Congressional Committee Looks Into PPM

Congressman Edolphus Towns, a democrat from New York's 10th District and chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Tuesday announced that he has launched an investigation into Arbitron's PPM methodology. Towns' investigation will focus on the alleged under-representation of minorities on its listener panels.

The FMQB website reports:

"I remain deeply concerned that without deliberate and timely investigations into this matter the increased use of PPM will further threaten the financial viability of minority targeted radio stations," said Towns in a letter to the FCC, according to Reuters.

Arbitron President/CEO Michael Skarzynski, responded:

"Arbitron welcomes any opportunity to discuss the importance of electronic measurement, the effectiveness of the PPM technology, the value of the data it produces and our disciplined approach to the deployment of the service across the United States."