Arbitron Inc. (NYSE:ARB) today announced that the Philadelphia Phillies, the Philadelphia Major League Baseball (MLB) team has signed a multi-year contract for Portable People Meter (PPM) custom radio ratings services.
Using the existing PPM panel installed in Philadelphia for syndicated radio ratings, Arbitron will generate custom reports of pre-, post-, in-game and total broadcast listening estimates for the Phillies 2007, 2008 and 2009 baseball seasons. The survey will include a report of exclusive game broadcast average-quarter-hour and cumulative (Cume) audience estimates to Phillies broadcasts on WPHT-AM, the flagship station of the Phillies Radio Network.
"Baseball has always had a magical relationship with radio, and teams use radio each season as a way to stay connected to their fan base and generate revenue," said Rob MacPherson, Director of Corporate Partnerships, Philadelphia Phillies. "We at the Phillies embrace the opportunity to bring our game to our fans on the radio each year. As a trusted and reliable source of radio audience measurement, Arbitron has always understood the unique and special relationship between the game of baseball and the radio medium. With the advent of the Portable People Meter, teams are now able to quantify their loyal audiences like never before, enabling us to better understand our fans and better serve our advertisers.”
The Philadelphia Phillies will broadcast all 162 regular season games during the 2008 baseball season on the Big Talker 1210 WPHT-AM. In addition, WPHT-AM will air 15 Spring Training games and all Phillies post-season games for which the Phillies might qualify.
About Arbitron
Arbitron Inc. (NYSE:ARB) is a media and marketing research firm serving radio broadcasters, cable companies, advertisers, advertising agencies and outdoor advertising companies. 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.
Arbitron's marketing and business units are supported by its research and technology organization, located in Columbia, Maryland. Arbitron has approximately 2,100 employees; its executive offices are located in New York City.
Through its Scarborough Research joint venture with The Nielsen Company, Arbitron also provides media and marketing research services to the broadcast television, newspaper and online industries