NuVoodoo Quicktake – Nielsen Wearables To Replace Up to 75% of Pager-like Meters by End of 2022.

Nielsen Audio rolled out its new wearables as meter replacements, which it plans to begin phasing into the ratings starting here in April 2022 in many PPM markets.  New “wearables” homes are expected to be recruited to replace up to 75% of existing panelists carrying legacy PPM technology this year. On a client webinar held on Thursday, March 31,  the company shared the results of the pre-market testing of three new wearable devices.

This is a NuVoodoo Quick take.  We’ve assembled NuVoodoo’s team of research experts and marketing gurus to give us their feedback and opinion about the testing that took place in advance of Nielsen bringing these new wearable gadgets to market.

Nielsen appears to be the primary benefactor of this change since it seems to make achieving the same daily in-tab quota more efficient (and less expensive). Other than replacing lost panelists due to pandemic-related equipment and parts shortages, which have led to a reduction in total metered households, Nielsen’s rollout of wearables is apparently not designed to INCREASE sample sizes beyond that. And given the speed with which they are about to go, we believe 2022 carries more risk for radio than their data suggests. Why so fast if there’s no cost or quality benefit to subscribers?

Comment below, and let us know what you think about this gig change.