By: Akhil Anand Yadav

Arbitron
Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) is a media and marketing research firm serving the mediaradio, television, cable and out-of-homeas well as advertisers and advertising agencies. Arbitrons 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. Arbitrons headquarters and its world-renowned research and engineering organizations are located in Columbia, Maryland. Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau (ARB) by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s. The company's initial business was the collection of broadcast television ratings. The company changed its name to Arbitron in the mid 1960s, the namesake of the Arbitron System - a centralized 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.

INFORMATION SERVICES
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Local radio ratings in the United States Network and national radio audience measurement in the United States Local market and regional qualitative consumer and media usage information in the United States Software services to help customers analyze and understand media and consumer data

Methods Survey
Arbitron's syndicated radio ratings service collects data by selecting a random sample of a population throughout the U.S., primarily in 294 metropolitan areas, using a paper diary service two to four times a year and Portable People Meter (PPM) electronic audience measurement service 365 days a year. The term commonly used in the radio industry for these ratings is Arbitron book, a carryover from the era when ratings were published in a soft-cover report that was mailed to clients. More specifically, in the diary-measured markets these reports were called the Spring book, Summer book, Fall book, andWinter book. Between these "books," Arbitron releases interim monthly reports called Arbitrends, which contain data from the previous three months known as "rolling average" reports. The two interm reports would be known, for example, as "Spring, Phase I" and "Spring Phase II. Arbitron recruits diary survey respondents to note their listening habits in a seven-day paper diary and mail it back to Arbitron. The respondents are paid a small cash incentive for their participation. Turnaround time for release of data from the end of the survey period is approximately three weeks.

After collection, the data is marketed to radio broadcasters, radio networks, cable companies, advertisers, advertising agencies, out-of-home advertising companies and the online radio industry.[3]Major ratings products include cume (the cumulative number of unique listeners over a period), average quarter hour (AQH Share - the average number of people listening in a given 15-minute period),time spent listening, (TSL), and market breakdowns by age, gender and race/ethnic demographic. It is important to understand that the "cume" only counts a listener once, whereas the AQH is a product of "cume" and time spent listening. For example, if you looked into a room and saw Fred and Jane, then 15 minutes later saw Fred with Sara. The "cume" would be 3 (Fred, Jane, Sara) and the AQH would be 2 (an average of two people in the room in a given 15 minute period).

Portable People Meter

Responding to requests from its customers radio broadcasters, ad agencies and advertisers that expressed their interest in the collection of more accurate ratings data, Arbitron introduced thePortable People Meter (PPM) service in 2007. The PPM is a wearable portable device much like a pager or cell phone, that electronically gathers inaudible codes that identify the source of a broadcast, such as a radio station. Arbitron recruits and compensates a cross section of consumers to wear the meter for an average of one year and up to two years. The audience estimates generated from each monthly survey is used as the buy/sell currency for radio stations and advertisers/agencies. As of December 2009, the PPM is the currency in thirty three markets including:Houston, Philadelphia, New York, Atlanta, Detroit, Long Island, Middlesex-SomersetUnion, Chicago, Los Angeles, Riverside-San Bernardino, San Francisco, Jacksonville, Baltimore, and San Jose. By year end 2010, 48 markets will be measured using the PPM.

ARBITRON TECHNOLOGY SERVICES INDIA

Arbitron Technology Services India Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Arbitron Inc., is looking for talented, motivated people with a proven track record in software engineering and development, technology development or research analytics to join our team in Kochi. Successful candidates will have the opportunity to participate in the development of next-generation products and service offerings in an expanding and exciting work environment. At Arbitron Technology Services India, we believe a company is only as good as its people. Our mission is to create a truly diverse workplace where the uniqueness of each individual is sought, valued and respected in every aspect of the organization. Our performance-oriented culture seeks to empower our employees to innovate and excel through:
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Participation in the companys successat Arbitron, employee involvement is the norm Individual initiative combined with teamwork A Wi Fi-enabled workplace with an integrated outdoor garden to provide workplace flexibility Indoor recreation amenities to help employees manage stress and achieve a work/life balance Competitive compensation

Arbitron, an international media and market research firm serving the media radio, television, cable, online radio, advertisers and advertising agencies in the US and Europe for the last 60 years, has set up its fully-owned subsidiary, Arbitron India, in Kochi. The centre was formally inaugurated on January 5, 2009, by Steve Morris, chairman, president and CEO, Arbitron Inc, at Tejomaya, L&T's new IT Park located inside Infopark in Kochi.

The Kochi centre had been set up as a world class facility for software engineering, R&D and product development to support Arbitron's vision to serve the media and market research industry worldwide. Arbitron India will also play a key role in the development of technology and providing operational support for the implementation of research firm's flagship service, Portable People Meter (PPM), and other products, which are being installed throughout the US and other countries. Arbitron has chosen India to enable implementation of its strategic worldwide initiatives, and Kochi, with its serene environment, is fast emerging as an important IT destination, attracting talent pool across India and abroad. Following the setting up of its back office in Kochi, the company is believed to be recruiting the best and the brightest talent available around the world, who would have the opportunity to work on the latest cutting edge technologies, product innovation, media, mobile, telecom R&D, media and market research, statistics and analytics.