Arbitron Inc.has announced that the world’s largest combined panel for television and radio audience measurement is now live in Canada using Arbitron Portable People Meter technology. In April 2008, following a competitive process, BBM Canada chose the Arbitron and TNS Media Research joint solution to support this multi-media measurement initiative.
“Arbitron is excited to be a key component of this innovative approach to audience measurement; and pleased to showcase the distinctive capabilities of our PPM service,” said Michael Skarzynski, Chief Executive Officer and President, Arbitron. “The PPM technology is designed to measure exposure to all audible media and is easy-to-use, mobile, flexible and language-agnostic. PPM technology is uniquely suited to provide two currencies using one panel.”
PPM technology is now used throughout Canada, replacing the legacy electronic measurement technology for television. It is also replacing BBM Canada’s diary service for radio in five markets.
“The launch of BBM Canada’s joint radio and television PPM service is an exciting achievement for the Canadian advertising industry,” said Jim MacLeod, President and CEO of BBM Canada. “In September 2004, BBM began using PPM technology to measure television viewing in the francophone market of Montreal and over the past 5 years we have grown confident that the PPM service is the audience measurement solution that can best meet our members’ needs today and well into the future.”
“Our members and the Canadian broadcasting industry as a whole have been extremely supportive of our move to PPM measurement,” said Dorena Noce, Vice-president Corporate Services of BBM Canada. “We are extremely excited with the PPM technology and the robust audience measurement service that it will provide.”
More than 75,000 Arbitron Portable People Meters are currently in use around the world across eight commercial media measurement services including the United States, Canada, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Kazakhstan. Additionally, the PPM technology is utilized in television audience measurement in Singapore.