Canada's Astral Radio Explains PPM To You

In the U.S., Arbitron delivers monthly PPM updates as the researcher rolls out metered radio measurement.

In Canada, a large group owner's research staff has seized the initiative and is trying to establish itself as the PPM experts by delivering monthly reports on the new form of media measurement of radio usage arrives.

Alicia Olson-Keating, General Manager of Research & Marketing Services and Mike Mohammed, Research and Marketing Analyst for Astral Media Radio in English Canada put on their red Olympics mittens and took 30 minutes to present and analyze the second PPM currency results in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal.

There's a lot of great information in their presentation, including some tips on how to look at your own ratings. For example, before you open "the book" or start a download of data, make a note of important events, times and dates which could have affected radio and your own station.


Then, before tracking reach, time spent listening and share rankers, look at each station's ideal and real target on a male-female/young-old grid.

Here's how it looks in the most recent monthly numbers in four large Canadian markets:



Are you the first one on your block to disseminate the new radio ratings data to your marketplace?

It's a good way to establish a position of leadership and expertise with your media buying community.