Arbitron reaches agreement with the Maryland AG.

Arbitron Inc. announced that it has reached an agreement with the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland regarding the company’s Portable People Meter radio ratings services in Washington D.C. and Baltimore.

Arbitron has agreed to a number of actions in these two radio markets consistent with its ongoing continuous improvement programs for the Portable People Meter ratings services.

Michael Skarzynski, president and chief executive officer, stated: “The company’s long-standing continuous improvement programs are a powerful framework for enhancing our Portable People Meter radio ratings services. This agreement with the Maryland Attorney General further indicates that Arbitron is proceeding along the appropriate course as we commercialize PPM in the top radio markets.”

Arbitron commercialized the PPMTM radio ratings service in Washington D.C. on December 31, 2008. The Washington D.C. radio market includes the following geographic areas in Maryland: Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties.

In summary, within the PPM service for the Washington D.C. radio market, Arbitron has agreed to:

– Recruit panelists using a combination of telephone-based and addressed-based sampling methods. Arbitron has committed to use the address-based sampling technique for at least 10 percent of its sampling efforts by or before October 1, 2009 and at least 15 percent of its recruitment efforts by the end of December 2010;

– Increase cell-phone-only sampling to at least 10 percent of all recruitment efforts by or before October 1, 2009 and at least 15 percent of all recruitment efforts by the end of December 2010;

– Take all reasonable measures to ensure a minimum Sample Performance Indicator (SPI) of 15 percent and to obtain and maintain a minimum SPI of 17 percent by June 2010 with a target SPI for the market of 20 percent or higher;

– Take all reasonable measures to ensure average in-tab rates of at least 75 percent for the overall persons age 6 and older population, and to ensure that categories and subcategories comprising 10 percent or more of the radio population for the market fall within 85 percent of the overall 75 percent target;

– Provide to Washington D.C. market subscribers monthly reports detailing the PPM installed and in-tab sample sizes by individual zip code;

– Take all reasonable measures to obtain accreditation for the PPM radio ratings service from the Media Rating Council; and

– Include a disclaimer on written promotional material and websites indicating that PPM ratings are based on audience estimates and should not be relied on for precise accuracy or precise representativeness of the radio market.