt he was making progress toward cracking the PPM code in the end.
"What's clear is there are no PPM experts," Kris Kelley, WGCI-FM 107.5's program director, said in March. "No one has figured out exactly how to manipulate that measurement system to the maximum benefit. So it just comes down to the product."
And sometimes it's the product that comes down.