Arbitron Confirms 'Currency' Status of New PPM Radio Audience Estimates as the Basis for Buy/Sell Transactions in New PPM Markets

Arbitron Confirms 'Currency' Status of New PPM Radio Audience Estimates as the Basis for Buy/Sell Transactions in New PPM Markets

NEW YORK, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Arbitron Inc. (NYSE:ARB) today confirmed the use of Portable People Meter(TM) radio audience estimates as the basis for buy/sell transactions of radio commercial time among subscribing stations, agencies and advertisers.

The Company also stated that the September 2008 PPM(TM) survey month (August 21-September 17) ratings released to its subscribers in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Nassau-Suffolk, Middlesex-Somerset-Union, Riverside-San Bernardino and San Jose are the actionable and timely estimates that the radio advertising industry needs in order to conduct its business.

"Radio broadcasters, agencies and advertisers independently determine whether or not to subscribe to Arbitron's services and can freely decide how they wish to use our services in their business transactions," said Steve Morris, president, chairman and chief executive officer, Arbitron Inc. "Our goal with the commercialization of the PPM is to help radio remain competitive in an increasingly challenging media marketplace."

In addition, the Company reiterated that the July and August PPM survey months, which Arbitron had previously released as "pre-currency" information, should also be used as "currency" data. In the New York markets, the currency data now consists of 13 PPM survey reports (October 2007 to September 2008). The Spring 2008 diary-based radio audience report (April 3-June 25) is no longer deemed "currency" for buy/sell transactions.

About the Portable People Meter

The Arbitron Portable People Meter system uses a passive audience measurement device -- about the size of a small cell phone -- to track consumer exposure to media and entertainment, including broadcast, cable and satellite television; terrestrial, satellite and online radio as well as cinema advertising and many types of place-based electronic media. Carried throughout the day by randomly selected survey participants, the PPM device can track when and where they watch television, listen to radio as well as how they interact with other forms of media and entertainment.

The PPM detects inaudible codes embedded in the audio portion of media and entertainment content delivered by broadcasters, content providers and distributors. At the end of the day, the meter is placed in a docking station that extracts the codes and sends them to a central computer. The PPM is equipped with a motion sensor, a patented quality control feature unique to the system, which allows Arbitron to confirm the compliance of the PPM survey participants every day.

About Arbitron

Arbitron Inc. (NYSE:ARB) is a media and marketing research firm serving the media -- radio, television, cable, online radio and out-of-home -- as well as advertisers and advertising agencies in the United States. Arbitron's core businesses are measuring network and local market radio audiences across the United States; surveying the retail, media and product patterns of local market consumers; and providing application software used for analyzing media audience and marketing information data. The company has developed the Portable People Meter, a new technology for media and marketing research.

Through its Scarborough Research joint venture with The Nielsen Company, Arbitron provides additional media and marketing research services to the broadcast television, newspaper and online industries.

Arbitron's marketing and business units are supported by a world-renowned research and technology organization located in Columbia, Maryland. Arbitron's executive offices are located in New York City.

   Portable People Meter(TM) and PPM(TM)  are marks of Arbitron Inc.   Arbitron Forward-Looking Statements  

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statements regarding Arbitron Inc. and its subsidiaries in this document that are not historical in nature, particularly those that utilize terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "likely," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," or "plans," or comparable terminology, are forward-looking statements based on current expectations about future events, which we have derived from information currently available to us. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our results to be materially different from results implied in such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, in no particular order, whether we will be able to:

   --  successfully implement the commercialization of our Portable People       Meter(TM) service;   --  successfully maintain industry usage of our services in light of       governmental regulation, legislation, litigation, activism or adverse       public relations efforts prompted by various industry groups and       market segments;   --  successfully design, recruit and maintain PPM panels that       appropriately balance research quality, panel size and operational       cost;   --  complete the Media Rating Council ("MRC") audits of our local market       PPM ratings services in a timely manner and successfully obtain and/or       maintain MRC accreditation for our audience measurement business;   --  renew contracts with large customers as they expire;   --  successfully execute our business strategies, including entering into       potential acquisition, joint-venture or other material third-party       agreements;   --  effectively manage the impact, if any, of any further ownership shifts       in the radio and advertising agency industries;   --  respond to 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;   --  successfully manage the impact on costs of data collection due to       lower respondent cooperation in surveys, privacy concerns, consumer       trends, technology changes and/or government regulations; and   --  successfully develop and implement technology solutions to measure new       forms of audio content and delivery, multimedia and advertising in an       increasingly competitive environment.    

There are a number of additional important factors that could cause actual events or our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the risk factors set forth in the caption "ITEM 1A. --- RISK FACTORS" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, and elsewhere, and any subsequent periodic or current reports filed by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In addition, any forward-looking statements contained in this document represent our estimates only as of the date hereof, and should not be relied upon as representing our estimates as of any subsequent date. While we may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so, even if our estimates change.

   Thom Mocarsky   Arbitron Inc.   410-312-8239   thom.mocarsky@arbitron.com  

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Arbitron Inc.

CONTACT: Thom Mocarsky of Arbitron Inc., +1-410-312-8239,
thom.mocarsky@arbitron.com

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Profile: International Entertainment