Arbitron receives Media Rating Council accreditation for PPM.

Arbitron Inc. announced that the Media Rating Council (MRC) has accredited the Portable People MeterTM radio ratings data in Houston.

“This is a significant milestone for Arbitron and for the radio industry,” said Steve Morris, president and chief executive officer, Arbitron Inc. “This is the first completely new, electronic methodology for broadcast ratings since the set-top, push-button people meter was introduced in the late 1980s. It’s the only personal, portable electronic meter system in the world that’s ever been subjected to an MRC audit and has met the accreditation standards of the Media Rating Council for a radio ratings service.”

“Obtaining accreditation of the Houston PPMTM radio ratings data is a major accomplishment-two years in the making-for the industry and for Arbitron. Users of the new PPM radio ratings currency in Houston – monthly data based on average quarter hour radio ratings-can have confidence that the radio methodology, sampling systems and survey processes that are the foundation of the PPM service have been independently and thoroughly audited and have met the standards of the MRC,” said Owen Charlebois, president, Operations, Technology and Research & Development, Arbitron Inc. “We are grateful for the hard work of the MRC staff, their auditors and the members of the MRC committees who worked tirelessly to help us complete the rigorous accreditation process.”

“The MRC appreciates the extensive commitment Arbitron made to the accreditation process for the Houston PPM service.” said George Ivie, executive director, Media Rating Council. “We broke a lot of new ground over the last two years, and Arbitron worked with us constructively during the audit and thereafter to ensure necessary audit committee learning took place. We know that supporting this large audit internally and externally has been a challenge for Arbitron.”
Next Steps in the Rollout of Arbitron PPM Radio Ratings in Houston

Now that MRC accreditation has been granted for the Houston Portable People Meter radio ratings data, Arbitron will meet with its customers-radio broadcasters, agencies and advertisers-to determine the most appropriate schedule for commercializing the electronic radio ratings service in Houston.

In March 2006, at the request of the Arbitron Radio Advisory Council, Arbitron agreed to wait until it received MRC accreditation for the PPM radio ratings service in Houston before it would “discontinue ” the diaries and make the PPM the “currency” radio ratings service in Houston.

Arbitron is currently conducting a Winter 2007 survey in Houston using its standard diary methodology. Arbitron intends to complete that diary survey and deliver a full suite of ratings reports for the Winter 2007 survey in April.

Status of Arbitron Portable People Meter Television Ratings in Houston

Arbitron is pursuing MRC accreditation for the broadcast television and cable television data in Houston that utilize the same PPM technology and respondents as the radio ratings data.

Because Arbitron does not have, at this time, a license to use its current source of MRC-approved language universe estimates in Houston to sample-balance television audience estimates, the television data have not yet been granted accreditation by the MRC.

Because of the importance of the weighting procedure, the MRC has requested that Arbitron not represent any television ratings data from the Houston PPM service as accredited until it is able to language-weight the television ratings data by the language usage of Hispanic respondents using MRC-approved methods and universe estimates.

Arbitron can and does sample-balance radio audience estimates by the language usage of Hispanic respondents in Houston.

The MRC Accreditation Process

MRC accreditation means that the Houston PPM radio ratings service delivers radio audience estimates that meet the MRC’s Minimum Standards for Media Rating Research, which include requirements for ethics and operations, for disclosure and for electronic delivery tools. Accreditation helps ensure that audience measurement products are “valid, reliable and effective.” In addition, the MRC membership actively pursues research issues they consider priorities in an effort to improve the quality of research in the marketplace.

MRC accreditation begins with an audit, which is a detailed and rigorous review of every aspect of a ratings service that has applied for MRC accreditation. The cost of the audit is paid for by the company seeking accreditation.

Over a two-year period, the audit team inspected all aspects of the PPM methodology as deployed in the Houston demonstration. The audit included, for example:

– Laboratory and real-world field tests of the PPM technology: encoders, meters, automatic data collection and editing systems, in-home/out-of-home tracking system and other technical aspects of the system;
– An end-to-end evaluation and verification of the PPM software, including the development process, documentation and functionality;
– A thorough examination of the address-based sample design and sampling execution that are unique to the PPM Houston service;
– An examination of panel recruitment and installation methods and results;
– A detailed assessment of sample performance, proportionality and in-tab rates;
– An assessment of data processing, universe estimate and weighting procedures; and
– An assessment of the rating service disclosures of methodology and survey performance.

The multi-phase audit was completed in early 2006 and delivered to the MRC staff and audit committee members for their review. Since January, the MRC’s PPM audit committee members (who include television and radio broadcasters, cablecasters, advertisers, advertising agencies and industry trade associations) reviewed and discussed the audit findings; asked questions and gathered responses from Arbitron on a number of issues. In the course of this process, Arbitron submitted to the PPM audit subcommittee a comprehensive plan to improve respondent compliance, which will be implemented throughout 2007. A number of the projects outlined in the plan are under way, and Arbitron will continue to work with the MRC in assessing the results of these efforts and determining next steps as necessary. Additionally, Arbitron will be releasing a new PPM ratings delivery tool in 2007, which is currently being audited by the MRC.