Diary Method and Black Radio
The good thing about the diary method is the fact there are new people in the survey every week. If a station has a bad trend, eventually those four weeks will go away. With the Portable People Meter methodology, a selected participant can sit on a panel from six weeks to two years. What once was a bad four-week period could be a year or more.
Black formatted stations need to realize all African-Americans do not listen to black formatted radio. The civil rights movement, desegregation, integration, entertainment, sports, education, affirmative action, and cable video channels have altered listening habits. Many African Americans have assimilated into the majority society, which is white. Therefore, listening consumption is more diverse. In markets with a smaller percentage of blacks, the rating may not be so good for urban formats.
With Portable People Meters, cumes have increased considerably and time spent listening has decreased.
Destined for the Garbage Can
To the average person, a diary in the mailbox represents nothing more than an advertising circular. Much like the census, it is hard to get a person to take part in a written survey. With society becoming increasingly suspicious about information gathering, people have not been as cooperative as in the past. Increased monetary stipends have helped, but not enough. Many are beginning to question the types of individuals participating in these surveys. Regardless, there are millions in advertising at stake, and the measurement process is shaky at best.
Arbitron Definitions
TSL (Time Spent Listening)
An estimate of persons listening to a particular station for at least five minutes during a 15-minute period.
Cume Persons
The total number of persons listening to a radio station during the course of a day-part
Exclusive Cume
The number of different persons who listen to only one station during the daypart reported.
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