While the rest of the U.S. is stuck on the paper Arbitron diary (OK, eDiary also kicks in this winter), Philadelphia is embarking on the brave new world of PPM, starting on January 11th.
And that’s where the bullet hits the bone. Apparently, not all Philly stations are encoding their signals, thus making them measurable in the PPM system. Clear Channel is now the only holdout, and last week, the Arbitron Advertising/Agency Advisory Council – a collection of agency types – urged all stations to start encoding.
If Clear Channel stations continue to remain "unencoded," agencies will be in a difficult box when it comes to using PPM numbers for buying purposes. And once again, radio puts itself into that "second class citizen" category by continuing to demonstrate to the media world that we’re not ready for prime time.
Any station can encode, whether they opt to purchase PPM or not. So, of course, it comes down to whether key players in the radio industry can put aside their differences and their power plays, and actually show some leadership. Electronic measurement is inevitable, and yet, at the 11th hour, radio is still playing games.
The clock is ticking.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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