The Local Peoplemeter, the Portable Peoplemeter, and the Unsettled Law and Policy of Audience Measurement in the United States

Abstract

This chapter examines the relationship between the process of audience measurement and core principles in US communications policy making. The focal points of this analysis are the controversial launches in the United States over the past decade of the Nielsen Local Peoplemeter (which measures local television audiences) and the Arbitron Portable Peoplemeter (which measures radio audiences). These new audience measurement systems prompted substantial levels of resistance amongst a wide range of stakeholders, including television and radio broadcasters, minority groups and local, state and federal policy makers. The controversies surrounding the launch of these new technologies reveal the complex stakeholder dynamics that are central to understanding how contemporary media audiences are constructed. As this analysis illustrates, competition and diversity policy issues were central to the emergence of these new audience measurement systems and the patterns of resistance that emerged against them. These competition and diversity concerns were the focal point for a variety of advocacy organizations, and ultimately helped to draw the attention of city- and statelevel government officials, as well as the US Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. As a result, an important legal dispute has emerged around the First Amendment status of audience ratings data.