MRC Claims 'Persistent Problems' With PPM; Arb Disagrees

Ongoing Issues With Minority Groups

THE MEDIA RATINGS COUNCIL has found what it's reporting as "persistent problems" with ARBITRON's PORTABLE PEOPLE METER, House Oversight Committee Chairman EDOLPHUS TOWNS (D-N.Y) said YESTERDAY (9/22). The PPM device has been investigated by several state AGs and is currently under review by The FCC.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL reports "TOWNS launched his own investigation into ARBITRON earlier this year after receiving complaints from minority broadcasters about the accuracy of the data. Eventually he was forced to subpoena documents about the PEOPLE METER from THE MEDIA RATING COUNCIL, a congressionally created, independent accreditation group."

THE MEDIA RATING COUNCIL's members include broadcasters, media firms and Internet companies, and doesn't generally release details about its findings.

"According to the House Oversight Committee," writes THE JOURNAL, "the rating council said ARBITRON consistently undercounts minority populations across the country. In NEW YORK CITY, for example, ARBITRON undercounted Hispanic and African American populations by several percentage points, it said."

The report claimes ARBITRON's sample sizes were "unacceptably low" to accurately measure minority audiences' listening habits.

The MRC has approved of PPM usage in HOUSTON and RIVERSIDE-SAN BERNADINO so far.

Arbitron Responds

ARBITRON issued the following in response TODAY, writing, "Over the last four months, ARBITRON has been actively engaged with Chairman TOWNS and the Oversight Committee Staff. ARBITRON has been open and forthcoming, supplying detailed information, answering questions and providing proactive recommendations to address the challenges faced by minority broadcasters. We were aware of the Committee’s contact to the MEDIA RATING COUNCIL and we are extremely surprised and disappointed at the analysis and erroneous conclusions reached by the Oversight Committee Staff and communicated in their press statement.

"We respect and support Chairman TOWNS’ commitment to the health of minority broadcasters and believe that our collaboration with his staff, the MRC, as well as a number of initiatives that we have underway, will help address that challenge.

"We look forward to a fact-based dialogue as we clarify some of the erroneous conclusions reached in this current analysis, and will continue to work to resolve these issues."

PPM Coalition Weighs In

The PPM Coalition issued a statement of their own, saying "TUESDAY’s statement from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on its findings from subpoenaed records from the MEDIA RATINGS COUNCIL, demonstrates the seriousness of the PPM system’s flaws.

"As the Committee indicated in its statement, a review of MRC data shows that the PPM system suffers from "persistent problems" in minority sampling; the system has "unacceptably low" audience participation in the sample; and ARBITRON has made "insufficient efforts to use bi-lingual interviews to recruit Spanish dominant Hispanic sample participants."

"These findings echo concerns raised by the PPM COALITION for more than a year in our efforts to encourage ARBITRON to address these serious systemic flaws. It is our hope that TODAY’s Committee statement will serve as a wake-up call to ARBITRON. They can no longer afford to ignore these problems -- they have a responsibility to their customers, the industry, and above all the radio listening public to address these serious issues."

NABOB Also Voices Their Opinion

NABOB wrote, "YESTERDAY’s statement from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on its findings from subpoenaed records from the MEDIA RATINGS COUNCIL, demonstrates the seriousness of the PERSONAL PEOPLE METER system’s flaws. As the Committee indicated in its tatement, a review of MRC data shows that the PPM system suffers from 'persistent problems' in minority sampling; the system has 'unacceptably low' audience participation in the sample; and ARBITRON has made 'insufficient efforts to use bi-lingual interviews to recruit Spanish dominant Hispanic sample participants.' We applaud Chairman EDOLPHUS TOWNS for undertaking this investigation.

The Committee’s findings echo concerns raised by the PPM Coalition for the more than a year in our efforts to encourage ARBITRON to address these serious systemic flaws. It is our hope that today’s Committee statement will serve as a wake-up call to ARBITRON. They can no longer afford to ignore these problems -- they have a responsibility to their customers, the industry, and above all the radio listening public to address these serious issues. "

« see more Net News