Hispanic radio stations criticise ‘harmful' PPM

US-- Leading Spanish-language broadcasters have formed a coalition to voice concerns about the “potentially harmful impact” of Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPM) measurement system for their stations.

Companies including Spanish Broadcasting System, Entravision, Univision and Border Media have formed the Spanish Radio Association. The establishment of the group follows the decision of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies to set up an advisory council on PPM.

In a meeting with Arbitron last week the firms emphasised the importance of properly evaluating the effectiveness of PPM for measuring Hispanic audiences in advance of its full-scale implementation.

Raul Alarcon, chief executive of Spanish Broadcasting Systems, said: “Ensuring that the next generation of audience measurement is accurately developed, tested, accredited, and ultimately accepted by the entire radio industry, is of critical importance. The Hispanic population has been suppressed for too long.

With Hispanic buying power in the US estimated to reach $840bn for 2007, Alarcon said: “We urge Arbitron not to move forward with the rollout of PPM until all ethnic broadcasters are satisfied that the principles of fair market representation are being fulfilled.”

The group said it intends to meet Arbitron regularly to ensure any sample “includes accurate measurement of Hispanic audiences in all markets that will be launching PPM as currency”.

The introduction of PPM is currently on hold until September, as Arbitron seeks to iron out problems with sampling and respondent compliance, in response to complaints from its clients.

The system, which involves respondents carrying a portable device to detect audio broadcasts, has only been launched as currency in Houston and Philadelphia and is running alongside the old diary system in New York.

It has come under fire from broadcasters targeting minority groups, who claim that sampling problems have led to their target audiences being underrepresented.

The Spanish Radio Association raised these issues at last week's meeting, as well as concerns over identifying panellists' country of origin, language weighting, accurate cell-only representation, fair measurement in areas with dense Hispanic populations and sharing of detailed information on samples.

Author: Robert Bain

Related links:

CBS Radio boss warns against further delays to PPM rollout

Hispanic advertisers form council to discuss PPM radio ratings

NABOB calls for congressional probe of PPM system