The hubbub over the suggestion that Voltair's audio technology can enhance PPM ratings by more effectively sniffing broadcast signals appears to be snuffed.

In Washington, DC, at the NAB convention, Voltair and competitor Nielsen squared off in a packed convention room that was supposed to be a shoot-out at the OK Corral. Depending on who one spoke with after the intended showdown, there was no smoking gun, although it was clear that Nielsen has done some fancy re-jigging of its own technology to ward off that nagging suggestion that Voltair's high-ticket technology solution can in fact sway numbers and, necessarily, boost ratings that ad agencies can buy.

We will be looking to Nielsen's Canadian partner, Numeris, to report in as to when the enhanced personal people metres will be available.

A detailed report on the technologies is reported in in Radio Ink this week. In part, the magazine states:

"... In a nutshell, if under the original Nielsen watermark technology a signal tone was detected in one minute by the PPM, with the enhanced technology that tone will now be detected 2.5 times in that same minute. However, it's important to note that you only need one tone to be detected in order to get credit for a quarter hour. So why bother, you may ask. The answer could be that the listening environment of today is much different than when the original technology came out. Nielsen says the enhancements will result in better 'code detection in acoustically challenged environments'."    

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