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Cox to Arbitron: ‘How Can We Trust You?’

Cox Radio and Inner City Broadcasting are waging war against the commercial rollout of Arbitron’s PPM, saying in industry print ads that the lack of MRC accreditation should have grounded the PPM rollout until the new system passes inspection.

The ads give the phone number for Arbitron chairman/president CEO Steve Morris, and suggests readers call and urge him to make sure the science behind the PPM is accurate (per Radio Ink).

The PPM achieved accreditation in Houston, but the Media Rating Council failed to give the measurement system approval in Philadelphia and New York, where the methodology is different.

“Before we put the jobs of advertising time buyers, their agencies’ reputation with their customers, and thousands of jobs of programmers, air personalities, and sales professionals at risk in radio stations, we need to know the research is scientifically sound,” the ad continues.

It refers to recent struggles that Arbitron has had in Houston with its weekly PPM reports, and its ongoing sampling issues in Philadelphia, and says, “Arbitron has proven they can’t even manage two PPM markets. How can we trust them in radio’s richest markets?”

Last November, following outcry about the low sample sizes among young demographics in the PPM ratings service, Arbitron invited broadcasters to a sitdown to discuss things. Bob Neil, president and CEO of Cox Radio, refused. “I’ve had many of these meetings with Arbitron people over the years and it’s been a gigantic waste of time.”