NEW YORK -- August 15, 2008: The New York City Council is set to introduce a resolution today to ask the FCC to conduct an investigation of "potential racial and ethnic biases in Arbitron Inc.'s new radio data-collection method" -- that is, the Portable People Meter.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn said, "Local and minority-owned radio has been a crucial tool in keeping communities informed and active. We must take every precaution before implementing a rating system that could shut these stations down forever. We are calling on Arbitron to delay its implementation of this system in order for the FCC to finish their investigation into the potential bias in the methodology."
In November of last year, the New York City Council, joined by the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, asked Arbitron to delay the PPM rollout until "inconsistencies" could be addressed. When Arbitron decided to temporarily halt the rollout, Quinn said, "I am very pleased that Arbitron has listened to our concerns."
The PPM is set to become currency in New York in September, with the first numbers to be released in October.
