Radio Biggies Fund Arbitron Rival

A group of the nation's biggest radio broadcasters is putting up millions of dollars to fund a Houston field test of a "smart phone" measurement system devised by Media Audit as an alternative to Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPM). According to Media Audit Executive Vice President Phil Beswick, the company is canvassing other Houston-area broadcasters to join Clear Channel, Cox, Cumulus, Entercom, and Radio One in funding the field test. The move was announced on the last day of the annual meeting of the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) in Houston last week.

The announcement is a clear slap at Arbitron's PPM, which the company is touting as a new currency for radio ratings replacing antiquated paper diaries. It comes just a few weeks after Arbitron received accreditation for PPM ratings in the Houston market from the Media Rating Council. Although Arbitron cleared the MRC hurdle, radio companies engaged in an audit of potential measurement systems are still unhappy about the price tag for PPM service, with Clear Channel the most vocal critic. The most recent news suggests they are digging in their heels for a prolonged tug-of-war.

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Media Audit's Beswick said the test will begin in October, with about 2,500 subjects carrying the devices--adding that all Houston-area broadcasters have agreed to encode their radio signals for measurement by Media Audit's "smart phones." Media Audit says it wants to roll out the smart phone measurement service in the top 10 U.S. markets by the end of 2008.

However, Media Audit lags behind Arbitron in some key areas--including MRC accreditation for the system. PPM underwent a lengthy two-year review, including numerous inquiries from MRC members and at least three rejections, before earning accreditation. The MRC could well put the Media Audit smart phone "through the wringer" too. MRC accreditation is important because the consortium of radio broadcasters auditing electronic measurement systems has agreed on accreditation as a prerequisite for any new measurement system they select. The MRC is an independent, industry-funded organization created at the behest of Congress in 1963 to regulate media measurement methods.

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