Stellar Training Guide

Transcription

1 Stellar Training Guide v updated Winter 2008

2 Stellar Training Guide Table of Contents Getting to Know Stellar 1-5 Accessing Stellar 1-2 Stellar Home Page 3 Stellar Dayparts 4-5 Creating Stellar Reports 6-16 Step 1: Main 7 Step 2: Demographics 8 Step 3: Characteristics 9 Step 4: Geographies Step 5: Cable Groups 12 Step 6: Dayparts 13 Step 7: Stations 14 Step 8: Time Period Label 15 Step 9: Summary 16 Working with Reports Groups Custom Geographies 20 Qualitative Groups ZIP Code Groups 23 Custom Cable Groups 24 Favorite Demographics 25 Favorite Stations 26 Preferences 27 Using Stellar Online Help Sum of Weights 30

3 Getting to Know Stellar Stellar is sophisticated web-based software that can help with your sales and research efforts. Reports created in Stellar give you a deeper insight into your ratings book through the generation of customized breakouts by county, ZIP code, cable headend and interconnect. Stellar gives you the ability to both quantify and qualify reports allowing you to target areas for your selling needs. Stellar is customizable, allowing you to create and save your own: Dayparts, Geographic Areas, Cable Provider Groups, Favorite Demographics, and Favorite Stations. What makes Stellar such a great product? Since Stellar is web-based, no data needs to be stored on your computer. All data resides on the Nielsen server, and is accessed via the Stellar reports. It is easy to create reports in Stellar. Simply follow the nine-step timeline, filling in your report requirements step-by-step, until you are ready to run your report. Groups and reports that you create in Stellar are available to all users at your site and can be saved for future use. How do I get access to Stellar? You must obtain your password via the Nielsen Answers portal. First time users: 1.) Visit the web address: 2.) Click the Have your new password sent to you by link Page 1 Helpline

4 3.) Enter your your address and click the password link to receive your password via sent by The Nielsen Company. 4.) Log in at with the temporary password you received via to change it to your desired password. 5.) When prompted, change your password 6.) To access Stellar, once you have changed your password, visit and use your address and password. You ll see Stellar listed under the Local Products section on the left. Page 2 Helpline

5 Stellar Home Page Stellar Home provides a quick snapshot of data availability. The tabs above the gray bar allow you to access all of Stellar s functions. From left to right they are: Home, Reports, Groups and Preferences. The Stellar Home screen has four main sections: Welcome shows the number of available and submitted dayparts, as well as when new data is available. Market and Sampling Service displays the current market and Nielsen service being accessed. Market Information displays important messages regarding the available data for the market i.e. call letter and affiliation changes. Data Exclusions displays exclusions applied to the sampled market i.e. storms, meter interruptions, etc. Page 3 Helpline

6 Stellar Dayparts Custom Dayparts in the Groups tab, provides a list of all available dayparts. The information in Stellar is all time period based. Therefore, you must first create dayparts for the data you wish to see. Typically, one Stellar user manages the dayparts to avoid the creation of duplicate dayparts by other users at your site. Optionally, to assist in sorting dayparts, use the Description field to number the dayparts. This will allow you to sort the daypart list by the Description header and the dayparts will be listed in the numeric order entered in the Description field. The Name field prints on the report but the Description does not. Once a daypart is saved, it is available for use in your Stellar reports. Page 4 Helpline

7 Building Dayparts To build a daypart, click the New button at the bottom of the Dayparts screen pictured on the previous page. The Daypart Builder window opens. The Name field is a required field and appears in the finished report. A shorter name is more likely to be completely displayed in the finished report. The description is optional and will not appear in the report. You can customize dayparts in Stellar based on weeks, days, and start/end times simply by clicking a box and making selections from the drop-down lists. Using the check boxes to indicate your desired daypart, select those which apply. For example, All sweep weeks, M-F and the 7A Start Time, 9A End Time. If you are happy with the automatic daypart name that appears, click the Use This Name button under the Name/Description fields to use it. Otherwise, name your daypart in the Name field. You can create dayparts based on multiple start/end times by clicking the Add button to insert new rows. All lines get grouped into a single custom daypart. Delete rows you don t need by clicking the Delete checkbox and pressing the Delete button. When you have completed your selections, click the Save button and your daypart will now be available for use in a Stellar report. Page 5 Helpline

