A handful of additional filings have been posted by the FCC in its proceeding on whether to launch an investigation of Arbitron’s Portable People Meter. Two of the filings – mailed in, rather than filed electronically – came from media buying firms who made it clear that they are strongly in favor of the PPM rollout and against any further delay.
Stan Gerber, Exec. VP and Chief Strategy Officer of JL Media insisted that PPM is a “new, more sophisticated and directional correct research methodology” than diaries and that while more refinement is needed, there is no justification for either further delay or government involvement.
“While I personally believe in Government oversight and regulation, I firmly do not believe the FCC has a role since Arbitron and their clients (both Stations and Advertisers/Agencies) have been involved from day one in an open and honest dialogue regarding this new methodology,” said Gerber. “Furthermore, I know of no such FCC inquiry into ‘diary survey’ methodology covering the same end result,” he added.
“The PPM will allow radio to obtain what Broadcast Television and Internet advertising has – accountability that is timely and accurate,” wrote Karen Klein, Broadcast Manager of Allscope Media.
“While the system is not without its problems, it is far better than the system we are currently using. The current Diary System has been around, unchanged, since 1965. It is based on recall and has a lag time of over 6 months. It is time to step into the 21st century and the age of electronics,” Klein told the Commisison.
Spanish Broadcasting System also made a filing with the FCC. It simply noted that it was a signatory on the original petition from several groups seeking the investigation. The filing confirmed its belief that the FCC should conduct an inquiry into PPM.
