• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, May 22, 2008

Cox Radio and Inner City Broadcasting are taking Arbitron to task with ads in various radio trade publications, including Inside Radio. The ads publicly ask the radio ratings firm to delay the commercialization of ratings from its Portable People Meter until after the passive electronic measurement system has been accredited by the Media Rating Council in New York or Philadelphia.

PPM is already accredited by the MRC in Houston, but the council refused to grant accreditation in the two Northeastern markets after an audit ending in February.

The ad run by Cox and Inner City notes that "Arbitron has proven they can't even manage two PPM markets. How can we trust them in radio's richest markets?" It also advises readers to call Arbitron and demand that PPM commercialization be delayed until MRC accreditation is granted in New York or Philadelphia.

Arbitron responded to the critical ads by reiterating its commitment to undergo an MRC audit and eventually gain MRC accreditation for PPM in each market served.

However, the company did not indicate that it would change its schedule or wait for MRC accreditation before commercializing the service in other markets. A spokesman for the company said it was sticking to its schedule "so that radio can keep pace with the digital media environment."

PPM, which is supposed to provide long-sought electronic measurement of radio audiences, has already been delayed once. Last fall, Arbitron responded to broadcasters' criticism of PPM sampling and methodology by pushing back the date for commercialization of the service in a number of top markets by three to nine months.

According to the new schedule, commercialization is scheduled for September in New York, two Long Island markets, Chicago, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Francisco and San Jose, and December in Dallas.

The decision to delay the service until fall 2008 does not appear to have placated Bob Neil, the president and CEO of Cox Radio and long a vocal critic of PPM's perceived shortcomings--including in Houston and Philadelphia, where the system is already accredited by MRC.

The Media Rating Council is an official industry body established at the behest of Congress in the 1960s to maintain quality standards in media ratings.