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TVMLC Music Use Survey

Purpose and History

  • The purpose of TVMLC’s music use survey is to determine the total amount of music performed on “non-network” local television in a given year and to determine the amount of music controlled by each performing rights organization (PRO).

  • The surveys exclude programming for which performance rights licenses are separately secured by the ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, and UniMás networks.

  • Historically, the surveys have measured the amount of music controlled by ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. The surveys now also include data from GMR.

  • Conducted in most years, these surveys help track changes in music use and market shares of each PRO over time.

  • The first survey was conducted in 2005.

Approach for Measuring Music Use

  • TVMLC measures music use using “Public Performances” (PuPs), defined as one minute of music broadcast to a single viewer.

  • PuPs are calculated as total minutes of music broadcast multiplied by the number of viewers (music minutes weighted by audience size).

  • For example:

    • A program with 10 minutes of music and 1 viewer = 10 PuPs.

    • A program with 1 minute of music and 10 viewers = 10 PuPs.

  • Nielsen’s P2+ viewership data is used to determine the audience size (total people, not households).

  • The same technique is used to measure PuPs attributable to each PRO, counting only music they control.

Music Use Survey Process

  • The process combines:

    • Cue sheet and program schedule data to determine music use.

    • Nielsen audience data to calculate PuPs.

  • Since daily data for every station isn’t practical, a sample approach is used:

    • Approximately 200 stations are randomly selected.

    • Two weeks are randomly chosen for each station.

    • Four days of data are collected per week (both weekend days and two weekdays).

    • This results in data for around 1,600 station-days.

  • Cue sheet data is sourced from MRI, stations, ASCAP, and any PROs who provide data.

  • When cue sheets are unavailable, proxy data is used:

    • Other episodes of the same program.

    • Local news on the same station.

    • Programs in the same genre.

  • Cue sheet and proxy data are combined with Nielsen ratings to calculate PuPs.

  • Standard statistical techniques estimate total PuPs and PRO-specific PuPs for all stations, along with margins of precision.