22.05.2006 11:00:00
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Arbitron Portable People Meter System Selected for Groundbreaking Meter Panel for Radio and Television in the United Kingdom
Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) announced today that RAJAR, the industryradio ratings consortium in the United Kingdom, has selected theArbitron Portable People Meter (PPM(SM)) system for an electronicradio and television audience measurement panel in London, a market ofmore than six million persons.
The contract for the PPM measurement panel in London was awardedto TNS, a global market information group that is a major supplier ofconsumer panel, media intelligence and TV and radio audiencemeasurement services around the world. TNS is an internationallicensee of the Arbitron PPM technology.
TNS has been awarded a two-year contract to operate a PPM Panelthat will deliver weekly data for more than 50 national and localradio stations and television channels across four platforms:Analogue, Digital Radio, Digital television and the Internet. Thispanel will operate in parallel to the current ratings system in theUnited Kingdom, preparing the way for a full electronic system forradio. Data from the two-year panel is to be analyzed separately andwill not be integrated into the main currency.
In a groundbreaking move, RAJAR is combining resources with BARB,the official U.K. television measurement body, in commissioning thepanel. As a result, both television viewing and radio listening willbe measured by the PPM system.
"The RAJAR evaluation was the most thorough, rigorous andprofessional evaluation of an electronic measurement system that hasever been conducted anywhere in the world," said Steve Morris,president and chief executive officer, Arbitron Inc. "While we areflattered to be chosen, we worked hard to make the PPM the mostadvanced and capable audience measurement system anywhere.
"When the Portable People Meter is compared, in a fair andobjective manner, to the best that other companies have to offer, oursystem is the one that broadcasters, agencies and advertisers haveselected. To date our portable electronic measurement technology hasbeen accepted over a number of competing systems as a radio,television or multimedia ratings system in seven countries," said Mr.Morris. "No other provider anywhere in the world can say the same."
"This announcement enhances the position of the Arbitron PPMsystem as the most widely used personal and portable audiencemeasurement system in the world," said Brad Bedford, vice president,International Sales and Marketing, Arbitron. "We are looking forwardto continuing our close relationship with TNS as the U.K. movesforward in their transition to electronic measurement."
The additional countries that have embraced PPM technology formedia measurement include:
-- Singapore (television encoding since 2000)
-- Belgium (radio and television marketing panel since 2003)
-- Canada (television ratings since 2004)
-- Kenya (radio and television ratings announced in 2005)
-- Norway (radio ratings announced in 2005)
-- Kazakhstan (television ratings announced in 2006)
The RAJAR evaluation program in summary
The U.K. radio ratings consortium has been conducting a thoroughtest program of four different electronic meters for radio since 2002.
MAY 2006
RAJAR selects Arbitron PPM system for electronic radio andtelevision audience measurement panel in London.
JULY 2005 Onwards
Meters tested: Eurisko Media Monitor
-- Fieldwork test
JULY 2005
Meters tested: Eurisko Media Monitor and Media Audit/IPSOS "SmartCell Phone"
-- Further laboratory tests on the Eurisko Media Monitor. System cleared for national field test.
-- Initial laboratory tests Media Audit/IPSOS "Smart Cell Phone" meter.
MAY 2005-OCTOBER 2005
Meter tested: Arbitron PPM
-- Two national fieldwork tests with a fixed panel and a "rolling sweep" methodology
NOVEMBER 2004
Meters tested: Arbitron PPM, GfK Mediawatch and Eurisko MediaMonitor.
-- Audiometer Validation Test to determine how well the audiometers could identify up to 33 different radio services (both music and speech-based) under as wide a variety of real life situations as possible.
-- The Arbitron PPM and the Eurisko Media Monitor were selected for further testing
JANUARY 2002 - MARCH 2003
Meters tested: Arbitron PPM and GfK Mediawatch
-- Acoustic tests to evaluate how the meters recorded sounds/signals in different environments.
-- Placement tests to determine how well respondents would accept the wearing of meters.
-- Compliance tests to see if respondents fully understand how to use the meters.
-- Qualitative tests to discover what meter-wearers really think of the task and to determine a sufficient incentive to motivate them
-- Full field ratings tests on two devices, in the field to determine how meters report listening.
