Arbitron Inc. released a teaser for a study Tuesday that suggested that radio has plenty
of variety for the majority of listeners, or at least for Arbitron diarykeepers
surveyed.
The timing of that teaser -- coming on the same day, Feb. 18, as the scheduled
University of Southern California media-ownership forum (later canceled due to snowed-out travel plans) --
raised the question of whether the release of the Arbitron-funded study had been
timed to aid the fans of deregulation at that event.
No, an Arbitron spokeswoman said, but it had been slated for another
broadcasting fan, the National Association of Broadcasters' Eddie Fritts.
Fritts was to have delivered a speech to the Media Institute in Washington
the same day (also snowed out), and he wanted to use the talking points from the
survey, about which he had been given a heads-up.
The Fritts speech about media ownership has been rescheduled for next week,
so the survey highlights may still come in handy.
