Wednesday Morning Meeting for October 21, 2009: Bobby Knight

Wednesday Morning Meeting for October 21, 2009:

The agency’s love/hate relationship with the PPM

Seems like everyone is weighing in these days on Arbitron’s PPM. The pager-like ratings sampler is being talked about in the halls of the FCC, whispered wildly in congress, and being investigated by several Attorneys General. Mainstream radio loves it; minority broadcasters loathe it. So, what’s the deal with the PPM? From the agency perspective, the reactions have been mostly positive, but certainly mixed.

Positives:

· The PPM confirms the intuition of many great programmers, ad execs, and experienced media buyers: great content and less clutter count.

· The PPM’s exact feedback pushes programming and talent to generate more compelling content

· Just because you turn 35 doesn’t mean that you’re listening to Ambrosia records on repeat. CHR’s appeal is broad. So is the appeal of Country stations that package their product properly to suit the marketplace

· Proof positive that afternoon drive commands massive cume but costs significantly less than mornings

Negatives:

· Buying in a HDHA or HDBA market? The sample size of minority listeners is way too small. Thanks to tiny samples, Wendy Williams zipped her lips, played more music, and moved to television. Radio lost a truly great show. And with the purchasing power of Hispanics growing exponentially, it’s crucial that this situation is ironed out

· Guess whom advertisers are targeting these days? Older Americans 45+. Why? They’re the only ones who can afford to purchase big-ticket items! So why will Arbitron software only allow a maximum HHI of $75K+? Big difference between a HHI of $125K+ and $75K+--but, now, everyone is lumped together. Although not impossible to track down through other sources, capping HHI at $75K+ is a misstep

· GMs and GSMs, here’s the important one: It seems like the majority of your sellers are having trouble importing qualitative data and adjusting buy parameters in Maximizer. With the PPM, when asked to produce a ranker against W25-54, HHI: $75K+, 95% of the time, the ranker is submitted sans HHI or any specified custom geography. Make sure your sellers are properly trained. CPP and GRP goals depend on it!

As always, I welcome your thoughts. Please e-mail me: bknight@harrison-edwardspr.com or follow me on Twitter @BobKnightAdMan

Next week: The new rules of the sandbox

Bob Knight is Vice President, Advertising and Digital Media with Harrison Edwards PR & Marketing in New York and oversees the company’s advertising and HEdigital divisions, which include podcasting, webcasting, blogging; and print, electronic, and broadcast advertising and media buying. Prior to joining Harrison Edwards in 2005, Bob worked for some of the nation’s largest broadcasting companies, successfully developing programming in some of the most competitive markets including Chicago and San Francisco; his stations and shows were consistently top-rated. In addition to Bob’s work as program director and on-air personality at AMFM, Inc., Clear Channel Communications, Citadel Broadcasting, Entercom, and NextMedia Group, he served as a consultant to Internet radio stations during the dot com boom. Bob’s national and regional radio commercials have won a Gold Clarion Award (AWC) and Gold “Big W” Awards (Ad Club) for commercials he produced. In 2008, Bob was named a “Rising Star Forty Under Forty” by the Business Council of Westchester and is a graduate of Leadership Westchester (Class of 2009).



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