5. Study Guide: Ratings & Methodology Active/Passive meters – Nielsen’s most recent metering equipment. The A/P meter identifies what channel/network a television set is tuned to Area Probability (AP) – Nielsen methodology for based on audio codes. Television stations and placing meter samples. The first point of contact is made in person to specific sampling points. cable networks encode their signals to allow Nielsen meters to know what channel the These sampling points are predetermined television is tuned. The new meter also household addresses. determines un-encoded signals via a passive signal matching technology. The A/P meter also allowed Audience Composition – The percentage of the for the measurement of Digital Video Recorders overall audience that is in the target or selected (DVRs) “TiVo”-type devices. demographic. Address Based Sampling – Nielsen’s sampling Average – the average of a series of numbers is methodology to properly include households that calculating by adding all numbers in the series and do not have a land line telephone. These are then dividing by the total number of items in the typically cell phone only households. series. Zero values must be included in the calculation. ADS (Alternative Delivery Systems) – Nielsen’s term referring to television delivery methods like Average minute ratings – Nielsen method for Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) and large satellite calculating average ratings in their national or NTI homes. The bulk of ADS homes receive their sample. The ratings for each minute the program television signals via DBS. is on are averaged to calculate the program average rating. Alliance for Audited Media – Collects newspaper and magazine circulation information based on Average quarter-hour ratings – Nielsen method industry supplied circulation data. Company for calculating average ratings in their local or NSI changed their name in 2012 from the Audit Bureau samples. See five-minute rule definition. of Circulations (ABC) to reflect the inclusion of digital (Internet) media. Cable Penetration – The percentage of the market that receives their television signals via wired- Arbitron – Arbitron is primarily a local market cable. radio audience research company. The company previously measured local television audiences but stopped producing local television ratings in 1993. Copyright – You must ensure that you have Their last television-rating book was published for obtained the proper rights to use all information the November 1993 survey. contained in your presentations. This includes Nielsen audience research data, press quotes, and photographs. Area of Dominate Influence (ADI) – This term is no longer used. Arbitron created ADI’s in a similar fashion to the way Nielsen creates DMA’s. County – The basic geographic building block used in the creation of the Nielsen Designated Market Area’s (DMAs). Nielsen does make some exceptions utilizing their “split county” rule. Television Research 81 Currency Data – Audience research data used in Fault Rate – The percentage of homes not in-tab, the buying and selling of television and radio calculated by dividing the installed minus the in- advertising. Currency data is similar to the tab by the installed homes: (Installed – In-tab) / exchange rate one utilizes when converting money Installed. to another’s country’s currency. The Nielsen data indicates the relative value of your audience to that of another station or another program in the Five Minute Rule – The five minute rule refers to the minimum amount of time a meter household market. must view a given station within a quarter-hour in Nielsen’s local markets to receive rating credit. Daypart Summary – Section of the Nielsen rating The five-minutes of viewing does not have to be book providing household and demographic contiguous. Any five minutes viewed within the ratings for broad dayparts. Ratings for adjacent quarter-hour. markets and weekly cumulative audience data are only found in the daypart summary. HUT - The HUT level represents the percentage of all homes within a DMA viewing television at a Designated Market Area (DMA) - The area most specific time. In our example five of the 10 frequently used by local television stations. The households are watching television, or 50%. HUT DMA is a Nielsen derived area consisting of a (viewing) levels are the highest in primetime (8- county grouping based on historical television 10pm) and are the lowest during the overnight viewing patterns. Every county in the United hours (2-6am). States is assigned to only one Nielsen DMA based on the preponderance of television viewing in that county. Index – A numeric guide illustrating if a meter sample characteristic is over installed or under installed. Dividing the installed or in-tab meter Diaries – Nielsen’s and Arbitron’s primary characteristic percentage by the actual universe method for collect television viewing and radio estimate percentage and then times 100 calculates listening, respectively, from smaller markets. an index. An index above 100 indicates the While more advanced methods are available, characteristic