Abstract:

Since 1992 Arbitron has been working on a Personal Portable Meter (PPM) program as an alternative to current audience measurement methods. This PPM program will provide each signal originator with an encoder which inserts an inaudible identification code into the station’s signal in real time. As survey respondents are exposed to various media, these codes are then captured by a pager-size decoder which can easily be carried by respondents. This paper outlines our progress over the past five years in developing a working model small enough to be carried for an extended period of time, yet powerful enough to pick up the various codes to which the respondent is exposed. We discuss Arbitron’s most significant achievements in technological development, as well as in the all-important area of human factors research.