The LPM method uses electronic meters for the collection of demographic ratings, replacing the paper diary as the source of this information. Basically it is a box that consumers attach to their cable box. The meter monitors which channel and what time a program is viewed. The data collected is based on an algorithm and is more accurate than the Nielsen diaries from the good old days.

LPM's helps media buyers by offering greater demographic information that is updated on a more frequent basis. Media buyers like those at the Leffler Agency can be even more efficient and effective in their media buying strategies. New technology is often intimidating and buyers have to adjust the way they negotiate and buy, but this is certainly a more accurate way of placing than using the diary system.

The Benefits of Local People Meters

LPM's provide a more accurate measurement of television audience than the system it replaced. The People Meter has numerous features that address many of the known limitations of the current set meter / paper diary methodology.

- The People Meter sample size is larger by 48% (800 vs. 540 sample households), providing more stable data and significant reductions in sampling error.

- Response rates are 25% higher, providing more accurate and projectable data.

- The demographic composition of the LPM sample is more representative of the marketplace and provides more representative data.

- The People Meter provides an electronic, minute-by-minute record of who is watching what on television without having to rely on the memory of the diary keeper.

Diaries are a thing of the past

- Paper diaries are sometimes filled out in advance, or after programs are viewed, or by a parent for a child who is viewing television.

- The diary overstates the duration of a viewing session since people tend to fill in whole programs, rather than portions watched.

- The People Meter better captures infrequent viewing to cable, pay cable, and smaller broadcast channels compared to the paper diary.

The Differences

The more accurate Local People Meter measurement delivers audience levels that are in some cases different from those collected with the current set meter / diary methodology. As such, Local People Meters show:

- Somewhat lower household tuning levels (a 2-point HUT difference in total day, or 22 fewer minutes per day of tuning in the LPM sample).

- Somewhat higher viewing levels.

- A shift in persons viewing, for all audiences, registering more viewing to a wider and more diverse array of program sources, and, in turn, somewhat lesser viewing to stronger, more traditional programs and program sources.

- "Tuning Without Viewing" can account for approximately 14 of the 22-minute difference seen in household tuning levels. Tuning without viewing occurs when the television set is on and no one is watching. However, we believe that the prompting (flashing lights) of a People Meter sometimes encourages panelists to turn off the television, having been sensitized to the fact that it had been on but with no one watching. In a set meter household, where there is no mechanism to measure persons, there is no prompting and, therefore, no stimulus to turn the set off. For that reason, we believe that audience levels recorded by the set meter will contain more tuning (the set is on) with no one watching than the People Meter. This causes the household ratings to be higher with the meter diary methodology. This will not, however, affect persons ratings, which are, in fact, higher with the People Meter.

By Rachel Crawford, Media Buyer and
Rachel Moses, Account Executive