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| Gary E. Burns |
Owner and CEO of 3 Daughters Media stations Gary Burns of Lynchburg, VA. is
taking his protest of a new Arbitron policy up a notch.
Arbitron plans to make its Total Line Reporting, in which
the ratings of simulcast stations are combined into one number, for
subscribers-only beginning in 2014. Under the updated policy, only licensed
subscribing stations “in good standing” will be eligible to combine audiences
for their stations and Internet streams that are 100% simulcast on a single
reporting line in Arbitron ratings reports and data services.
Burns recently protested the change to Arbitron CEO Sean
Creamer, saying the change will result in a different application ratings
methodology for stations in the same survey and will change the station
rankings. “Stations most likely to incur damages as a result of this new policy
are stations with limited coverage, stations owned by small business and
minorities. Measurement of radio listening in metro markets should be subject
to the same methodology and rules for every station qualified to be in the
measured market,” said Burns in a letter he shared with Radio World.
Now, Burns has taken his concerns to the FCC, the DOJ and
the FTC.
Specifically, he’s saying the planned acquisition of
Arbitron by Nielsen “will have unintended consequences in the marketplace.” As
the DOJ and FTC review that deal, Burns asks the regulators to require “all
measured entities be treated equally” without regard to whether such a company
is an Arbitron subscriber and to consider “all of the other ramifications of
the merger” before allowing the pending $1.26 billion transaction to close.
3 Daughters Media currently owns 7 stations in Virginia and Tennesee.
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