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Spanish Radio Still Peeved about PPM

The Spanish Radio Association says Arbitron still has not addressed its concerns and research questions regarding the PPM and how “Hispanics are recruited and represented, and how the PPM panel is maintained.”

The SRA has been working with Arbitron in recent months to resolve the issues it has raised with the measurement company, but says it is disappointed with how Arbitron has publicly addressed its concerns, writes Mediaweek.

The SRA maintains that Arbitron’s methodology does not accurately take into account the diversity of the Hispanic population; it also feels Arbitron under-samples cell-phone-only homes, which impacts samples.

Arbitron claims that if only the SRA truly understood the PPM system, it would not have these issues about bias. “Our PPM samples effectively represent the diversity of the markets we measure in terms of age, sex, race, ethnicity and language preference,” the company said in a statement.

In May, the Spanish Broadcasting System said it believes Arbitron’s PPM could have a potentially devastating impact on Spanish-language radio stations, and hired a PR firm to help educate the public about possible damage that could be caused to Hispanic communities.

Last week, the New York City Council said it plans to ask the FCC to investigate possible racial and ethnic biases in Arbitron’s PPM, and wants Arbitron to delay its implementation of the system until the FCC can finish such an investigation.

The SRA is made up of Spanish Broadcasting System, Entravision, Univision and Border Media, and was formed because the groups believe the PPM is flawed. The system’s rollout in major U.S. Hispanic markets is likely to have a potentially harmful impact on the marketplace, they say (via Hispanic Retail 360).

The PPM is currently deployed as currency in two markets, Houston and Philadelphia, and Arbitron plans to take it live in eight more cities before the end of the year, including New York.