Off Air and Pay TV distinct viewing habits in Puerto Rico.

It’s well known that homes equipped with subscription cable TV and Satellite services (“Pay TV”) have a greater number of viewing choices including local channels, imported TV channels from outside Puerto Rico, special video services such as on-demand movies, special events and digital recorders that allow viewers to record and then playback programs at a later time. With so many viewing choices, it is not surprising to learn that Pay TV homes and homes with only off-air TV reception are statistically different in terms of their level of TV viewing and TV channel/program viewing behaviors. As such, proper representation of cable and satellite homes is an important consideration in the sample design and implementation of research services that produce audience estimates used to evaluate the works of local artists, media outlets and advertisers.

As shown in the table 1 the IBOPE Media TV meter sample is the only service currently accredited(*) to properly reflects the Puerto Rico Pay TV Universe. These comparisons are published monthly in accordance with MRC disclosure standards and IBOPE Media’s commitment to transparency, a policy since our company was formed in 1988.

Puerto Rico’s rugged terrain creates significant challenges for over-the-air TV signal transmission and off-air household reception. Off-air TV channel reception choices are limited, especially in homes located outside major metropolitan centers, and this produces different TV channel viewing patterns across island regions. Based upon this consideration it should be expected that the TV viewing of an 18-24 year female living in a San German household and relying upon limited off-air reception may differ from that of an 18-24 female living in San Juan with a greater number of off-air viewing options.

Homes with off-air only reception TV homes are the majority of Puerto Rico TV households today and, as such, sample location takes precedence over all other considerations in the placement of electronic meters used to estimate the TV viewing of Puerto Rico’s 1.4 Million TV homes. The IBOPE Media TV meter sample, developed by statisticians and updated annually by demographers well versed in our island’s unique population characteristics, controls the number of meter placements within each of six regions, thereby ensuring that the sample is balanced so as to prevent any one population area from disproportionately influencing and potentially biasing the TV audience estimates used to value the work product of local artists, media outlets and advertisers.

The table 2 illustrates the close fit between the IBOPE Media TV meter sample and the total Puerto Rico TV Household population. These comparisons are published monthly in accordance with MRC disclosure standards and an IBOPE Media commitment to transparency that has existed since our company was founded in 1988.