Arbitron Faces AG's Deadline for MRC Accreditation

RADIO ONLINE | , , | :am CT

Thursday, October 15 is the deadline for Arbitron to receive Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for its PPM service in New York or face the ire of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo sued the ratings firm in August, 2008, over PPM and under the settlement reached in January, the ratings giant agreed to "make all reasonable efforts to obtain and retain accreditation for the New York PPM."

So far, Arbitron has only received MRC accreditation for two markets, Houston and Riverside-San Bernardino. Even so, the company has continued with its rollout of the PPM service into some 25 markets despite criticism from minority broadcasters that the service undercounts minority listeners. The 25 markets currently make up over 50% of the estimated station revenue in all Arbitron-rated radio markets.