New Jersey Adds to Arbitron Headache

Following last week's news that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating the accuracy of Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPM) methodology, New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram has followed suit and issued Arbitron with a subpoena seeking info about its PPM.

Milgram's office wants more information on allegations that the new PPM is flawed, unreliable and undercounts the listening habits of minorities.

The announcement from the New Jersey AG's office stated: 'When sampled in the Philadelphia-New Jersey and New York-New Jersey markets, the PPM methodology was denied accreditation by the Media Rating Council (MRC). In addition, in markets where the PPM system has been sampled, ratings for minority stations have declined.'

The office specifically wants documents on the PPM sampling in Houston (which has been MRC accredited), New York, Philadelphia and New Jersey, as well as correspondence between Arbitron and advertisers or radio broadcasters regarding PPM implementation.

This move follows pressure from the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) and a group of minority radio broadcasters, which petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct an enquiry into the PPM system, which they believe under-represents African-Americans and Hispanics in the US.

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) praised Milgram for her decision, saying: 'Radio stations are important parts of every community, and systematically inaccurate listenership numbers for any particular community affects the type of news and information that people should be able to rely on.'

Menendez also praised the New York City Council for raising questions about the PPM.

Arbitron responded by saying it is 'justly proud' of the quality and reliability of its PPM radio ratings services, which it described as 'valid, fair and representative of the diversity of the radio markets measured'.

Web site: www.arbitron.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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