Entercom Signs Up for New Ratings System

Several major broadcasters have already agreed to support Arbitron's new system, called the Portable People Meter, which is widely viewed as a much-needed upgrade to the 1960s-era paper diary system currently in use.

But the higher costs for the system as well as shortfalls in capturing enough data from certain demographic groups, including minorities and young adults, have led to controversy about the system in the radio industry.

Late last year, Arbitron agreed to delay the rollout of the Portable People Meter in nine major markets following pressure from broadcasters who said the data shortfalls were compromising the validity of the new measurements. Arbitron has said it will fix the problems.

The new ratings tend to show much higher overall listenership for radio in general, but the ratings of many individual stations which are traditionally the basis of advertising rates showed significant declines, causing more controversy.

The Portable People Meter is currently in use in Houston and Philadelphia. Following the delays, several major markets including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles are now scheduled to adopt the new ratings measurement system in September.

The PPM ratings are designed to more closely reflect what listeners actually heard, as opposed to what they recalled hearing and later wrote down in the paper diaries. The pager-like devices capture audio signals embedded in radio broadcasts which are inaudible to the human ear.