This bulletin provides radio stations and other users of Arbitron services with information regarding Winter 2007 survey specification changes and key dates.
 

Market Changes

There are no market definition changes for the Winter 2007 survey. 

Conversion to PPM

Effective Winter 2007, the Continuous-Measurement radio market below is being converted from diary measurement to electronic measurement using Arbitron’s Portable People Meter^TM(PPM^TM):  

Philadelphia

Audience estimates based on diary measurement will not be available for report periods after Fall 2006 in this market. 

Service Enhancement

"eDiary" Offered as Diarykeeper Option

About the eDiary
Effective with the Winter 2007 survey, radio survey participants in diary-based markets will have the option to use an Internet-based, electronic diary in place of the standard paper survey tool.

The eDiary is a Web-based version of the Arbitron paper diary that consists of five primary types of pages:  welcome/introduction pages, an instructions page, radio diary pages, a quick questions page, and a submit page. Additionally, there are various error messages designed to reduce the likelihood of diarykeeper error.

Based on its tests of the electronic diary, Arbitron expects that at least one out of every 20 survey participants will choose the electronic diary.  In Arbitron tests, the largest demographic group of eDiarykeepers was between the ages of 25 and 34. Arbitron’s tests also showed that there is no significant difference in the number of quarter-hours of listening or the number of stations entered into the eDiary versus the paper diary. 

How Respondents Access the eDiary Option
Every phone call to survey households will include a mention of the option to complete either the paper or the online version of the diary. Letters sent to survey households also will include a mention of the eDiary and references to being able to mail back a diary or submit it online.

An insert explaining how to access and log into the eDiary will be included in each diary sleeve mailed to consenting households. This insert instructs respondents to go to the eDiary Web site and log in by using the respondent’s diary ID as a username and zip code as a password. Once logged in, the respondent can choose a new username and password that would be more easily remembered.

On the page on which a new username and password is created, the respondent is asked to provide an e-mail address. If a valid e-mail address is provided, the respondent will receive up to four messages from Arbitron reminding of the need to complete and submit the eDiary.

Winter 2007 Response Rate and Sample Representation Initiatives

Special Pre-Conversion Treatment Extended to Additional Markets
 
In prior surveys, in select Top 10 markets, households (with known addresses) that declined to participate during the first three days of calling received a pre-conversion notecard, accompanied by a special premium, in advance of attempted conversion calls. Effective Winter 2007, this treatment will be extended to all Top 10 markets. 

Diary Enhancements

Minor Adjustments to Diary Text
Effective Winter 2007, minor improvements appear in the language printed in select diaries. These include minor changes in the Spanish text in bilingual diaries (such as a change from "en el Internet" to "en la Internet") and a minor change in the instruction page language in all diaries (from "When you hear a radio…” to “Any time you hear radio….”).

Total Line Reporting

Multibook Total Lines Available in Maximi$er^®/Media Professional^®
Starting with the Winter 2006 survey, Arbitron began offering Total Line Reporting to stations that simulcast 100 percent, including commercials. Audience estimates for simulcast stations that request Total Line Reporting are reported in a combined total line with the call letters of the primary station (as selected by the simulcast combo).

During the initial survey in which a combo receives Total Line Reporting, prior-survey estimates in the Radio Market Report (Arbitron eBookSM), TAPSCAN™ and third-party-processor data will reflect listening to only the primary station. Multibook averages during a combo’s initial survey will reflect one survey in which estimates for all partners are combined, averaged with listening in prior surveys to the primary station alone.

Subscribers to Arbitron’s Maximi$er and Media Professional services can produce multibook Total Line estimates for these combos simply by building a combo (in any survey prior to the start of Total Line Reporting) and selecting that combo for each survey in the multibook period.

Key Dates

Station Information Updates During the Winter 2007 Survey

Please remember to notify Arbitron in writing immediately of any call letter, Station Name, or other facility changes that occur at your station during the survey (January 11 - April 4).

Station updates that should be forwarded to Arbitron include:

* Diary edit information is not retroactive and becomes effective upon our receipt.
** Fall times used for Phase 1.

Please address updates to:

Address:
Radio Station Relations
Arbitron Inc.
9705 Patuxent Woods Drive
Columbia, MD 21046-1572
Attention: Station Information

Fax:  (410) 312-8619

Station information updates will be accepted through April 4. All updates will be acknowledged by letter or postcard. If you do not receive an update confirmation postcard, please contact Radio Station Relations at (410) 312-8062.

Station Information Profiles on file with Arbitron for the Winter 2007 survey can be reviewed online at www.ArbitronRadio.com. Click on the Station Information Profiles link, and enter the call letters of the station you want to review.

The policy and procedure amendment(s) set forth in this bulletin are hereby incorporated by reference into and deemed to amend and supersede in pertinent part the most recent Description of Methodology as published in the Local Radio Market Report or as otherwise furnished to subscribers.

For more detailed information on the topics in this bulletin, including the specific markets affected by Arbitron’s ongoing efforts to improve sample quality, please contact your local Arbitron sales representative.

Arbitrends^SM, Arbitron eBook^SM, Maximi$er^® and Media Professional^® are marks of Arbitron Inc. TAPSCAN™ is a trademark of TAPSCAN Inc., used under license.