Arbitron was recently caught in a controversy about its new radio-stations ratings technology, Portable People Meter (PPM), negatively impacting black and Latino-targeted stations. Late yesterday, the company said that they had problems getting enough people to use the PPM, leaving broadcasters to complain about unreliably small sample sizes. Now Arbitron is delaying the rollout of the PPM for the next three to nine months. The company claims the delay will ultimately pay off, because it will work out all the wrinkles and make a better product. Stock analysts are less enthused, and expect stock prices to plummet for the company.
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Google's Android built early buzz by creating a Developers Challenge and awarding program creators with hefty monetary prizes. The first security package for the Android, the “Security Shield” has now been created by SMobile Systems, and includes antivirus, anti-spam, and firewall applications.
PRWeek reported on the WGA strike moving online to YouTube and blogs, showing the efficacy of new-media efforts. One of the most popular online videos regarding the strike is “The Office is Closed” by Peter Rader, which has been viewed more than 250,000 times since it launched on YouTube.