8 Creating Stellar Reports The Reports tab is where you create reports and will do most of your work in Stellar. Click on the Reports tab to access and generate your reports, as well as edit and re-run previous reports. Click the New button at the bottom of the Reports tab to begin creating a new report. You can modify existing reports by selecting the report you want to use then clicking the Open button. Use the Directory, Book and Report Format drop-downs to filter the displayed reports based on selected criteria. For example, you can view all the reports in the Training directory by selecting Training from the Directory drop-down. You can also create, delete or rename directories (folders) by using the buttons in the Maintain Directories box on this page. To copy a report to a different directory, select the report being copied and click the Copy button. Next, select the duplicate report that is created, click the Move button and select the directory in which to save the report. If you move to a different tab while creating a report, you can get back to the report in progress by navigating to the Reports tab and/or clicking the report s name in the gray bar. Page 6 Helpline

9 Step 1: Main Stellar reports have nine sections. To navigate through the steps, use the Next> and <Back buttons, or simply click the step number in the timeline at the top. If you have made selections in a section, it will be highlighted in blue. Select Report Options: Name: is a required field and appears on the finished report. Directory: is the folder where you wish to save the report. Description: is optional and will not appear in the report. Report Format: allows you to choose from Audience Summary and Book Trend. If you choose a Book Trend format, you will be able to compare two books. Layout: determines how to display the data as columns and rows in the report. Books: allows you to select the books for your report. You can choose to average the selected books or report them separately. Select measures: allows you to select which measures and what type of precision you want in your report. You can choose to include or exclude as columns in your report: Rating Reports Rating up to Two Decimals Share Reports Share up to Two Decimals HUT/PUT Reports HUT/PUT up to Two Decimals Impressions Reports Impressions as Units, Tens, Hundreds or Thousands Index Checking the box will include an index %DMA Reports what percentage the geography represents of the total DMA Report DMA Reports the total DMA as a geography on your report Page 7 Helpline

10 Step 2: Demographics Demographics for the report are selected on this page. Click the drop-down box to see a list of available demographic types. Favorite demographics are listed first, like the Favorite Demos in the example below. Next, the default Nielsen demographic types are listed, starting with Households. Highlight the desired demographics from the left and click the Add>> button to add them to the right. Items in the Selected box can be re-arranged using the boxed arrows to the right of the box. The arrows with a line move the selected item to the top or bottom of the list. The arrows without a line move the selected item up or down one position in the list. Use a number in the timeline or the Next> button to continue building your report. Page 8 Helpline

11 Step 3: Characteristics Characteristics for the report are selected on this page. You have four choices to select from: TV Households Over-the-air, Hardwired Cable and ADS/Satellite Cable Households Hardwired Cable Households ONLY Non-Cable Households Non-Hardwired Cable Households, over-the-air and ADS/Satellite Cable with Pay TV Households Hardwired Cable Households who also subscribe to pay cable channels Highlight the desired characteristic from the left and click the Add>> button to add it to the right. Use a number in the timeline or the Next> button to continue building your report. Page 9 Helpline

12 Step 4: Geographies Geographies for the report are selected on this page. Create a new custom geography or open an existing group using the New and Open buttons at the bottom left of the Geographies screen. Choose between two types of Geographies: Custom User-created geographies include ZIP code-based groups, county groups, county and ZIP code-based groups, and various qualitative criteria groups, see page 18 for details on creating custom geographies. Standard Individual counties in your NSI area. Counties can also be viewed and/or selected using the Map by clicking on the View/Select From Map button above the Custom and Standard tabs. Page 10 Helpline

