• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, November 17, 2006

Arbitron, which once again has been denied accreditation of its new portable people meter service by the Media Rating Council, Thursday announced plans to roll the controversial new radio audience measurement service out in major radio markets beginning in January. The move also coincides with what is expected to be a radical restructuring of the radio industry following Thursday's acquisition of Clear Channel Communications, the nation's largest radio broadcaster and Arbitron's biggest client. Clear Channel, which has been waging a war to delay the deployment of the PPM service to extract better terms from Arbitron, and to help seed alternative measurement possibilities in the radio marketplace, was acquired by a private equity group and announced plans to sell of many of its stations (see related story in today's MediaDailyNews.

Arbitron Thursday confirmed that the PPM was once again denied accreditation during a meeting with the MRC PPM audit committee meeting on Wednesday, and issued a new rollout schedule that revises the one originally released in March.

The new plan calls for the service to launch in Philadelphia, the PPMs first test market and the longest to have the system operating in place, in January 2007, though Arbitron's diary based ratings would continue to be the "currency" for advertising deals in the market until the release of the March 2007 PPM ratings.

Arbitron announced plans to shift the market's currency without gaining MRC approval, following another meeting with the media ratings watchdog. However, MRC accreditation often is an ongoing process of audits, reviews, discussion and modifications, before approval is granted.

The time table for other PPM rollouts includes:

In New York, along with Nassau-Suffolk and Middlesex-Somerset-Union, the two year-round radio markets embedded in the New York radio metro, Arbitron would initiate electronic measurement in October 2007. The Summer 2007 diary-based ratings reports would be the "currency" in the market until the release of the December 2007 PPM radio ratings report. The October 2007 and November 2007 PPM radio ratings report would be released as demonstration data.

In Los Angeles and Riverside-San Bernardino, Arbitron would initiate electronic measurement in January 2008. The Fall 2007 diary-based ratings report would be the "currency" in the market until the release of the March 2008 PPM radio ratings report. The January 2008 and February 2008 PPM radio ratings reports would be released as demonstration data.

Interestingly, Houston, which has been Arbitron's radio and television demonstration market for the PPM since mid-2005, will switch from diaries to PPM-based ratings only after Arbitron obtains MRC accreditation for that market.

Arbitron President-CEO Steve Morris said the revised rollout schedule "balances our commitment to the MRC process, the demands of our PPM customers, and the recent recommendations of our station and agency advisory councils" and pledged that Arbitron would do what it takes to win MRC accreditation.

"Beyond Houston, we believe we have a critical mass of radio broadcaster support today in Philadelphia, New York and Los Angeles," Morris said in a statement. "Together with an overwhelming number of agencies and advertisers, these broadcasters are urging us to begin the commercialization of the PPM ratings service as soon as possible."