Several Spanish-language radio broadcasters have formed a group to voice concerns about Arbitron’s proposed rollout of the Portable People Meter and what these broadcasters say is the potentially harmful impact PPM could have on the Hispanic marketplace.
The group is worried about whether PPM is counting Hispanic listeners accurately. It is named the Spanish Radio Association; members are the Spanish Broadcasting System, Entravision Communications Corp., Univision Communications and Border Media Partners.
They met with Arbitron on June 6 and advocated the importance of evaluating the PPM’s abilities to measure Hispanic audience and the overall effectiveness of Arbitron’s PPM before its full-scale implementation.
It was a high-level meeting. Representing the groups were SBS President/CEO Raúl Alarcón, Jr.; Univision Radio President/COO Gary Stone; Entravision Radio Division President Jeffery Liberman; and Border Media Partners CEO Jeff Hinson.
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., also attended and reminded participants that PPM will not only affect Spanish-language broadcasters but every Hispanic in the country.
The group urged Arbitron not to move ahead with implementation “until all ethnic broadcasters are satisfied that the principles of fair market representation are being fulfilled,” said Liberman.
The SRA intends to meet regularly with Arbitron, which in turn said it will work with the group.
“Arbitron has great respect and appreciation for the important and unique role that Spanish language radio stations play in communities across the country,” the company said in a statement. “We are working closely with Hispanic broadcasters to understand better their priorities for enhancements to our PPM services.”
