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PPMs Track Podcasts, Too, Says Arbitron

Arbitron said that it has successfully demonstrated the portable people meter’s (PPM) ability to track listening to podcasts, according to Billboard Radio Monitor. In a test during the week of July 18, Arbitron encoded several podcasts from Clear Channel’s WHTZ-FM (Z100) in New York that were uploaded to Apple’s iTunes Music Store. The podcasts were then downloaded to an MP3 player and played using headsets with the PPM headset adapter.

 

Podcasting is a very different distribution system for traditional radio, pointed out Pierre Bouvard, president of PPM for Arbitron, so the successful test of the PPM, which tracks media exposure by detecting inaudible codes embedded in programming, should “further build confidence in how well it works with all types of audio programming.”

Arbitron’s second market PPM trial is currently taking place in Houston.