It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from the team at Telos. Once Nielsen released its enhanced CBET technology and started rolling it out to PPM markets late last year, the debate about Voltair pretty much fizzled out. A flurry of new activity on the topic this week promises to reignite the debate. We reached out to Telos CEO Frank Foti to ask him about his press release which claims that Voltair still significantly improves ratings in PPM markets. Here’s what he had to say.
Foti told Radio Ink, “Our goal at Telos is simple: We think radio should get ratings credit for all the listening that actually occurs. We love hearing our clients talk about 10% increases in Voltair toggle tests. To us, a 10% ratings increase is a pretty big deal.” We reached out to Nielsen about the Telos press release but have not yet heard back.
Back when Voltair first hit the market, and before Nielsen released eCBET, the managers we spoke to had a mixed response about Voltair. Some swore that it was increasing ratings while others said it was either insignificant or too hard to tell if the Voltair unit was causing changes. The latest claims are surely going to reignite the debate and may also anger the folks at Nielsen, who do not take kindly to anyone tinkering with radio’s currency. And with the NAB in Vegas only one month away, some might also look at this as a publicity move by Telos hoping to push traffic to their booth.
