More Groups Raise Hands against Arbitron and PPM

Arbitron’s PPM continues to fight for its life as a new industry ad from Cox Radio, Inner City parent ICBC Broadcast Holdings and Saga Communications urges the company to hold off on the rollout of the new measurement service.

The ad says the rollout should wait until at least one additional market - beyond Houston - has achieved accreditation from the Media Rating Council to be sure the science behind the PPM is right, writes Radio Ink.

Arbitron is expected to make a decision this month on whether to restart the rollout beyond Houston and Philly. The new ad, with the addition of Saga Communications, follows a similar ad from Cox and Inner City last month.

The three groups say Arbitron has broken promises that it would address sampling issues in the Philadelphia market. They point to Beasley Group’s Bruce Beasley’s comments during an earnings call in which he said he wouldn’t want other broadcasters to have to deal with the problems his company has been facing in Philly. They also point out recent Arbitron errors, like the fact that Arbitron recently “left a station out of the Houston report. Twice.”

The ad urges industry insiders to call Arbitron and tell him to hold off on the rollout until MRC accreditation takes place.

In January, the Media Rating Council failed to give the PPM accreditation in Philadelphia and New York.