When respondents are asked to recall ads in a âreal worldâ context radio does well both in absolute terms and relative to television. Aided ad recall in this study averaged 32% across ninety-one radio ads vs. 38% a cross seventy-four ads for TV. Brand recall averaged 10% for radio and 17% for TV an index of 60. Results varied by category of ad and by the type of programming in which the ads ran. In particular brand recall for ads aired during radio news programs was roughly comparable to brand recall for ads aired in TV news programs. These results are particularly encouraging for radio considering the fact that in this study almost all of our respondents reported not having listened to the entire radio time slot which the ad aired or said they had been doing other things while listening.
This paper starts with a brief review of the various industry models around the world for organizing television and radio ratings research. The authors discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. Then, using Canada as the context, and BBM (Bureau of Broadcast Measurement) in particular, the authors discuss the evolution of a new structural approach to organizing ratings research - a hybrid JIC- Research Contractor model. Finally, the authors list a number of âlessons learnedâ about the use of the JIC-Research Contractor model in Canada. It is hoped that other countries can benefit from BBMâs experience when considering the different options for organizing ratings research in their own country.
This paper describes the Taylor Nelson AGB Picture Matching Technology (PMT) for identifying the program or channel being viewed on a television set. It outlines the structure of a field test conducted in Vancouver, Canada in late 1997/early 1998 to compare picture matching technology with the more conventional Frequency Measurement Technology (FMT). The results of the successful test are presented and discussed. The paper also describes and comments on the open and public character of the BBM Validation Test.
In Canada, about 98% of all households have telephones, and unlisted telephone numbers are relatively rare. Given this, BUM has recruited participants for its radio ratings surveys using a sample frame of listed telephone numbers. In analyses of our typical sample profile, we have found that we tend to under-represent young, mobile, urban groups, the unemployed, students and those with lower income and education levels. We tested random digit dialing (RDD) in an attempt to improve representation of these groups. The differences between the RDD sample and a listed sample, however, seem to be quite small in the Canadian context. This paper compares an RDD sample with a listed sample, looking at demographic breakdowns, return rates, and tuning.
This paper presents a new approach to collecting qualitative information (consumer behaviour data) at the local market level, linked directly to media consumption. The STrategic Audience Research system, or STAR initiative for short, involves a cooperative effort among radio and television broadcasters, and newspaper publishers in individual markets. The STAR system leverages the investment the media have already made in their existing local market ratings studies by returning to respondents who have completed the ratings surveys and administering a detailed, self-completed, mailout mailback follow-up consumer behaviour questionnaire. This STAR return-to-sample questionnaire is identical for each medium in the market, so that once completed, the data can be pooled across the media to construct a very large sample of consumer behaviour, linked to all of the important media in that market.
Canada is a country of immigrants, and official government policy encourages bilingualism (English and French) and multiculturalism. Television services are provided in French and English across the country; cable and traditional over-the-air television stations offer programming in other languages. This presents many challenges for television audience measurement. This paper reviews the methodologies used in three recent studies designed to measure the television viewing of specific linguistic minorities, contrasting them with the procedures normally used for the regular television surveys of the general population conducted by BBM. It then reviews the results of the special studies, using them as benchmarks against which to measure the ability of the regular BBM surveys to measure ethnic minorities. Three questions are addressed: 1. Does the normal BBM survey process recruit the right proportion of members of linguistic minorities? 2. Is the sub-sample of the minority that is normally recruited representative of its population? 3. Does any of this make a difference to the published ratings results for the total population?
Since the early 1980s, BBM has measured radio tuning using a three-week sweep, chosen from a pre-announced window of 5 or 6 weeks. This sweep technique is familiar to radio broadcasters, researchers and others. In the United States, since 1981 Arbitron has developed a measurement system that is not dependent on the three-week sweep system. Rather, the Arbitron system measures 12 week periods, four times a year in most major markets, for a forty-eight-week measurement - virtually continuous measurement over the year. In the BBM system, respondents for a Fall survey are recruited by telephone in the late summer and, if they agree to participate, are sent diaries for a sweep that takes place in mid-Fail. Generally, the waiting period between recruitment and survey weeks is 06-Aug weeks. Each week represents a random third of the recruited sample. Diarists are asked to keep a record of radio tuning for one week from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. diaries are then returned to BBM for processing. Importantly, each week is treated as a separate survey and the three weeks are "projected' 1 to a population base and averaged to produced published data. This differs from the Arbitron system which, in a general sense, gathers all the diaries together into one database and projects it to the population base. This latter approach means there is less reliance on any individual weekâs sample to produce an audience figure. BBM staff investigated the "extended" weeks of measurement approach as an alternative to the present system. The EWM system offers operational advantages, as well as addressing important methodological issues; which this paper addresses. Theoretically, there is a statistical superiority to a system whose base for the projection (i.e. Arbitron's) is measured over a longer period of time and is larger, (since weights are smaller and, theoretically, reliability is improved). Notwithstanding these obvious advantages, it was decided that BBM should test any new system prior to its introduction as a production standard. As a result of that test, it was concluded that, on a whole, the EWM approach was sufficiently superior to warrant changing to as soon as possible.