CONTACT: Allen Kepler
President
Broadcast Architecture®
15260 Ventura Blvd., Suite 200
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 / USA
AllenKepler@BroadcastArchitecture.com
+1.818.461-8016

Broadcast Architecture® ”GOES-GREEN”:
unveils PERSONAL MIX-MASTER™ (PMM)
B.A. MARKS earth-day With Debut of Eco-friendly research

Broadcast Architecture®, one of the world’s leading research and consulting firms, rolls out its new online music test, the Personal Mix-Master™ (PMM).  B.A., the company that first revolutionized radio research with its innovative electronic dial technology 20 years ago, now brings its unparalleled reputation for quality, experience, and expertise to the world of online research. 

According to Allen Kepler, president of Broadcast Architecture®, “We have been working towards more eco-conscious operations for some time now, and the need to ‘go-green’ has never been greater.  In 2007, B.A.’s road warriors accumulated over 1.5 million miles in airline travel and the sum of all respondents driving to all of our Mix-Master™ music tests annually is estimated at 150,000 miles.  Furthermore, the US high-speed online penetration is reaching a point where it is becoming more feasible to reach a ‘normal’ respondent to participate in an online study rather than someone who is willing to reserve an evening, drive to a hotel and sit in a ballroom listening to hooks fed one after the other for two to three hours.  This does not eliminate the need for auditorium testing, however this is a new direction that we are aggressively targeting.”

"As we enter the new world of audience measurement with Arbitron's PPM, which measures audience listening in a more true world experience, PMM is our way of bringing product research into a more 'real world' experience where respondents can offer opinions in a more personal way and more in line with the environment that they actually consume music and radio."

“Online research is not new.  What is new is allowing only screened participants into the study and knowing who these respondents are before the first mouse click,” says Kepler.  “Methods to ensure quality and accuracy are the hallmark of PMM™ and B.A. research.  There are no email-bursts to station databases and no online invites to participate in a PMM™.”  Thus, there are no short cuts, and online testing results can now match sample specs and quotas that radio programmers receive in a traditional AMT (Auditorium Music Test).  After a rigorous year of beta-testing the online system, B.A. has found that in addition to saving on carbon emissions B.A.’s new Personal Mix-Master™ (PMM) has many advantages:

1. Unlike other forms of online research currently utilized in our industry, PMM™ recruits respondents using conventionally accepted market research practices, resulting in unbiased and more accurate samples.  Respondents are screened and re-screened. 
2. With PMM™, studies are able to attract a wider array of respondents who might previously have opted not to attend a traditional hotel or research facility-based auditorium music test. 
3. For respondents, this is like TV, on-demand…the survey can be completed at their convenience, not in a set two to three-hour period dictated by a survey time. 
4. Respondents are therefore less fatigued and can take the survey in an environment in which they are accustomed to using radio.
5. Song hooks can be played in a random order per respondent, eliminating position bias.
6. Instead of repeatedly bombarding respondents with a short hook every 6 seconds, the PMM™ respondents drive the study at their own personal pace, determining how long they need to hear a song before offering an opinion and even listening again if necessary.

“Besides the environmental advantage, there is also a tremendous cost savings as compared to regular auditorium events,” explains Kepler.  “Event expenses from all current existing methods, such as room rental, catering, parking – all drive the costs higher.  That certainly doesn’t benefit our clients.  Our goals for PMM™ were to create an accurate, environmentally conscious, cost-effective alternative to traditional research methods.  PMM™ delivers.”  

In this, the 20th anniversary of Broadcast Architecture®, B.A. is proud to unveil their latest innovation in research while continuing to provide the Mix-MasterTM A.M.T. and a full line of strategic research tools.  More details of PMM™ are available at www.BroadcastArchitecture.com or by contacting Allen Kepler at 818.461.8016.

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