13 After clicking on the View/Select From Map button, counties can be viewed and/or selected using the Map. Click on the desired county and it will be highlighted in dark green to be included in your report. Use the Zoom In (+) and/or Zoom Out (-) magnifying glass icons to adjust the map s view. The checkbox labeled Interstate Labels allows you to toggle the blue US Interstate Highways on or off. In the example below, Los Angeles county is selected in the Los Angeles DMA. Click OK to include the dark green county selections in your report. Highlight the desired geography from the left and click the Add>> button to add it to the right. Use a number in the timeline or the Next> button to continue building your report. Page 11 Helpline

14 Step 5: Cable Groups Cable Groups for the report are selected on this page. This is an optional selection. Create a new custom cable group or open an existing group using the New and Open buttons at the bottom left of the Cable Groups screen. Choose between two types of Cable Groups: Custom User-created group of headends and/or virtual interconnects Standard Individual headends and interconnects in your NSI area. Use the IC Makeup button to view the composition of an existing interconnect, i.e.- the individual headends that together make up the interconnect. Highlight the desired cable group from the left and click the Add>> button to add it to the right. Use a number in the timeline or the Next> button to continue building your report. Page 12 Helpline

15 Step 6: Dayparts Dayparts for the report are selected on this page. As stated previously, the information in Stellar is all time period based. Therefore, you must first create the dayparts for the data you wish to see. Once a daypart is saved, it will be available to use in your Stellar reports. Click the New button to create dayparts or see pages 4-5 for information on building dayparts. Highlight the desired available daypart from the left and click the Add>> button to add it to the right. Use a number in the timeline or the Next> button to continue building your report. Page 13 Helpline

16 Step 7: Stations Both broadcast stations and cable networks for the report are selected on this page. Click the Select Stations Type drop-down to see a list of available viewing sources. All Favorite Stations are listed first, like Favorite Cable Nets in the example below, followed by a selection showing All Stations. Highlight the desired available viewing sources from the left and click the Add>> button to add it to the right. Use a number in the timeline or the Next> button to continue building your report. Page 14 Helpline

17 Step 8: Time Period Label Labels for each Station/Daypart in the report are entered on this page. This is an optional selection. Click the plus sign next to the station to display the label fields for each associated daypart. Type labels for each Station/Daypart, if needed. Program names entered are report-specific and will not automatically be added to future reports. Stellar data is Time Period-based. The text label entered will appear on the report, but it does not necessarily indicate the program that actually aired. Use a number in the timeline or the Next> button to continue building your report. Page 15 Helpline

18 Step 9: Summary An overview of all selections made in the report is displayed on this page. If changes need to be made after reviewing this Summary page, and prior to running the report, click the underlined links to be directed back to the step where that option can be changed. Remember the report will open a new window. Hold down Ctrl key or disable pop-blocker when clicking a Run button. When satisfied with all your selections, choose from six buttons: Save/Run Saves your report and then runs it Run Runs your report but will not save it Save Saves your report but will not run it Cancel Cancels the entire report and will not save any changes made to a previously saved report Print Opens a print-friendly window from which you can print your report summary. Back Navigates to the Time Period Label screen for you to enter time period labels Page 16 Helpline

19 Working with Stellar Reports A report with multiple pages may be navigated by using the gray arrows above the gray bar. The arrow with the line displays the first/last page in the report. The single arrow displays the previous/next page in the report. The finished report can be exported to Excel or as a PDF file. Select the desired format from the Export To: drop-down box in the gray bar and click the Export button. If you see an asterisk * on your report, it indicates the reporting group fell below the minimum in-tab of 45 for Households and 16 for Persons demographics and may not be as statistically valid. If you see symbol, it indicates exclusions are applied to the report. Rows can be hidden or shown by holding the right mouse button and selecting Hide Row or Show All Rows on the specific row. The report can be printed by clicking Print Preview. To best customize your printouts, you can alter page breaks and margin settings using Excel. PDF files are formatted by page, making them easy to print. Page 17 Helpline

