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Spanish-Language Broadcasters Join Forces to Express Concerns

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Spanish-Language Broadcasters Join Forces to Express Concerns About Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPM)

Spanish-language radio broadcasters Spanish Broadcasting System, Entravision Communications Corporation, Univision Communications and Border Media Partners have formed an industry-focused committee to voice concerns about Arbitron's proposed rollout of the Portable People Meter (PPM) and the potentially harmful impact it could have on the Hispanic marketplace. The newly created group has been named the Spanish Radio Association ("SRA").

The group held a meeting with Arbitron on June 6th during which they advocated the importance of properly evaluating the Hispanic audience measurement capabilities and effectiveness of Arbitron's PPM before its full-scale implementation.

Representing the major Spanish-language broadcasters were Raúl Alarcón, Jr., CEO and President of Spanish Broadcasting System; Gary Stone, President and Chief Operating Officer of Univision Radio; Jeffery Liberman, President of Entravision's radio division; and Jeff Hinson, Chief Executive Officer of Border Media Partners. Senator Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) was also present at the meeting in support of the SRA's concerns. Senator Menendez also took the opportunity to remind those assembled that PPM will not only affect Spanish-language broadcasters, but every Hispanic in the country.

"Ensuring that the next generation of audience measurement is accurately developed, tested, accredited, and ultimately accepted by the entire radio industry, is of critical importance," said Mr. Alarcón, Jr. "The Hispanic population in the U.S. is growing rapidly and becoming more influential, while Spanish-language radio is becoming one of the most popular formats in the country. With that in mind, Arbitron must take the necessary steps towards understanding the impact this audience measurement tool will have on one of the industry's most important constituencies and it must insure a proper and valid measurement of the Hispanic radio audience," added Mr. Alarcón.

"Hispanic buying power is growing substantially and was estimated to be in excess of $840 billion dollars in the United States in 2007. Based on this growth, it is extremely important that Arbitron ensures sound methodology and representation of Hispanics," added Mr. Liberman. "We urge Arbitron not to move forward with the rollout of PPM until all ethnic broadcasters are satisfied that the principles of fair market representation are being fulfilled."

"We are 100% committed to ensuring accountability to advertisers, viewers and partners," said Stone. "However, this means we need to have accurate and actionable data. It is imperative that Arbitron ensures PPM effectively measures all audience segments before implementation. Any inaccuracy will impact the entire industry as it will not be reliable or credible."

As part of the meeting, the SRA highlighted several of the key issues with PPM that need to be addressed before moving forward with the rollout, including panel sample size, the increase of response rates, accurately identifying and tracking a panelist country of origin, language weighting, cell phone-only usage, fair measurement when it comes to high-density Hispanic areas, sharing of sample information, meter placement according to zip codes and the question of documented versus undocumented listeners, among other topics.

The group intends to meet regularly with Arbitron in an effort to ensure proper Hispanic representation in all markets that will be launching PPM as currency.

About Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc.

Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. is the largest publicly traded Hispanic-controlled media and entertainment company in the United States. SBS owns and/or operates 21 radio stations located in the top Hispanic markets of New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco and Puerto Rico, including the #1 Spanish-language radio station in America, WSKQ-FM in New York City, as well as 4 of the Top 8 rated radio stations airing the Tropical, Mexican Regional, Spanish Adult Contemporary and Hurban format genres. The Company also owns and operates Mega TV, a television operation serving the South Florida market with national distribution through DirecTV Más. SBS also produces live concerts and events throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. In addition, the Company operates www.LaMusica.com, a bilingual Spanish-English online site providing content related to Latin music, entertainment, news and culture. The Company's corporate website can accessed at www.spanishbroadcasting.com

About Univision Radio

Univision Communications Inc. is the premier Spanish-language media company in the United States. Its operations include Univision Network, the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the U.S. reaching 99% of U.S. Hispanic Households; TeleFutura Network, a general-interest Spanish-language broadcast television network, which was launched in 2002 and now reaches 89% of U.S. Hispanic Households; Galavisión, the country's leading Spanish-language cable network; Univision Television Group, which owns and operates 64 television stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico; Univision Radio, the leading Spanish-language radio group which owns and/or operates 70 radio stations in 16 of the top 25 U.S. Hispanic markets and 5 stations in Puerto Rico; Univision Music Group, which includes Univision Records, Fonovisa Records, La Calle Records and Mexico-based Disa Records as well as Fonomusic and America Musical Publishing companies; and Univision Online, the premier Spanish-language Internet destination in the U.S. located at www.univision.com. Univision Communications also has a 50% interest in TuTv, a joint venture formed to broadcast Televisa's pay television channels in the U.S. Univision Communications has television network operations in Miami and television and radio stations and sales offices in major cities throughout the United States. For more information, please visit www.univision.net

About Entravision Communications Corporation

Entravision Communications Corporation is a diversified Spanish-language media company utilizing a combination of television and radio operations to reach Hispanic consumers across the United States, as well as the border markets of Mexico. Entravision is the largest affiliate group of both the top-ranked Univision television network and Univision's TeleFutura network, with television stations in 20 of the nation's top 50 Hispanic markets. The company also operates one of the nation's largest groups of primarily Spanish-language radio stations, consisting of 48 owned and operated radio stations. Entravision shares of Class A Common Stock are traded on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol: EVC. The company's corporate website can be found at www.entravision.com.

About Border Media Partners

Border Media Partners owns and/or operates 30 radio stations in five Texas markets including San Antonio, Austin, the Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, and Waco. Media Partners owns and/or operates 30 radio stations in five Texas markets including San Antonio, Austin, the Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, and Waco.


 
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