New Radio measure kills off Urban stations in NYC.

Media: Radio Equalizer has the details and civil rights leaders are up in arms about it. NYDAILYNEWS.

New York radio got the first look at its new ratings system Wednesday, creating smiles at mainstream pop and rock stations and causing at least one urban station to say it reads like a death warrant. "These numbers could put us out of business," said Vinny Brown, program director of WBLS. "And it's not just us. Listeners need to know this could threaten the future of black and Hispanic radio across the board." Overall, the October Arbitron ratings put WLTW (106.7 FM) back at No. 1. WHTZ (100.3 FM) was a close second and WCBS-FM (101.1) a strong third, ahead of WAXQ (104.3 FM), WSKQ (97.9 FM) and a surprisingly strong WABC (770 AM). Urban WRKS (98.7 FM) and WBLS (107.5 FM) fell sharply, as did WQHT (97.1 FM), WCAA (105.9 FM), WADO (1280 AM) and WPAT-FM (93.1) - reviving fears the new system undercounts black and Hispanic listeners. Until this summer, Arbitron measured listening by having participants record it in diaries. As of October, it switched to the "personal people meter" (PPM), with participants carrying an electronic recording device. Under the diary system, WBLS was No. 1 among listeners 25 to 54, averaging 5.2% of the audience. In the first PPM ratings, WBLS was No. 12, averaging 3%. WBLS's afternoon Wendy Williams show, Brown noted, fell from No. 1 out of the top 10. "We're the same station," said Brown. "What happened?" "We have some concerns," said Frank Flores, general manager of Hispanic WSKQ and WPAT-FM. "I'm a big believer in a more accurate count, but I don't know that we're there yet."