Arbitron to report additional forms of Radio in its Ratings Services.

Arbitron Inc. announced that effective with the release of the Fall 2006 survey reports, public and non-commercial radio stations will be eligible for reporting in the company’s local market ratings reports.

The company is also deferring its previously discussed plans to report individual satellite radio channels in order to further refine rules for crediting satellite radio entries, including the rules for handling diary entries that could be assigned to either satellite or over-the-air stations.

Public and non-commercial radio stations

Public and non-commercial radio stations will be included in the electronic local market reports (eBook), in the data sets used in buy/sell software applications such as Tapscan, Smart Plus and third party software applications.

Public and non-commercial radio stations will need to meet the same minimum reporting standards for the particular reporting service that are currently applied to commercial radio stations. These reporting standards apply to listening collected by the standard Arbitron radio listening diary and by the Arbitron Portable People Meter (PPMSM).

Public and non-commercial radio stations are currently reported in Arbitron’s Maximi$er® and Media ProfessionalSM respondent level data services and in the special public radio service marketed by the Radio Research Consortium (RRC). Non-commercial stations are also currently reported in Arbitron’s national radio ratings services such as Nationwide and the National/Regional Database (NRD).

Satellite radio channel reporting plans deferred for further study

At the Arbitron Radio Advisory Council meeting in July and in other forums, Arbitron had discussed plans to report individual Satellite radio channels in the Fall 2006 survey reports.

The company has since decided that it will collect and analyze additional data to further establish and test the rules for handling various types of entries that could be satellite listening, including entries that could be assigned to either satellite or over-the-air stations.

“As an example, we want to test the rules necessary to assign entries such as NFL football, or MLB baseball since these programs are broadcast on both over-the-air radio and satellite,” said Brad Feldhaus, VP Product Management and Client Services, Arbitron Inc.

The company hopes to begin reporting individual satellite radio channels in its survey reports at some point in 2007.

“We recognize the implementation date for reporting satellite in local markets has moved previously and for this reason we hesitate to provide another target survey date until we have this desired additional data,” said Mr. Feldhaus.

Improved diary instructions and designs to facilitate further study

Effective with the Fall 2006 survey, the instruction page on the inside of the diary cover is modified to incorporate Internet/Satellite instructions. These changes include a modification to the language describing the term “listening,” as follows:

“Listening” is any time you can hear a radio station – whether you choose the station or not. You may be listening to a radio on AM, FM, Internet or satellite. Be sure to include all your listening.

In addition, the instruction, “If you listen over the Internet or to a satellite radio service, please include the station name or channel number” is added following the instruction, “Write the call letters, dial setting or station name. If you don’t know, write down the program name,” and references to “Internet” and “Satellite” are added to the checklist and sample appearing on the inside cover of the diary.

Arbitron tested revised Internet and Satellite instructions during Winter 2006, Phase II. The results indicate that the revised instructions help improve the quality of entries and remind diary keepers to record their listening to Internet and satellite radio.

“Thanks to these improved instructions, we expect the volume of satellite entries to rise and the quality of entries to improve. We will review the content of these entries over a period of surveys to better inform and enhance our edit rules,” said Mr. Feldhaus.

In winter 2007, Arbitron will conduct a test of new diary designs that will allow listeners to more easily report, Satellite and Internet listening and HD Radio along with AM/FM entries. Arbitron is also making systems changes that will allow the reporting of satellite , HD2 channels and internet-streamed terrestrial radio as separate stations with their full station name in Arbitron’s desktop software programs.

HD Radio side channel reporting standards under development

Starting with the winter 2007 survey, Arbitron will begin collecting HD radio facilities information as part of the station information collection process. The Winter 2007 station information forms will mail in November 2006.

Arbitron will continue to review diaries for early indications of how consumers will identify and report HD Radio.

In PPM markets in 2007, encoded HD radio stations will be reported in the PPM Analysis Tool.