PPM Presurvey Bulletin,
April 2007, May 2007, and June 2007
Encoding
Arbitron will provide encoding equipment at no cost for each eligible station that chooses to encode. Stations are eligible to encode their signals, and to receive encoding equipment, regardless of subscriber status.
No metro audience estimates will be tabulated or reported for stations that choose not to encode. Once a market is converted to PPM electronic measurement, estimates based on diaries will no longer be available.
A station may begin encoding after the report period begins; however, audience estimates will not be adjusted to exclude unencoded intervals. For example, audience estimates for a station that begins encoding the third week of the report period will include two weeks of zero listening averaged with listening that occurs during the third and fourth weeks of the report period. Similarly, any portion of a day during which a station’s signal is not encoded will be counted as zero listening, since no meter will be able to detect listening to the station. It is for that reason that Arbitron provides a monitor and a backup encoder. Close attention to the guidelines and recommendations below will help ensure that each station’s audience estimates reflect any listening that occurs during the station’s broadcast hours:
- Stations will need to give high priority to ensuring the encoder is operating. Although the station’s engineer will likely find the encoder easy to use, the encoder will need monitoring. It is the station’s responsibility to self-monitor encoding at all times. Arbitron will provide the station with the tools (encoder, backup encoder, encoding monitor and associated documents) to make this possible.
- Arbitron’s Encoding Operations staff will be available to help the station begin encoding. Working in cooperation with Arbitron’s Encoding Operations staff, the station engineer will have the tools necessary to ensure the effective installation of encoding equipment.
- In the event of an encoder failure:
- The station should switch to the Backup or Spare encoder immediately!
- The station should contact Arbitron Encoding Operations.
