Arbitron (ARB), California Attorney General Reach Settlement
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California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced a settlement with Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) over allegations that the method it used to collect ratings information discriminated against radio stations with predominantly African- American and Latino audiences. The settlement is the result of a consumer protection lawsuit filed jointly by the State of California and the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Attorney General Harris, Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen A. Trutanich and San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera alleged that Arbitron Inc.’s implementation of “Portable People Meters” (PPM) to measure radio station listenership in California beginning in 2008 violated the state’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law and Unruh Civil Rights Act by dramatically undercounting minority audiences, causing sharp declines in advertising rates and revenue for many broadcasters.
“This settlement ensures that California’s diverse audiences will be fully counted by Arbitron’s ratings systems and that broadcasters serving these communities will have the opportunity to compete fairly in the marketplace,” said Attorney General Harris. “I am pleased that Arbitron will be revising its practices in the state and thank my partners in this effort, City Attorneys Carmen Trutanich and Dennis Herrera.”
Arbitron’s ratings are based on information provided by sample groups of listeners. In deploying a new system that relied on electronic metering devices in place of personal listenership diaries, Arbitron’s listener recruitment methodology failed to reflect the diversity of broadcast audiences in California markets, according to the complaint filed in San Francisco Superior Court.
The settlement mandates that Arbitron meet concrete metrics in its efforts to ensure that its audience sampling methods are fair and representative of California’s diverse media markets. Specifically, Arbitron will improve its sample-audience recruitment by increasing address-based outreach to 65 percent of its total recruitment activity by December 31, 2012. Previously, recruitment was conducted primarily via land-line telephone, a survey method that failed to adequately include minority households. Arbitron will also take all reasonable steps to increase minority participation in their sample audience panels in five California major media markets.
Additionally, Arbitron will begin incorporating country of origin as a standard demographic characteristic collected from participating Hispanic households-an additional benefit to Spanish-language media outlets. The Columbia, Md.-based media research firm also has agreed to pay a total of $400,000 to the
plaintiffs: $150,000 each to the State of California and City of Los Angeles and $100,000 to the City and County of San Francisco.
Attorney General Harris, Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen A. Trutanich and San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera alleged that Arbitron Inc.’s implementation of “Portable People Meters” (PPM) to measure radio station listenership in California beginning in 2008 violated the state’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law and Unruh Civil Rights Act by dramatically undercounting minority audiences, causing sharp declines in advertising rates and revenue for many broadcasters.
“This settlement ensures that California’s diverse audiences will be fully counted by Arbitron’s ratings systems and that broadcasters serving these communities will have the opportunity to compete fairly in the marketplace,” said Attorney General Harris. “I am pleased that Arbitron will be revising its practices in the state and thank my partners in this effort, City Attorneys Carmen Trutanich and Dennis Herrera.”
Arbitron’s ratings are based on information provided by sample groups of listeners. In deploying a new system that relied on electronic metering devices in place of personal listenership diaries, Arbitron’s listener recruitment methodology failed to reflect the diversity of broadcast audiences in California markets, according to the complaint filed in San Francisco Superior Court.
The settlement mandates that Arbitron meet concrete metrics in its efforts to ensure that its audience sampling methods are fair and representative of California’s diverse media markets. Specifically, Arbitron will improve its sample-audience recruitment by increasing address-based outreach to 65 percent of its total recruitment activity by December 31, 2012. Previously, recruitment was conducted primarily via land-line telephone, a survey method that failed to adequately include minority households. Arbitron will also take all reasonable steps to increase minority participation in their sample audience panels in five California major media markets.
Additionally, Arbitron will begin incorporating country of origin as a standard demographic characteristic collected from participating Hispanic households-an additional benefit to Spanish-language media outlets. The Columbia, Md.-based media research firm also has agreed to pay a total of $400,000 to the
plaintiffs: $150,000 each to the State of California and City of Los Angeles and $100,000 to the City and County of San Francisco.
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