is over installed. diaries still provide a cost-effective way to capture television viewing and radio listening. In-Market Share – Share of viewing within a selected portion of the market like share of news Digital Video Recorder (DVR) – More and share of Spanish-language stations. The in- commonly known as a “TiVo”. DVRs allow a market share of the local news viewing can be viewer to record one or perhaps two programs calculated by dividing a station’s news rating by while watching another program. DVRs typically the sum of the ratings for the stations airing local continue to record an entire season of a selected news at the same time. program allowing the viewer to watch their favorite programs whenever they have the time. These “TiVo”-type devices facilitate what is Installed – The number of households Nielsen has installed meter equipment in a market. known as time-shifted viewing. Discrete Demographic Cell – Age and sex In-Tab - The number of households used in demographic building blocks. These discrete age tabulation of the daily household overnight ratings. In-tab can also refer to the number of diaries and sex demographic cells do not overlap and are the basis from which Nielsen builds the major Nielsen has used in tabulation of a diary market’s demographics like adults 18-49. rating book. Ethnic Composition – The percentage of a program’s audience that is African-American, Hispanic, and/or Asian. 82 Television Research LPM – Industry acronym referring to Local Nielsen Station Index (NSI) – Nielsen local People-Meter markets. After a Boston test of the market television audience research system. technology, which had previously been used only Nielsen employs three primary methodologies in in Nielsen’s national sample, Nielsen installed the generation of the local market ratings: local people-meters in 24 of the largest DMAs. people-meters, household meters with diaries, and diaries. Market Rank – Refers to the numeric order of Nielsen DMAs based on market size. These Nielsen Television Index (NTI) – Nielsen rankings are updated annually in September and national people-meter based television research are based on the number of television households system. Nielsen has over 20,000 people-meter in Nielsen’s DMAs. Market size is one of the key homes installed nationally. factors in determining the advertising revenue of a market. Overnight – A report illustrating the ratings from one day, typically yesterday. The report is Metro – The geographic nucleolus of a Nielsen available the next morning in Nielsen’s household Designated Market Area. The metro area usually meter and local people-meter (LPM) markets. combines counties where commerce is intertwined. Metro is the standard measurement area in Arbitron’s radio service. People-Meter – Nielsen’s people-meter combines a set-tuning meter to determine what the television is tuned to with a push-button device to capture Multiple Quarter Hour Viewing – In Nielsen’s who is sitting in front of the television. local markets, it is possible for three stations or cable networks to receive rating credit within the same quarter-hour. This is a result of the five- Percent Change – Percentage change is calculated by dividing the newest (most recent) number by minute rule. Since a station or cable network receives quarter-hour rating credit for a minimum the oldest number and then subtracting one. New of five minutes, it is theoretically possible for three divided by old and then minus one. television channels to receive rating credit for the same quarter-hour. Percentage – Most television media terms are expressed as percentages. Multi-Set Viewing – When two televisions are on in a household, the household is counted in HUT Place-Shifting Viewing – Devices like “Sling level once but can receive rating credit for at least Box” have enable viewers to watch their home two different stations if each television is tuned to televisions while traveling to other markets. This a different channel. provides metering and crediting challenges to Nielsen and the industry. Newspaper Circulation – The number of newspapers distributed. The Audit Bureau of Portable People Meter – Arbitron’s latest Circulation (ABC) is the primary vendor collecting technology to capture radio listening and circulation information. potentially television viewing. The device recognizes encoded audio codes in the radio and television broadcasts. Nielsen – The preeminent television research company in the United States. Nielsen produces both local market and national television ratings. PPM – Industry acronym referring to Arbitron’s Portable People Meter markets. Arbitron first pilot tested the pager-size device in the Philadelphia market and later in the Houston market. Arbitron is in the midst of their aggressive roll-out plan to utilize the PPM technology in the top 50 radio metros by 2010. Television Research 83 Primary Research – Primary research studies are Sample Characteristics – Research samples are specifically contracted by a television or radio monitored by various segments of the market. station that can only be used by that station.