In today's MediaLife, an interview by Diego Vasquez with Bernie Shimkus sheds light on much of the controversy surrounding the rollout of the PPM device. Shimkus is VP/Director of Research at Harmelin Media. Harmelin is one of the largest media buying services on the east coast. Based in Philadelphia, Harmelin's buyers and research team have been exposed to the PPM longer than people from other markets. As a media buying service, they have no ax to grind - they just want good, accurate data so that their clients can succeed.
In his interview, Diego Vasquez asks, "Are media people still concerned about charges that the PPM undercounts minorities? How much credence do you give these claims?" Shimkus answers:
Finally, Vasquez asks, "There have been groups and politicians trying to stop the rollout of the PPM. Do you think any of them will succeed eventually? Or do you expect the issue to eventually die down?" Mr. Shimkus answers:
Read the entire interview here.
In his interview, Diego Vasquez asks, "Are media people still concerned about charges that the PPM undercounts minorities? How much credence do you give these claims?" Shimkus answers:
Media people would be more concerned about those charges if they were based on hard, statistical facts rather than ulterior business motives.
Agencies and advertisers want accurate numbers that represent all groups as much as stations do.
Unfortunately, most of the claims about the undercounting of minorities just aren't true.
For example, the cume audiences for most ethnic formatted stations have increased significantly under the PPM methodology. Since by definition cume audience represents the number of different people a station reaches in a week, I don't know how higher cumes for minority stations translates into "undercounting."
Finally, Vasquez asks, "There have been groups and politicians trying to stop the rollout of the PPM. Do you think any of them will succeed eventually? Or do you expect the issue to eventually die down?" Mr. Shimkus answers:
For the sake of our clients, and the radio industry itself, we certainly hope not. There is a lot of misinformation out there, and even more political posturing based on that misinformation.
This is not an area that politicians should be inserting themselves.
And the radio industry would be better served to stop the bickering with Arbitron, and instead concentrate on using the wealth of new data the PPM provides to make a stronger case for why radio advertising is still an effective media channel for advertisers.
Read the entire interview here.