20 Rank and Graph/Map Buttons Clicking the Rank button on a report will display a ranking selection screen like the one below. Choose to rank the entire report or only the current page. You can rank by any statistic and column in your report. The example below will rank the entire report by Rating for the DMA. Ranking will re-process the report with the new sorting qualifications and display the results on screen. A limited amount of data can be graphed and exported to a picture file by pressing the Graph/Map button and making your selections. Graphing will display the report data according to the selections made on this screen. The resulting graph is exportable to Excel as a picture file, or to PDF format. There are several graph options available with various layouts, color palettes and graphing types to choose from. There is also a Hot-to-Cold map, which shades the geographies darkest to lightest in color based on the highest to lowest statistic. Page 18 Helpline

21 Groups Groups allow you customize Stellar to make creating reports easier. Unlike the daypart creation process, Custom Groups do not need to be submitted. Once they are saved, they are immediately available for use. This screen displays a list of Custom Geographies, as indicated by the yellow text, Custom Geographies just below the navigation tabs. The Groups tab allows you to manage your custom groups. You can create, edit, copy or delete any custom group. To build a custom group, click the appropriate link in the gray bar and then click the New button. In all Group Builder screens, the Name field is a required field and appears in the finished report. A shorter name is more likely to be completely displayed in the finished report. The description is optional and will not appear on the report. Clicking the text link in the gray bar will display the screen to customize. There are five types of Groups you can customize and they are explained in the next few pages: Custom Geographies Custom Dayparts (explained on pages 4-5) Custom Cable Groups Favorite Demographics Favorite Stations Page 19 Helpline

22 Custom Geographies Stellar allows you to create custom geographies that include your own set of counties, ZIP codes, and even qualitative based on DMA-wide or ZIP code data. These Geographies can be used as columns in a Stellar report. The Name field is a required field and appears in the finished report. A shorter name is more likely to be completely displayed in the finished report. The description is optional and will not appear in the report. To create a County group, highlight the county by clicking on its name in the list, and click on the Add>> button. To create a ZIP Code group, put a check in the box to the left of the county and click the gray ZIPS button. A list of the available ZIPs will populate the lower left-hand box, where you can select the ZIPs for your group and click the Add>> or Add All ZIPS>> button. Click the Select From Map button, to select counties and/or ZIP codes from the map. Use the Zoom In (+) and/or Zoom Out (-) magnifying glass icons to adjust the map s view. The checkbox labeled Interstate Labels allows you to toggle the blue US Interstate Highways on or off. In the example below, the ZIP code in dark green is selected from the Los Angeles DMA. Page 20 Helpline

23 Qualitative Geographies To access the Qualitative options in Stellar, click the Qualitative (optional) link to expand the Custom Geography Builder window to show or hide the Qualitiative options. You can choose between DMA-Wide or ZIP code based groups: Page 21 Helpline

24 DMA-Wide allows you to select from pre-defined values within three separate categories on the left: Income, Education and Profession. When selecting one of the options, Top Income, for example, Stellar lists the ZIP codes matching the qualitative criteria chosen so they can be saved as a group. Top Income was selected, then the Apply button was clicked. To save a group like this example, give it a name and then click Save. The Name field is a required field and appears in the finished report. A shorter name is more likely to be completely displayed in the finished report. The description is optional and will not appear in the report. Page 22 Helpline

25 ZIP Code Group This Qualitative option allows you to enter your own limiting values within five categories: Household Income, % College Graduate, % Professional, % Owner Occupied Household, and % 2+ Cars. In the example $50,000 is used to filter the ZIPs in the DMA. Stellar returns a list of counties containing ZIP codes that match the qualitative criteria so they can be selected and saved to a custom group. The Name field is a required field and appears in the finished report. A shorter name is more likely to be completely displayed in the finished report. The description is optional and will not appear in the report. Page 23 Helpline

