Unique Combination of Portable People Meter Technology, Online Panel and Online Analytics to Provide Single-Source Measurement
COLUMBIA, MD — December 4, 2009 —Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) announced today that together with online marketing research and analytics companies comScore, Inc. and Omniture, an Adobe company (NASDAQ:ADBE), it is collaborating with NBC Sports, a division of NBC Universal, Inc. to provide reliable and credible cross-platform audience measurement for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Arbitron, comScore and Omniture will help track NBC’s total Olympic coverage reach across its broadcast, cable and online platforms, providing NBC with unique insights on cross-platform media usage, simultaneous media usage and incremental audience via online video. NBC expects to have access to day-after-next results.
The three companies expect to provide NBC with a 360-degree view of its 2010 Winter Olympic audience by leveraging Arbitron’s Portable People Meter™ (PPM™) technology, comScore’s panel-based measurement platform and Omniture’s industry-leading online analytics.
The PPM device is a portable cell-phone sized meter that detects an inaudible code that is embedded in any encoded audio stream and provides person-level media exposure information. By leveraging the unique mobility of the PPM technology, Arbitron plans to follow NBC’s 2010 Winter Olympic audience throughout their day and capture their in-home and out-of-home media exposure.
“Industry leaders like NBC need to have deeper insights about consumers who access its programming via multiple platforms, in multiple locations,” said Pierre Bouvard, Arbitron Executive Vice President of Cross-Platform Services. “Arbitron is at the forefront of cross-platform media measurement. We are proud to leverage the power of the PPM media measurement service to help NBC gain that insight for their Olympic programming at the consumer-level wherever they access media.”
“Olympics’ audiences are increasingly embracing a cross-platform approach, with a rich mix of broadcast, Web content and online video included in their Olympics experience,” said NBC Universal President, Research and Media Development Alan Wurtzel. “This research initiative will help us enhance that Olympics experience through better insights into how our audience accesses events home or away from home, using the television and the Internet. We are pleased to include this media research innovation led by Arbitron in collaboration with comScore and Omniture in our Billion Dollar Research Lab, to illustrate the dynamics of today’s cross-platform consumer.”
“What’s important about this initiative is that it will be one of the first to shed light into cross-channel viewing at the individual, as opposed to the platform or household level,” said Gian Fulgoni, comScore chairman. “What will matter going forward as the lines between these channels become more and more blurred over time is what the user’s collective viewing experience is. We are pleased to be partnering with Arbitron, Omniture and NBC on such an important, cutting-edge project.”
“Omniture is continuing a strong relationship with NBC, including measuring and optimizing NBC’s online interaction with consumers during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games,” said Matt Belkin, senior vice president, emerging business, Omniture, an Adobe company. “The work we are doing with Arbitron and comScore leverages Omniture’s expertise in helping clients better understand and optimize cross-channel marketing initiatives.”
Arbitron will also establish a consumer research panel of adults 18+ who use broadband Internet access at home. The panel will be a single-source for cross-platform media use during the 2010 Winter Olympics. Arbitron will combine television and cable measurement through use of the PPM technology with online exposure to NBC Olympic programming by comScore and Omniture.
The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games are being held in Vancouver and other locations in British Columbia, Canada from February 12, 2010 through February 28, 2010.
About the Portable People Meter Service
The Arbitron Portable People Meter™ media measurement service 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 as well as cinema advertising and many types of place-based electronic media.
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. 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 device, a new technology for media and marketing research.
Portable People Meter™ and PPM™ are marks of Arbitron Inc.
PPM ratings are based on audience estimates and are the opinion of Arbitron and should not be relied on for precise accuracy or precise representativeness of a demographic or market.
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
About Omniture, An Adobe company
Omniture, a business unit of Adobe Systems Incorporated, is a leading provider of online business optimization software for managing and enhancing online, offline and multi-channel business initiatives. Hosted and delivered via on-demand subscription service and on-premise solution, Omniture software enables customers to capture, store and analyze information generated by their Web sites and other sources, providing business insights into the performance and efficiency of marketing and sales initiatives and other business processes. For more information, visit www.omniture.com.
About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.
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