Hispanic Ad Group Probes Arbitron 'Indifference'

AHAA Chairman Jose Lopez-Varela has questioned Arbitron's 'indifference' to the concerns of the Hispanic advertising community with its PPM technology and methods, in a follow-up letter to the radio ratings giant.

Lopez-Varela wrote to Arbitron VP/National Group Services Rich Tunkel and Director/Office of Multicultural Business Affairs Stacie de Armas, saying the firm had not responded to the concerns of AHAA (the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies) expressed in a letter on September 11. In it he suggests to the two execs: 'you and other company representatives have been indifferent and refuse to acknowledge the severity of the consequences that PPM in its current state poses to the Spanish-language radio industry and the U.S. Latino communities.'

Among the concerns, AHAA believes PPM sample sizes are 'inadequate and unrepresentative of the Hispanic population'; the lack of income, ZIP code, and country-of-origin data; inadequate language weighting; and the lack of sampling for country of origin, which he says skews recruitment toward English-dominant Hispanics. More specifically, he has requested a written explanation regarding differences in execution and results in Dallas versus the rest of the country.

In conclusion Lopez-Varela says the Association hopes to deal amicably with Arbitron and says it must 'act responsibly toward providing the most accurate data possible' - 'an investment you can't afford not to make.'

Arbitron's web site is at 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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