As the FCC considers whether it should (or legally can) investigate Arbitron’s Portable People Meter (PPM), the organization which clearly does have some authority over PPM has been meeting with FCC officials once again.
Media Rating Council officials had previously met with Acting Chairman Michael Copps and several FCC staffers. In the most recent meeting on June 1st, the briefing was for Commissioner Robert McDowell and his legal advisor, Rosemary Harold. The MRC was represented by Executive Director and CEO George Ivie, along with Anthony Torrieri and David Gunzerath, Senior Vice Presidents and Associate Directors.
The notice of the meeting that the MRC filed in the FCC docket on the pending PPM Notice of Inquiry gave few details, except to point out that the MRC officials disclosed nothing that wasn’t in the public domain about the ongoing accreditation process for PPM in various markets.
“At this meeting, the MRC representatives provided a briefing about the MRC and the role it serves within the media industry, and an overview of the MRC’s accreditation processes and procedures. In addition, they provided Commissioner McDowell and Ms. Harold with the latest publicly disclosed statuses for each of the Arbitron PPM markets that have been submitted to date for consideration of MRC accreditation,” the MRC filing said.
In his comments when the NOI was released, McDowell had questioned whether the FCC has a role to play in the matter. “I expect to pay particular attention to analyses of the Commission’s authority to take any further action in this arena,” he said.
Comments on the NOI, MB Docket 08-187, are due July 1st.
