LA Radio: Nielsen Decides Against Further PPM Re-Issues

Nielsen has announced that there is no need PPM ratings for the past year in the Los Angeles market.  The decision followed an impact analysis caused by the presence of a media-affiliated household during the April 2014 survey period.

Nielsen officials say the findings of the analysis were so insignificant a full-year re-issue would be not necessary.

In a prepared statement, Nilesen said:

"Subsequent to last month's delay and reissue of Los Angeles PPM Radio data, NIELSEN has conducted an impact analysis extending back over the past year to examine the impact of the media-affiliated household that was recently removed from the panel. After comparing the audience estimates without this home in the panel to those we originally published which included the household, we have decided not to reissue currency Los Angeles data for any prior report periods. 

"Our analysis revealed that any significant differences in the estimates over the past year were isolated primarily to a single station (the station associated with the media-affiliated household) and that there were minimal differences in the estimates for the overwhelming majority of other stations in the market. We have concluded that a reissue of prior currency data would be of limited commercial benefit to customers and would result in further disruption to the marketplace. 

"Nilesen is committed to upholding the highest standards of data integrity and acts swiftly to meet those standards. We have taken a number of actions to minimize the risk of reoccurrence and to strengthen our measures to ensure that panelists are complying properly in all markets. Nielsen will also be launching an education and awareness campaign with the broadcast industry to remind them of our panel security and media affiliation guidelines."