Reacting to calls from the Arbitron Radio Advisory Council and its Chairman, Steve Sinicropi from Cox Radio, for more transparency on the PPM transition, Arbitron is now planning to hold monthly updates for the press. One data point we received was on where the next markets scheduled to get PPM stand on panel recruitment. New York, as of August 8th, had 4,739 people in the panel, with a target of 5,170. PPM is due to launch on a demonstration basis in the New York market in October. Next up is Los Angeles, where 1,618 people were in the panel from a target of 3,270. In Chicago, the panel thus far has 1,634, with a target of 2,595. PPM installation will begin in San Francisco in September and Dallas in November. Arbitron continues to monitor most TV stations in Houston (except for the ABC, CBS and NBC stations) and is marketing the data for measuring out-of home viewing. So far, no stations have signed up to encode in Philadelphia, but Arbitron will be trying to market its services to TV stations in all of its PPM markets.
