Arbitron Revs Up 1.8% In Q2

William T. Kerr

ARBITRON INC. has announced results for the second quarter ended JUNE 30th, 2010. The Company reported revenue of $88.3 million, an increase of 1.8% as compared to revenue of $86.8 million during the second quarter of 2009.

Costs and expenses for Q2 increased by 2.1%, from $85.9 million in 2009 to $87.7 million in 2010, which ARBITRON claims is "due primarily to the continued commercialization of the PORTABLE PEOPLE METER. Also in the quarter, ARBITRON incurred a one-time expense of approximately $1.5 million relating to our previously announced executive staff realignment."

Earnings before interest, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the quarter was $12.9 million, an increase of 6.4% compared with EBITDA of $12.2 million for the second quarter of 2009.

For the second quarter of 2010, net income was $3.8 million, an increase of 8.7% compared with $3.5 million for the second quarter of 2009. Earnings per share (diluted) was $0.14 for the quarter versus $0.13 for the second quarter of 2009.

Said Pres./CEO WILLIAM T. KERR, "In the second quarter, the radio advertising marketplace continued to improve. As the ad economy brightens, we continue to work with customers to help the radio industry take better advantage of the rebound in advertising dollars. Our efforts in the second quarter also yielded significant progress towards our near-term and longer-term goals. We settled the outstanding disputes with the PPM Coalition and created a plan to move forward collaboratively."

"We maintained our focus on improving the sample quality of our PPM and diary-based ratings services," KERR continued. "We also developed the systems and trained the field staff for the launch of our targeted in-person recruiting program. We unveiled the PPM 360, our next generation electronic measurement device, which is a step toward our goal of delivering PPM technology on smart phones and other internet-enabled devices. Finally, at the end of the quarter, we announced a new management structure that is designed to enhance ARBITRON's focus on the value and quality of our services. I believe this new structure is also more customer-focused and collaborative -- which can help support the growth of both the radio industry and of the Company. Our other priorities for the balance of 2010 remain straightforward. We will work toward the completion of the commercialization of the PPM ratings service. We will continue our programs that are designed to improve key sample quality metrics for our PPM and diary services and further develop our cross-platform measurement capabilities."

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