Arbitron (
NYSE&_160;
ARB) is a
radio audience research company in the
United States which collects listener data on radio audiences similar to that collected by
Nielsen Media Research on television audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became bi-coastal by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s. ARB's initial business was the collection of television broadcast ratings exclusively.
ARB changed its name to Arbitron in the mid 1960s. The name came from the Arbitron System that was one of ARB's products; a central statistical computer with leased lines to viewers' homes to monitor their activity. Deployed in New York, it gave instant ratings data on what people were watching. A reporting board would light up to indicate what home was listening to what broadcast.
Arbitron collects data by selecting a random sample of a population in roughly 100 metros throughout the United States four times a year. An additional 200 markets are surveyed in the Spring and Fall. People in the sample are asked to maintain a written diary describing each radio program listened to. Each selected household agreeing to participate is provided a diary for each member aged 12 and older for one week, beginning on Thursday and ending the following Wednesday. At the end of the week, the completed diaries are returned to Arbitron by post.
A new random sample is selected to participate each week. Arbitron's surveys are broken down into four key ratings periods, roughly corresponding with the seasons and bearing their names.[3] The term commonly used in the radio industry for these quarterly ratings is Arbitron book, or more specifically, the Spring book, Fall book, etc. Arbitron also releases monthly information twice between the release of each book. These ratings, called Arbitrends are labeled Phase I and Phase II. The Arbitrends, despite being mid-term indicators, reflect the entire three-month block leading up to them.[4] Arbitron surveys listener habits from six a.m. to midnight from Monday through Sunday[citation needed], 48 weeks per year. There is given a one week break following the Spring book, and an additional three weeks break following Fall book.[5] Turnaround time for release of data from the end of the survey period is approximately three weeks.
