• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, February 9, 2006

Two Philadelphia ad agencies announced Wednesday that they would join a growing list of ad agencies and media buyers that have signed up for radio ratings from Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPM), once regular service begins.

The announcement from Mayo Seitz Media and the Star Group comes just a few days after Arbitron announced it had completed a test run of the PPM in Houston and submitted the results to the Media Rating Council (MRC) for validation, and was trumpeted by Arbitron as evidence of growing support for the project in the industry. It also comes on the heels of an announcement from Harmelin Media in Philadelphia that it had completed its own study of the PPM, was satisfied with the results, and would adopt PPM ratings when they are available.

None of the agreements include a schedule for rollout of PPM service, nor has Arbitron specified markets where it will deploy the PPM.

Furthermore, some significant hurdles remain before the PPM can be adopted as an industry-wide standard. Chief among these, radio network giant Clear Channel has issued an RFP for electronic measurement devices and is considering a number of schemes, including the PPM.

Nonetheless, going into the process, Arbitron's PPM is much further along in the testing and implementation process than potential rivals.