Arbitron gain in Key Sample Metric of Cell-Phone-Only Sampling.

Arbitron Inc. announced double digit gains in its Designated Delivery Index (DDI[1]) sample quality metric for young adults age 18-34 in the first month of cell-phone-only sampling from 151 Spring 2009 diary markets.  Arbitron’s DDI metric gained 17 points versus the prior survey for Persons 18-34 in two-book markets and 11 points in four-book markets.
 
“Cell-phone-only sampling is a major step forward for diary markets and we are pleased it has helped produce double-digit growth in DDI for Persons 18-34 so far in the Spring 2009 survey,” said Bob Henrick, EVP, Customer Solutions. “The solid gains in black and Hispanic are also very encouraging.  Arbitron remains highly committed to raising the bar on diary market sample quality with our program of continuous improvement. We look forward to similar positive results in the rest of the Spring survey and as we introduce CPO sampling this Fall in the rest of the diary markets in the fifty states.”
 
Arbitron introduced CPO sampling in 151 diary markets with its Spring 2009 survey to enable measurement of people who have “cut the cord” and can not be reached by landline.  Today, it released the first look at sample quality metrics and listening effects for April, the first month of its three month radio listening survey. There were nearly 6,000 diaries from CPO households in these 151 markets in April.
 
Sample Improvements by Demographic in April

In four-book markets, the Persons 18-34 Designated Delivery Index (DDI) averaged 70.7 in April, a gain of eleven points versus the Winter 2009 survey. In two-book markets, the increase for Persons 18-34 was even larger moving up to an average DDI of 73.1 in April equaling a seventeen point gain versus the Fall 2008 survey.
 
Persons 18-54 also showed improvement. Among the four-book markets, the DDI for Persons 18-54 gained two points in April (average of 86.3) compared with the Winter 2009 survey and in the two-book markets the Persons 18-54 DDI for April (average of 93.2) was eleven points higher than the Fall 2008 survey.
 
The DDI for Black Persons 12+ remained stable at an average of roughly 93 among the 20 four-book markets with black sample controls. However, the DDI for Black Persons 12+ gained 7 points in April to an average of 92.9 compared with the Fall 2008 survey among the twenty-six two-book markets with black sample controls.
 
For Hispanic Persons 12+, the DDI gained 16.5 points in April (average of 78.2) compared with the Winter 2009 survey among the eleven four-book markets with Hispanic sample controls. Among the 25 two-book markets with Hispanic sample controls, the Hispanic DDI improved 4.4 points (average of 74.1) versus the prior Fall 2008 survey.
 
CPO Impact on Total Radio Listening

Arbitron also shared its first ever look at total radio listening based on the combination of Cell-Phone-Only and landline diaries in April 2009. The analysis looked at the Average-Quarter-Hour Rating for the 37 four book markets with CPO sampling in Spring 2009:
 
– Persons 12+:  the AQH Rating (M-Su 6A-Mid) was 12.7 percent in April when including Cell-Phone-Only with Landline households. This was two-tenths of a rating point higher (1.6 percent higher) than the rating for landline only households.

– Persons 18-24:  the AQH Rating (M-Su 6A-Mid) was 10.6 percent in April when including Cell-Phone-Only with Landline households.  This was three-tenths of a rating point lower (2.8 percent lower) than the rating for landline only households.

– Persons 25-34:  the AQH Rating (M-Su 6A-Mid) was 12.5 percent in April when including Cell-Phone-Only with Landline households.  This was two-tenths of a rating point higher (1.6 percent higher) than the rating for landline only households.

– Persons 35-54:  the AQH Rating (M-Su 6A-Mid) was 14.5 percent in April when including Cell-Phone-Only with Landline households.  This was four-tenths of a rating point higher (2.8 percent higher) than the rating for landline only households.
 
CPO Impact on Radio formats

Among Persons 12+, seven of twelve formats had no change in AQH rating (Monday-Sunday 6AM-Mid) when comparing the format rating for all (cell-phone-only with landline households) versus the rating for landline only households. The seven formats with no change in 12+ AQH rating were Country, Adult Contemporary, Religious, Oldies, Alternative, Spanish and Smooth Jazz.
 
Four formats had a one-tenth of an AQH rating gain including Rock, CHR, Urban and Adult Hits. The changes represent a 10 percent increase for Rock, 12.5 percent change for Contemporary Hits Radio, (CHR), 14 percent for Urban and 50 percent gain for Adult Hits. News/Talk had a one-tenth rating point decline representing a 4.3 percent change among persons 12+.
 
The format rating for Alternative and Adult Contemporary gained among persons 18-24 and 25-34 while CHR and Oldies increased among 35-54 when cell-phone-only was added to Landline. The format rating for News/Talk and Spanish declined by one-tenth of a point among persons 18-34.
 
To view charts CLICK above on ‘More Images’.

[1] Designated Delivery Index (DDI) calculates the actual sample size for a given demo and divides it by the target sample size for the demo.  A DDI of 100 means the actual sample size equals the target.