• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, June 26, 2007

News that Clear Channel Radio signed a deal with Arbitron for electronic ratings from its Portable People Meter device was met with enthusiasm by radio media buyers and industry analysts on Monday. Although neither company has yet confirmed the existence of a deal, the buzz seems to signal the end of one of the radio industry's long-running public disputes. And the outcome is widely considered to be long overdue by media-planning executives.

Arbitron proposed a 60% price premium over its current paper-diary ratings system--and Clear Channel was holding out for reduced rates before agreeing to sign on for PPM. Presumably, the deal indicates that a compromise has been reached after several years of hard negotiations. However, terms of the current deal have not been disclosed, as spokespeople for both companies withheld comment.

"I think it's terrific," said Sue Johenning, executive vice president and director of local broadcast for Initiative. "Right now, PPM is the best measurement tool out there, and it's key that Clear Channel has agreed to participate." She added: "Without Clear Channel, there wasn't a full picture of the market, or even of what PPM's full possibilities are."

Johenning was alluding to Clear Channel's earlier refusal to encode its radio signals for PPM measurement, widely viewed as a negotiating tactic as it lobbied for lower rates. Clear Channel's sheer size--almost 1,200 stations before it began a limited sell-off of smaller market operations last year--meant that its refusal to participate in PPM lowered the value of the electronic ratings significantly. Media buyers had no accurate basis of comparison within or across markets.

With Clear Channel on board, however, veteran radio analyst Jim Boyle of CL King and Associates expects some smaller holdouts to sign on in the near future. "You can expect another group deal soon, as we are in print that another top five group should sign," says Boyle, "as well as Radio One and Cumulus Media Partners, for at least the Houston market."

Boyle also echoes a prediction from Jeff Haley, the president of the Radio Advertising Bureau, that radio would see industry-wide adoption of PPM by the end of 2007: "The dominoes just keep falling."