• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, July 8, 2008

A committee that advises the Federal Communications Commission on diversity has asked the agency to investigate the potential effects of measurement by the Portable People Meter, Arbitron's passive electronic measurement system, on radio stations with "urban" formats. They target specific minority groups, chiefly African-Americans and Hispanics.

The advisory committee's request follows a series of public complaints by some radio groups about alleged flaws in Arbitron's sampling methodology for PPM, including open letters to Arbitron's management and ads addressed to the radio business at large in trade magazines. The alleged flaws include significant under-representation of minority groups, especially black males ages 18-54.

The most vehement criticism has come from Inner-City Broadcasting and Radio One, which own stations with urban formats almost exclusively, and Cox Communications. Radio One signed a letter to Arbitron detailing the flaws in November 2007, and Inner-City Broadcasting's name appeared on an ad that appeared in radio trades in early June.

In their letters and ads, the broadcasters have urged Arbitron to delay commercialization of PPM in additional markets beyond Houston and Philadelphia. They demand that PPM receive accreditation from the Media Ratings Council in at least one market outside Houston before the rollout continues this September, as currently planned. Arbitron, however, has indicated it plans to introduce the service on schedule. Significantly, the advisory committee suggested the FCC investigation should include by August 15, so its results could be made public before rollouts in additional markets.

The socially charged nature of the dispute, touching on issues of race, has been multiplied by political considerations during an election year. Radio seems to be taking the FCC spotlight, alongside ongoing controversies about cross-ownership of media and the Sirius-XM merger. Radio broadcasters have demonstrated their political sway by lobbying industry organizations as well as individual broadcasters. Some radio bosses, like Al Liggins of Radio One, have already testified to congress about PPM.

Arbitron however issued a confident response to the possibility of FCC investigation: "We look forward to the opportunity to demonstrate how the PPM electronically produces objective, unbiased audience estimates. Experience has shown that PPM ratings are more reliable than systems that rely on memory and are prone to human error and bias."

It continued: "Our PPM samples fully represent the diversity of the markets we measure in terms of age, sex, race, ethnicity and language preference. Hispanics and African Americans have the highest listening levels in the PPM system and ethnic broadcasters that have embraced PPM are succeeding with the timely and detailed data that only PPM can deliver."