26 Custom Cable Groups You can create custom cable groups by selecting multiple Cable Headends, essentially making your own Virtual Interconnect. The Name field is a required field and appears in the finished report. A shorter name is more likely to be completely displayed in the finished report. The description is optional and will not appear in the report. To create a custom Cable Group, highlight the Headend by clicking on its name in the list, and click on the Add>> button. Name the group and click the Save button. Page 24 Helpline

27 Favorite Demographics To create a list of Favorite Demographics, first click the Select Demographic Type drop-down to view the available choices and then make a selection. This will allow you to quickly access frequently used demographics while building reports. Highlight the desired demographic by clicking its name and then click the Add>> button. Name the group and click the Save button. The Name field is a required field and appears in the drop-down demographic selection menu. A shorter name is more likely to be completely displayed in the menu. The description is optional and will not appear in the menu. Page 25 Helpline

28 Favorite Stations To create a list of Favorite Stations, select from the available choices on the left. Highlight the desired viewing source by clicking its name and then click the Add>> button. Name the group and click the Save button. This will allow you to quickly access frequently used viewing sources while building reports. The Name field is a required field and appears in the drop-down stations selection menu. A shorter name is more likely to be completely displayed in the menu. The description is optional and will not appear in the menu. Page 26 Helpline

29 Stellar Preferences You have the option of being notified by when data for your market(s) becomes available. Page 27 Helpline

30 Using the Stellar Online Help You can find information in the online Help in one of three ways: The Contents displays topics by subject. The Index arranges topics alphabetically by assigned keyword. The Search allows you to search the Help system for occurrences of a specific word or words. Tip: For easy access to the Help as you work, leave the Help window open and minimized on your Windows taskbar. You can also print Help topics for easy reference. To use the Contents: 1. Click the Contents tab. 2. Click the book name to display the topics associated with that heading. 3. Click a topic name to open a topic. The information displays in the right pane. 4. To use the Index: 1. Click the Index tab. 2. Type the keyword(s) and press Enter. -or- Scroll until you find the desired topic. 3. Click the topic to display the information in the right pane. Page 28 Helpline

31 To Search the Help: 1. Click the Search tab. 2. Type the keyword(s) you want to locate in the Help. Note: The online Help search is limited to the correct spelling of words. Tip: You can also use search expressions with your keywords. Refer to the table below for commonly used search expressions. To search for... Use the search expression: Example Topics containing both search terms AND printing AND saving Topics containing the first search term, but not the second one NOT vip NOT evip Any character after a complete or partial keyword * Searching for the term "sav*", for example would return "save", "saves", "saving", and "saved". Tip: It is usually best to avoid using the asterisk as the first character in a search keyword. Also, using a single asterisk as a keyword will retrieve every topic in the Help system. 3. Press Enter. A list of topics containing the keyword(s) displays. 4. Click one of the topic names to display the information in the right pane. To print a Help topic: Click the Print button located in the upper right corner of the help window. To close the navigation pane: In the navigation pane, click the close pane icon. To open the navigation pane: In the navigation pane, click Contents, Index, or Search. Page 29 Helpline

32 Sum of Weights Stellar calculates universe estimates using the sum of the household weights of the selected sub-sample. Sums of Weights produced by Stellar could be different than the published ViP U.E. when looking at samples/characteristics that are not controlled for at the DMA level. Example: County Group A has three counties of equal sizes, a universe estimate of 600 households, and had 6HH intabs during a particular sweep County 1 County 2 County 3 Universe Est HH intabs Sum of HH weight The County Group SOWs is equal to 600, which is the county group s U.E. However, the individual county level sum of weights vary from the county U.E. because weighting occurs at the County Group level and not at the individual county level (there are individual counties that comprise an entire County Group). Thus a Stellar report looking at HH ratings for counties 1 and 2 combined, would have a HH Sum Of Weight of 380 even if the two counties U.E adds to 400 in the ViP. For sub-samples in which we do weight upon at the DMA level (i.e. cable, age of head), the sums of weights generated in Stellar should be within 1% of the universe estimate. Page 30 Helpline