As Florida continues to clean up following Hurricane Irma, Nielsen has told clients in Miami-Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach it will not release data for week four of September, which is when the storm hit. That decision was made based on Nielsen’s detailed statistical review of panel data in those two markets. In addition to preparing for the storm, power was out in many South Florida markets for quite some time. Nielsen says the average daily in-tab for these markets was substantially below target for week four and therefore the week will be excluded from the September PPM monthly data.
Nielsen also evaluated Atlanta, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa-St. Petersburg. Nielsen will release September week four data, and the September PPM Monthly data will reflect all four weeks in those four markets. Nielsen says even with the impact of Hurricane Irma, the average daily in-tab for the week in each of these markets was reasonably close to the targeted in-tab. Also, the data science examination of the panels concluded that there were no statistically significant effects on representation (age, sex, race/ethnicity, and geography) and therefore customers can use estimates with confidence in these four markets.
Nielsen says it’s in the process of reviewing data for October week one in these PPM markets and will provide an update prior to the originally scheduled delivery date.
