Arbitron Announces Custom Research For Broadcast Sporting Events.

Arbitron Inc. is offering a new custom research service that will enhance audience estimates for local radio listening to sporting events. This is the first time the company will provide sports broadcasters with custom play-by-play listening data of a selected event or series of events.

The customized sports studies will deliver pre-, post- and in-game Average-Quarter-Hour and Cume ratings. Combined with Arbitron’s local market ratings service, the studies will present a more complete measurement of the broadcast audience to sporting events. Arbitron will work with agencies, advertisers and media buyers to ensure the information addresses their needs.

“As the marketplace evolves, radio broadcasters are looking to provide advertisers with more accountability and efficiency, with a clear return on investment,” said Bill Rose, Senior Vice President, Marketing US Media Services. “Radio broadcasts of sporting events attract targeted and highly desirable demographics. This service will provide improved audience estimates to quantitatively support advertising for those events.”

How the Sports Play-by-play Studies Will Work

The telephone-based survey will be conducted the day after the radio broadcast of the selected event or series of events. Interviewers will ask about radio listening during a pre-determined daypart which will include the pre-game, game and post-game broadcasts. All survey participants will be age 18 and older. Additional options will be available to clients including: the listening location and listening frequency and consumer impressions of the sports broadcast.