• by Paul Gough , February 29, 2004

Arbitron Friday said Cox Radio's refusal to participate in the next portable people meter test won't deter the ratings company from deciding whether it will go ahead with the trial in Houston.

In a conference call last week with Wall Street analysts, Cox Radio Chief Executive Officer Robert F. Neil reiterated his criticism of the PPM technology. He said Cox Radio, which owns four stations in the Houston market, has declined to participate in the new trial if it's held in Houston. Cox had given the matter a lot of thought. Neil said.

"It really came down to an ethical question for me, because I don't believe in it. So why would I want to participate in a test that I don't believe in, just so I could get my data to prove that I don't believe in it?" Neil said. "So for me, it was an ethical decision; I just didn't feel comfortable with it. I didn't feel--given what I think about the PPM--that I should be participating in a test, so that's the decision that we made."

Arbitron said Friday that plans were proceeding toward a decision on when and where to hold a second trial of the PPM.

"In and of itself, the decision by Cox won't stop us from going forward in Houston," said Arbitron spokesman Thom Mocarsky.

Arbitron has already done a trial of the Portable People Meter in the Philadelphia region. But some--including those in the Spanish-language radio industry--have said they wanted to see another trial that would be located in a market with a significant Hispanic population.

No decision has been made on whether to do the trial in Houston. Arbitron hopes to begin reporting data in 2005 if all goes well.

Mocarsky said Cox's decision wouldn't kill the PPM trial.

"We need sufficient support, but we don't need unanimous support," he said. "That's going to be a judgment call. We don't have to make that judgment call yet."