Spanish Broadcasting System announced that it has retained a strategic communications and consulting firm, MirRam Group, to help SBS educate the public about the “potential damage” that PPM could have on the Hispanic community. Not coincidentally, MirRam was one of the groups hired to work on the “Don’t Count Us Out” campaign that attacked Nielsen’s Local People Meters for TV ratings.
“The PPM survey information we have seen so far is troubling to say the least. Across the nation, people are very concerned that the implementation of PPM as it currently exists could be devastating to the Hispanic community,” said Frank Flores, Vice President of SBS Radio in New York.
The press release from SBS contained some basic background information about PPM that would not be needed by publications such as RBR/TVBR, who have reported for years about PPM, so presumably the release was also sent to general media outlets who don’t normally cover radio ratings issues. By employing MirRam, SBS is obviously looking to put some pressure on Arbitron from outside the radio industry – particularly from political leaders in the Hispanic community.
RBR/TVBR observation: The “Don’t Count Us Out” campaign didn’t stop Nielsen’s LPM rollout, but did slow it down and make the company focus on how it measured minority audiences. Nielsen recently formed a Latino Advisory Panel and, what do you know, one of the members is Luis Miranda Jr. of MirRam Group.
