Arbitron Calls on First Amendment as PPM Rolls Out

Arbitron is turning to the courts to prevent the current enquiry into its representation of ethnic audiences from stopping publication of its PPM listening estimates, which today went commercial in eight new markets. The firm cites 'unfair conduct' by the New York Attorney General.

Arbitron has asked the US District Court for the Southern District of New York for a declaratory judgment that the estimates are fully protected by the US and New York Constitutions; and a preliminary and permanent injunction along with a temporary restraining order enjoining the New York Attorney General from attempting to restrain or prevent publication of the PPM figures.

Such restraint, it says, would have an adverse impact on the radio broadcast industry and advertising industries as a whole, would cause Arbitron's business to suffer severe irreparable harm, would cause economic injury to Arbitron's shareholders and violates the Company's First Amendment rights to publish its radio audience listening estimates.

Chairman and CEO Steve Morris said in a statement: 'Arbitron publicly announced in November 2007 that we intended to commercialize our Portable People Meter radio ratings service in New York with the release of the September 2008 PPM survey report on October 8, 2008. The New York Attorney General has waited until October 2, less than a week before our scheduled commercialization, to notify Arbitron that his office intends to bring a lawsuit seeking to enjoin alleged violations of New York law. Such conduct is unfair to Arbitron and is unfair to the radio and advertising industries. We are asking the United States District Court to uphold our First Amendment rights and to prevent the New York Attorney General from attempting to restrain publication of our Portable People Meter listening estimates.'


Also today, the firm said it had commercialized PPM services in eight new markets.

Arbitron today released radio audience estimates for the September 2008 PPM survey month (August 21-September 17) to its subscribers in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Nassau-Suffolk, Middlesex-Somerset-Union, Riverside-San Bernardino and San Jose. These estimates are to be used as the basis for buy/sell transactions of radio commercial time among subscribing stations, agencies and advertisers; and the two previous survey months, hitherto designated as 'pre-currency' have now been designated 'currency' data.

Arbitron also said that the Spring 2008 diary-based radio audience report (April 3-June 25) should no longer be deemed 'currency' for buy/sell transactions.

Morris says the service is being commercialized 'in order to meet our obligations to our customers and to the radio industry.' He continues: 'Without PPM, the industry will not have up-to-date estimates of the radio audience in the nation's largest markets to facilitate an efficient buy-sell process for radio advertising. Advertisers are in the process of planning their ad budgets for all media including radio. Our goal with the commercialization of the PPM is to help radio remain competitive in an increasingly challenging media marketplace.'

Web site: www.arbitron.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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