The advisory council, formally announced Monday at a Hispanic radio conference organized by trade pub Radio Ink, includes broadcasters Univision, Entravision, Spanish Broadcasting System and ABC Radio Networks, top Hispanic ad agencies and two Arbitron executives: Stacie de Armas, its director of multicultural business affairs, and Bob Patchen, chief research officer.

It is a separate entity from the existing Arbitron Radio Advisory Council, although the two councils may choose to cooperate, and some broadcasters (principally Univision) have representatives on both.

The news comes after some broadcasters criticized Arbitron for PPM sampling techniques that they claim under-represented certain minority groups, including Hispanics and African-Americans. Broadcasters that target these groups blamed these deficiencies for the apparent declines in audience size, when PPM ratings were first introduced as "currency" for ad sales in Houston and Philadelphia, as well as in New York City during a "pre-commercialization" phase.

The creation of the new advisory council was spearheaded by Isabella Sanchez, the vice president and managing director of Tapestry, a prominent multicultural ad agency, along with Jose Lopez-Varela, the chairman of the AHAA.

Speaking at the Radio Ink conference on the preliminary launch of the PPM, Lopez-Varela recalled that it resulted in enormous declines in Hispanic radio audience size and station rankings." Members of our industry have cited multiple flaws in the methodology, measurement (exposure to radio signal vs. preference), design, and implementation, which all will be addressed by the AHAA Council on PPM."

Sanchez agreed, warning that "without reform, PPM implementation could have serious consequences for the Hispanic advertising and media industry. The council will be a forum to unite our issues, identify problem areas, and try to create a resolution that will benefit everyone."

Prompted by complaints from major radio broadcasters, last fall Arbitron said it would delay the commercialization of PPM ratings in a number of top U.S. markets by three to nine months. Since then, the company has launched a number of initiatives to improve the integrity of PPM samples, including offering higher incentives to panel members, culling non-participating panel members and recruiting new panel members.