Obama Protests PPM, Arbitron Moving Forward

Between appearances stumping for the presidential vote, Sen. Barack Obama found time to send a letter to Arbitron suggesting the company delay rolling out its PPM measurement system until the system is accredited by the Media Research Center.

In the letter, Obama and Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) repeated the concerns voiced by groups like the PPM Coalition and the Spanish Radio Association - namely, that the PPM undercounts minorities, writes Broadcasting & Cable.

Arbitron is rolling out the PPM in eight markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, beginning next week.

Media Life magazine points out the parallels between the PPM and Nielsen’s rollout of the local people meter which replaced its diary measurement system in 2004. With the LPM, it was the television stations griping about viewership declines and saying that the measurement system undercounted minorities; but Nielsen rolled out the LPM nonetheless.

Arbitron says the PPM is more accurate than paper diaries because it records what people are actually listening to, rather than what they say they are listening to. But radio stations, particularly those catering to African American and Hispanic audiences, are worried about the drop in listeners shown by the PPM.

Stan Gerber, evp and chief strategy officer at JL Media in Union, N.J., says the PPM is a far better measurement tool than the industry has had before, adding, “But it’s upset the apple cart. People aren’t listening as much as they said they were listening.”

As with the local people meter and television stations, some radio stations will see their ratings fall, which can hurt ad sales.

Thom Mocarsky, a spokesman for Arbitron, points out that it is not just Spanish or black stations affected by ratings declines. “Everybody is,” he says.