Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) announced on January 22nd that it will increase the sample target for cell-phone-only households in all Portable People MeterTM markets to 15 percent by year end 2010. In an interim step, the current target of 7.5 percent will be raised to 12.5 percent in PPMTM markets by year-end 2009.“Arbitron has developed, tested and is presently implementing an address-based sampling method to identify and contact cell-phone-only households,” said Bob Patchen, chief research officer, Arbitron Inc. “This new method is more efficient than the manual dialing procedures we had been using and thus allows us to substantially increase the number of CPO persons included in our panels. We are also retaining the random-digit-dialing (RDD) sampling method for landline homes because that approach enables telephone contact with a higher percentage of landline homes not listed in telephone directories. These unlisted landline households are more likely than listed ones to contain Hispanics, African-Americans and young adults. The better response achieved with telephone contact can improve the overall representation of these groups in our PPM samples.”

“Increasing the number of cell-phone-only households in our PPM samples is an important element in our ongoing programs to enhance the participation of 18-34 year olds of all races and ethnicities,” said Owen Charlebois, president, Technology and Research & Development. “As the number of households that can be reached only by cell-phone continues to grow, Arbitron will update its methodologies to better include this important segment of the population.”

For the New York PPM radio ratings service, Arbitron has already announced that it would increase the cell-phone-only sample target to 15 percent by July 2010.

Cell-phone-only sampling plans for diary markets 
On December 15, 2008, Arbitron announced plans to expand the introduction of cell-phone-only sampling to 151 diary markets in Spring 2009 and to all diary markets (except Puerto Rico) by Fall 2009.

In diary markets, Arbitron also plans to use an address-based sample frame as the foundation of its cell-phone-only sample, while maintaining the random-digit-dial (RDD) sample frame for landline households.

The expansion of cell phone-only sampling to 151 diary markets in the spring assumes that the company is able to complete the development of software necessary to support the rollout as scheduled. If the company is not able to develop the software as expected, the planned acceleration of cell phone-only sampling could be delayed. Arbitron expects to confirm its plans for cell-phone-only sampling for the Spring 2009 survey by late February.

About the Portable People Meter 
The Arbitron Portable People Meter^TM system uses a passive audience measurement device – about the size of a small cell phone – to track consumer exposure to media and entertainment, including broadcast, cable and satellite television; terrestrial, satellite and online radio as well as cinema advertising and many types of place-based electronic media. Carried throughout the day by randomly selected survey participants, the PPM^TM device can track when and where they watch television, listen to radio as well as how they interact with other forms of media and entertainment.

The PPM detects inaudible codes embedded in the audio portion of media and entertainment content delivered by broadcasters, content providers and distributors. At the end of the day, the meter is placed in a docking station that extracts the codes and sends them to a central computer. The PPM is equipped with a motion sensor, a patented quality control feature unique to the system, which allows Arbitron to confirm the compliance of the PPM survey participants every day.

PPM ratings are based on audience estimates and represent the opinion of Arbitron. PPM ratings, like all audience estimates however derived, should not be relied on for precise accuracy or precise representativeness of a demographic or radio market.

About Arbitron 
Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) is a media and marketing research firm serving the media – radio, television, cable, online radio and out-of-home – as well as advertisers and advertising agencies in the United States. Arbitron’s core businesses are measuring network and local market radio audiences across the United States; surveying the retail, media and product patterns of local market consumers; and providing application software used for analyzing media audience and marketing information data. The company has developed the Portable People Meter, a new technology for media and marketing research.

Through its Scarborough Research joint venture with The Nielsen Company, Arbitron provides additional media and marketing research services to the broadcast television, newspaper and online industries.

Arbitron’s marketing and business units are supported by a world-renowned research and technology organization located in Columbia, Maryland.

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