Leading Spanish-Language Radio Broadcasters Join Forces to Express Concerns About Arbitron's Flawed Portable People Meter (PPM)
2008年6月12日 - 5:26AM
PRニュース・ワイアー (英語)
NEW YORK, June 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The leading
Spanish-language radio broadcasters in the U.S., including Spanish
Broadcasting System (NASDAQ:SBSA), Entravision Communications
Corporation (EVC), Univision Communications Inc. and Border Media
Partners, have formed an industry-focused coalition to voice
concerns about Arbitron's proposed rollout of the flawed Portable
People Meter (PPM) and the potentially harmful impact it could have
in the industry as it relates to measuring Spanish-language media.
The newly created group has been named the Spanish Radio
Association ("SRA"). The group held a meeting with Arbitron on June
6, 2008 during which they advocated the importance of properly
evaluating the Hispanic audience measurement capabilities and
effectiveness of Arbitron's PPM before its full-scale
implementation. Representing the major Spanish-language
broadcasters were Raul Alarcon, Jr., chief executive officer and
president of Spanish Broadcasting Systems; Gary Stone, president
and chief operating officer of Univision Radio; Jeffery Liberman,
president of Entravision's radio division; and Jeff Hinson,
president and chief executive officer of Border Media Partners.
Senator Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) also attended the meeting to
support the group's strong concerns, and he reminded Arbitron's
chief executive officer Steve Morris that PPM will not only affect
Spanish-language broadcasters but every Hispanic in the country.
"Ensuring that the next generation of audience measurement is
accurately developed, tested, accredited, and ultimately accepted
by the entire radio industry, is of critical importance," said
Alarcon. "The Hispanic population in the U.S. is growing rapidly
and becoming more influential, while Spanish-language radio is
becoming one of the most popular formats in the country. With that
in mind, Arbitron must take the necessary steps towards
understanding the impact this audience measurement tool will have
on one of the industry's most important constituencies." "Hispanic
buying power is growing substantially and was estimated to be in
excess of $840 billion dollars in the United States in 2007. Based
on this growth, it is extremely important that Arbitron ensures
sound methodology and representation of Hispanics," added Liberman.
"We urge Arbitron not to move forward with the rollout of PPM until
all ethnic broadcasters are satisfied that the principles of fair
market representation are being fulfilled." "We are 100% committed
to ensuring accountability to advertisers, viewers and partners,"
said Ceril Shagrin, executive vice president, Corporate Research
Division, Univision Communications Inc. "However, this means we
need to have accurate and actionable data. It is imperative that
Arbitron ensures PPM effectively measures all audience segments
before implementation. Any inaccuracy will impact the entire
industry as it will not be reliable or credible." As part of the
meeting, the SRA highlighted several key issues with PPM that need
to be addressed before moving forward with the rollout, including
panel sample size, the increased response rates, accurately
identifying and tracking panelists' country of origin, improved
language weighting, accurate cell phone-only representation, fair
measurement when it comes to high-density Hispanic areas and
sharing of more detailed sample information including meter
placement according to zip codes, among others. The group intends
to meet regularly with Arbitron in an effort to ensure any sample
includes accurate measurement of Hispanic audiences in all markets
that will be launching PPM as currency. About Spanish Broadcasting
System, Inc. Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. is the largest
publicly traded Hispanic-controlled media and entertainment company
in the United States. SBS owns and/or operates 21 radio stations
located in the top Hispanic markets of New York, Los Angeles,
Miami, Chicago, San Francisco and Puerto Rico, including the #1
Spanish-language radio station in America, WSKQ-FM in New York
City, as well as 4 of the Top 7 rated radio stations airing the
Tropical, Mexican Regional, Spanish Adult Contemporary and Urban
format genres. The Company also owns and operates Mega TV, a
television operation serving the South Florida market with national
distribution through DirecTV Mas. SBS also produces live concerts
and events throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. In addition, the
Company operates http://www.lamusica.com/, a bilingual
Spanish-English online site providing content related to Latin
music, entertainment, news and culture. The Company's corporate Web
site can be accessed at http://www.spanishbroadcasting.com/ About
Univision Radio Univision Communications Inc. is the premier
Spanish-language media company in the United States. Its operations
include Univision Network, the most-watched Spanish-language
broadcast television network in the U.S. reaching 97% of U.S.
Hispanic Households; TeleFutura Network, a general-interest
Spanish-language broadcast television network, which was launched
in 2002 and now reaches 85% of U.S. Hispanic Households;
Galavision, the country's leading Spanish-language cable network;
Univision Television Group, which owns and operates 63 television
stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico; Univision
Radio, the leading Spanish-language radio group which owns and/or
operates 70 radio stations in 16 of the top 25 U.S. Hispanic
markets and 5 stations in Puerto Rico; and Univision Online, the
premier Spanish-language Internet destination in the U.S. located
at http://www.univision.com/. Univision Communications also has a
50% interest in TuTv, a joint venture formed to broadcast
Televisa's pay television channels in the U.S. Univision
Communications has television network operations in Miami and
television and radio stations and sales offices in major cities
throughout the United States. About Entravision Communications
Corporation Entravision Communications Corporation is a diversified
Spanish-language media company utilizing a combination of
television and radio operations to reach Hispanic consumers across
the United States, as well as the border markets of Mexico.
Entravision is the largest affiliate group of both the top-ranked
Univision television network and Univision's TeleFutura network,
with television stations in 20 of the nation's top 50 Hispanic
markets. The company also operates one of the nation's largest
groups of primarily Spanish-language radio stations, consisting of
48 owned and operated radio stations. Entravision shares of Class A
Common Stock are traded on The New York Stock Exchange under the
symbol: EVC. The company's corporate website can be found at
http://www.entravision.com/. About Border Media Partners Border
Media Partners owns and/or operates 30 radio stations in five Texas
markets including San Antonio, Austin, the Rio Grande Valley,
Laredo, and Waco. DATASOURCE: Entravision Communications
Corporation CONTACT: Joe Lobello of Brainerd Communicators,
+1-212-986-6667, , for Entravision Communications Corporation Web
site: http://www.entravision.com/
http://www.spanishbroadcasting.com/ http://www.univision.com/
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