Last month, this column covered a presentation at November’s asi conference in Copenhagen about Swiss broadcasters demanding a less expensive measurement system. It included how the local supplier, Mediapulse, is developing a new version that will cost clients around half as much as they currently pay. I couldn’t attend the conference, but know others that did, so I had a conversation with one.
A few people have been around the audio measurement world for a while, yours truly included. When I use the word “world”, it typically means the United States, or perhaps the US and Canada. A smaller group has the background to discuss what’s happening in the true definition of the word “world” meaning measurement in other countries as well as the US. Jay Guyther is a member of that group.
Jay spent many years at Arbitron traveling the world spreading the gospel of PPM. Later he worked as a consultant. He’s still connected with many radio measurement people in other countries and attended this year’s asi conference. I spoke with him to get his impressions of what was presented and what is happening in radio and audio measurement outside the United States.
Jay took good notes at the conference. One overarching impression of the presentations was that companies were publicizing actual results from tests. In previous years, it was “here’s what we’re planning to do”. 2025 was the year of “let us show you some results of our implementation”.
Some other headlines that stood out:
- Things are moving far more quickly outside the US in terms of an integrated audio service.
- There is great interest in embracing new technologies. Some have moved past the limitations of the cell phone, such as problems with the iPhone and privacy issues. The phone is more affordable than a purpose-built device.
- There is interest in big data, like what Xperi and their DTS AutoStage product are doing in the US.
Two countries he mentioned specifically were The Netherlands and Australia. In The Netherlands, the Joint Industry Committee (JIC) is using the Ipsos MediaCell technology (essentially a phone app) to produce minute-by-minute data on a weekly basis for both radio and TV. Jay said TV has had this for some time in the country. However, this is a new level of granularity for radio. MediaCell was initially a matching technology, but now uses “fingerprinting”, essentially encoding, as well.
The system also tries to identify listening location by looking at Wi-Fi networks. It can identify home Wi-Fi and make a reasonable guess at whether you’re at work by looking at how often you log into a different network, claiming an 85% accuracy level.
Jay told me that Australia’s system has been updated, too. GfK, which is now part of NIQ, the spinoff of Nielsen’s non-audience measurement business, has a system in place that uses an anonymized ID code capable of tracking individual behaviors across platforms. It’s used on the GfK watch that I discussed last month in my column about what’s happening in Switzerland. Data is merged with a large number of diaries, both paper and online, to create estimates. This system is also being used now or in the near future in New Zealand, Malaysia, Ireland, and South Africa.
What you have is essentially a single source audio measure, which caused a renaming of the service from Radio 360 to Audio 360. One report gives a subscriber a view of the full audio landscape, something that requires multiple sources here.
A major market difference between the US and many other countries is the presence of a JIC. I mentioned to Jay that JICs have more trouble with advancing new methods and technologies because of the need to get up-front buy-in from JIC members. He said, “One of the knocks against JICs is that it depresses or stifles innovation because it has to be supported. I used to believe that. I don’t so much anymore. The whole Arbitron Methods Research group usually didn’t move ahead with something unless there was a balance of a cost savings in there.”
Click this video to see the asi presentations online. While audience measurement isn’t the most riveting material for conference presentations (I’ve done my share and endorse that view from first-hand experience), there seems to be a lot happening beyond our borders. Perhaps some of these ideas will make their way to the United States soon. Our current system could use both some competition and improvement.
Let’s meet again next week.
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