MRC Puts Brakes on PPM, Clear Channel Pounces

Pierre Bouvard & Owen Charlebois have written a letter to Arbitron subscribers saying that PPM won't be going live in Houston in July as planned and instead the company will continue using diaries to determine Houston radio ratings this summer, Radio Ink reports. In short, Arbitron has not secured Media Rating Council accreditation of its PPM system and stands by its commitment to not replace diary-based radio ratings in Houston with Portable People Meter radio ratings until the Houston PPM service receives Media Rating Council accreditation. Clear Channel Radio, which has been fielding its own evaluation of electronic measurement options for radio, said that PPM's inability to secure Media Rating Council accreditation proved that "PPM is not ready for prime time," Mediaweek reports.