Ground PPM until it's safe to fly, Cox tells Arbitron

US-- Broadcasters Cox Radio and Inner City have made their strongest attack yet on Arbitron's portable people meter (PPM) ratings system, with an online ad urging Arbitron's customers to demand that it halt the rollout of the system until it is fully accredited.

The radio station owners took out ads on RBR.com (Radio Business Report) and other industry sites, under the headline ‘Would you fly on an airplane that wasn't FAA certified?'

The firms say Arbitron should have postponed the PPM rollout when it failed to get accreditation from the Media Rating Council (MRC) in New York and Philadelphia. Their ad says: “Just as the FAA recently grounded out-of-compliance aircraft, this should have grounded the PPM rollout, until the new system ‘passes inspection'.”

Cox's CEO Bob Neil has been one of the most vocal critics of PPM, saying last autumn that Arbitron needed to prove its system worked before progressing further and warning the firm to “get the hot lead ready if they don't get this stuff right”.

So far Arbitron has only secured MRC accreditation in Houston, where an earlier version of the system is in use. The firm already postponed the switchover to PPM in nine other markets because of client concerns, but plans to return to its schedule in September.

The ad says: “We believe the new system needs that ‘Seal of Approval' in at least one market with that new system before the PPM rollout continues. From leaving out stations in Houston, to continued poor sampling in Philadelphia, Arbitron has proven they can't even manage two PPM markets. How can we trust them in radio's richest markets?”

It includes a telephone number for Arbitron's CEO Steve Morris, and asks PPM customers to tell him personally that they don't want their jobs put at risk while waiting for the system to be accredited.

Arbitron spokesman Thom Mocarsky said that the firm is committed to completing an MRC audit and review in every market before commercialisation, and “ultimately” to obtaining full accreditation. “These are the minimum standards put forth in the MRC's own Draft Voluntary Code of Conduct,” he said.

Author: Robert Bain

Related links:

MRC rejects PPM in New York, Philadelphia

Cox demands action not words from Arbitron

Broadcasters pile pressure on Arbitron

Arbitron weathers storm of PPM discontent