Arbitron spells out new guarantee

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“The Arbitron Radio Advisory Council has recommended that we narrow the guardrails of our current PPM sample guarantee to Persons 18-54. We have considered the Council’s recommendation and believe that a Persons 18-54 guarantee is an appropriate next step in our efforts to enhance the quality of our PPM services,” said Arbitron CEO Steve Morris in a company announcement corresponding to yesterday’s completion of the RAC meeting in Atlanta. “Meeting sample targets is an integral part of our effort to instill greater confidence in the currency and we hold ourselves accountable for doing so. The revised guarantee is keyed to Persons 18-54, where most radio selling is focused. If we meet our targets, there will be no need for rebates. We feel confident that we can meet these targets on the schedule provided in the new sample guarantee program,” Morris added.


Here is when and how Arbitron says the new PPM sample size guarantee will take effect:
In Houston and Philadelphia, the two markets in which PPM has already been commercialized, the Persons 18-54 sample size guarantee will take effect with the release of the December 2007 PPM survey month (November 13 – December 10, 2007) which is scheduled to be delivered to clients on December 31, 2007.

In future PPM markets, the Persons 18-54 sample size guarantee will take effect with the release of the third “currency” PPM survey month.

According to the revised commercialization schedule announced on November 26, the next round of PPM markets will be commercialized with the release of the September PPM survey month (August 21 – September 17, 2008), which is scheduled to be delivered to clients on October 8, 2008.

In these markets, the third PPM currency month under the revised schedule would be November (October 16 – November 12, 2008), which is scheduled to be delivered to clients on December 3, 2008. The markets that are scheduled to commercialize with the release of the September PPM survey month are New York, Nassau–Suffolk, Middlesex–Somerset–Union, Los Angeles, Riverside, Chicago, San Francisco and San Jose.

Under the terms of this program, Arbitron will rebate to its PPM customers an aggregate amount equal to the product of (i) one percent of the net license fee actually paid by the customer for PPM radio ratings in a market for a monthly survey period in which the company’s delivered average daily in-tab among Persons aged 18-54 falls below the 80 percent threshold, multiplied by (ii) the number of percentage points by which the Company’s delivered average daily in-tab in such market among Persons aged 18-54 falls below the 80 percent threshold during the applicable monthly survey period. The rebate will be credited in the last invoice of the calendar year.