About RAJAR
RAJAR is jointly owned by the BBC and the CRCA (Commercial RadioCompanies Association). Its board includes BBC Radio, the CommercialRadio Companies Association (CRCA), the advertising industry, asrepresented by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA),and the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA).
The RAJAR survey is the largest audience research survey in theworld outside North America and the most complex. It currentlysupplies radio audience listening data to over 300 UK radio stationsbroadcasting across a range of platforms including analogue, digital,digital TV, satellite and Internet.
About TNS
TNS is a market information group. The company is the world'slargest custom research company and a leading provider of social andpolitical polling. It is also a major supplier of consumer panel, TVaudience measurement and media intelligence services.
TNS is a leader in TV and radio audience measurement services. TNSprovides audience measurement technology and services in 27 countriesworldwide, including China, Russia, Spain, USA, Canada and the UK.Through a multi-country licensing agreement with Arbitron, TNS havepioneered the commercialization of the Portable People Meter (PPM).
TNS operates a global network spanning 70 countries and employsover 13,000 people. They provide market information and measurement,together with insight and analysis, to local and multinationalorganizations.
www.tns-global.com
About the Portable People Meter
The Arbitron Portable People Meter (PPM) system uses a passiveaudience measurement device--about the size of a small cell phone--totrack consumer exposure to media and entertainment, includingbroadcast, cable and satellite television; terrestrial, satellite andonline radio as well as cinema advertising and many types ofplace-based electronic media. Carried throughout the day by randomlyselected survey participants, the PPM device can track when and wherethey watch television, listen to radio as well as how they interactwith other forms of media and entertainment.
The PPM detects inaudible codes embedded in the audio portion ofmedia and entertainment content delivered by broadcasters, contentproviders and distributors. At the end of the day, the meter is placedin a docking station that extracts the codes and sends them to acentral computer. The PPM is equipped with a motion sensor, a patentedquality control feature unique to the system, which allows Arbitron toconfirm the compliance of the PPM survey participants every day.
About Arbitron
Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) is an international media and marketingresearch firm serving radio broadcasters, cable companies,advertisers, advertising agencies and outdoor advertising companies inthe United States, Mexico and Europe. Arbitron's core businesses aremeasuring network and local market radio audiences across the UnitedStates; surveying the retail, media and product patterns of localmarket consumers; and providing application software used foranalyzing media audience and marketing information data. The Companyhas also developed the Portable People Meter (PPM), a new technologyfor media and marketing research.
Arbitron's marketing and business units are supported by itsresearch and technology organization, located in Columbia, Maryland.Arbitron has approximately 1,700 employees; its executive offices arelocated in New York City.
Through its Scarborough Research joint venture with VNU, Inc.,Arbitron also provides media and marketing research services to thebroadcast television, magazine, newspaper and online industries.
PPM(SM) is a service mark of Arbitron Inc. This and prior releasescan be found on Arbitron's website at www.arbitron.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within themeaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Thestatements regarding Arbitron in this document that are not historicalin nature, particularly those that utilize terminology such as "may,""will," "should," "likely," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates,""believes" or "plans," or comparable terminology, are forward-lookingstatements based on current expectations about future events, whichArbitron has derived from information currently available to it. Theseforward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks anduncertainties that may cause our results to be materially differentfrom results implied in such forward-looking statements. These risksand uncertainties include whether we will be able to:
-- renew all or part of contracts with large customers as they expire;
-- successfully execute our business strategies, including implementation of our Portable People Meter services and to execute potential joint venture or third party agreements;
-- effectively manage the impact of any further consolidation in the radio and advertising agency industries;
-- keep up with rapidly changing technological needs of our customer base, including creating new proprietary software systems and new customer products and services that meet these needs in a timely manner;
-- successfully manage the impact on our business of any economic downturn generally and in the advertising market in particular; and
-- successfully manage the impact on costs of data collection due to lower respondent cooperation in surveys, privacy concerns, technology changes and/or government regulations.
Additional important factors known to Arbitron that could causeforward-looking statements to turn out to be incorrect are identifiedand discussed from time to time in Arbitron's filings with theSecurities and Exchange Commission, including in particular the riskfactors discussed under the caption "ITEM 1. BUSINESS - BusinessRisks" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The forward-looking statements contained in this document speakonly as of the date hereof, and Arbitron undertakes no obligation tocorrect or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a resultof new information, future events or otherwise.
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