The FCC has announced it will probe Arbitron’s new audience measurement system for radio stations – it’s called the Portable People Meter.  Arbitron is an independent company and the FCC has no jurisdiction over it.  But, acting FCC Commissioner Michael Copps and his fellow Democrat Jonathan Adelstein disagree.  Adelstein has been quoted as stating the commission has “clear authority” over broadcast signals, and “legitimate questions” to ask about Arbitron’s system, which relies on these signals, and operates as a currency for the industry. 

At the heart of the controversy is conservative talk radio.  Arbitron’s new PPM measurement system is showing that conservative talk is even more popular in the nation’s largest markets than previous measurements have shown while minority targeted stations are less popular.  But, the PPM doesn’t lie.  This is a pager-like device that the listener wears.  It registers whatever radio station is being heard in real time and encodes that information into a data base.  It is the most accurate means of measuring true listening habits ever devised. 

But minority stations are crying foul and we have a government that grabs its ankles in our politically-correct American culture.  Like many polling companies, Arbitron chooses its respondents based on landline access and minorities are claiming many in their ranks only use cellphones and are thereby disadvantaged and not fully represented in sampling statistics.  The PPM Coalition made up of Black and Hispanic broadcasters issued an “emergency request” that the FCC investigate.  Arbitron counters stating the Coalition’s petition is “replete with misstatements of acts, unsupported speculation and overheated rhetoric.”  And, Arbitron says a number of stations that target minority audiences have in fact increased their market rankings since introduction of the PPM. 

We’ll see how this plays out, but there is no argument that government now sees itself as the arbiter of what we choose to hear.  Government has truly become Big Brother in America.  The FCC is out of bounds on this probe and we can only hope the court system will prevail in what will surely wind up as a key fight for free speech rights in America.  Tommy Smothers once said, “The only valid censorship is the right of the people not to listen.”  It would seem the Federal Censorship Commission disagrees.

Brian Jennings is a longtime national radio programmer and author of Censorship:  The Threat to Silence Talk Radio.

In 2008, Arbitron, which measures radio audiences nationwide, began rolling out its latest measurement technology called the “Portable People Meter,” or PPM.  It’s a pager-device that automatically registers what someone is listening to at any moment.  It’s the measurement of real time listening as opposed to the “old” system that required a listener to recall and write down once a week the stations they could remember they heard.  Most radio executives feel this system is the future for radio audience measurement.  When the New York ratings came out last fall, it showed conservative talk radio was even stronger than previously noted under the old audience measurement system and that minority radio stations were not as popular.  Well, you know the rest of the story.

The Obama administration, along with the City of New York, and other minority interests cried foul.  Then, the FCC stepped in and announced it would investigate the new Arbitron system.  After all, it cannot allow conservative talk radio to improve its already strong position on American airwaves! 

Several things are playing out that conservatives need to be aware of.  First, the Fairness Doctrine appears dead on arrival.  Democrats finally figured out re-imposition would be unconstitutional.  So, they are going through the backdoor to “clarify the public interest obligations” of broadcasters as stated by Obama and the Democrats in their 2008 party platform.  The FCC on May 7th began hearings to “diversify” media ownership in America.  The only way to do that is to take a broadcast license away from a current owner and give it to a minority.  Democrats can’t understand that such a “redistribution of wealth” is a form of censorship of another point of view.  And, of the 31 members of the advisory committee appointed by the FCC, it was hard to find one that represents conservative interests.  There is no one to represent Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, or Lars Larson in these on-going hearings.  Secondly, the FCC will reduce the broadcast license renewal term from eight to three years.  Big brother at work looking over the shoulder of media.  But, back to the Arbitron measurement issue.

Seattle has always been a strong talk market for radio.  But, in the first month of the new PPM methodology, talk radio tanked.  Any correlation to the FCC/Obama concerns that PPM does not represent minority interests?  Time will tell, but the Seattle ratings don’t reflect the trends for talk radio nationwide under the new audience measurement system.  Newstalk leader, KIRO switched to an FM frequency which always creates some confusion in early ratings.  Hopefully, subsequent Seattle PPM ratings will reflect the strength of talk radio in America.  Expect the Democrat controlled FCC to meddle where it should not because as acting FCC Commissioner Michael Copps told CNSNews.com earlier this year, “If markets cannot produce what society really cares about, like a media that reflects the true diversity and spirit of our country, then government has a legitimate role to play.” 

Such a totalitarian statement leaves no question that liberals want to re-define talk radio in America.  It eliminates the ability of the free market to choose what it wants to hear by forcing the intent of regulated balance of the Fairness Doctrine.  We must be aware of what is happening under our noses because the tactic of the new administration is to get it done before we can raise the red flags. 

Brian Jennings is a 40-year talk radio programming executive and author of Censorship: The Threat to Silence Talk Radio.