Nielsen To Acquire Arbitron

David Calhoun

NIELSEN HOLDINGS has signed a definitive agreement to acquire ARBITRON INC.

NIELSEN has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of ARBITRON for $48 per share in cash, representing a premium of approximately 26% to ARBITRON's closing price on DECEMBER 17, 2012. NIELSEN has a financing commitment for the total transaction amount. The transaction has been approved by the boards of both companies and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory review.

"U.S. consumers spend almost 2 hours a day with radio. It is and will continue to be a vibrant and important advertising medium," said NIELSEN CEO DAVID CALHOUN. "ARBITRON will help NIELSEN better solve for unmeasured areas of media consumption, including streaming audio and out-of-home. The high level of engagement with radio and TV among rapidly growing multicultural audiences makes this central to Nielsen’s priorities."

With ARBITRON assets, NIELSEN intends to further expand its "Watch" segment's audience measurement across screens and forms of listening. "These integrated, innovative capabilities will enable broader measurement of consumer media behavior in more markets around the world," said NIELSEN Pres./Global Media Products and Advertiser Solutions STEVE HASKER. "We will also bring local clients greater visibility to empower more precise advertising placement and campaign effectiveness."

"Radio reaches more than 92% of all American teens and adults because they love to listen to music, talk, news and information while at home, at work and in their cars," said ARBITRON Pres./CEO WILLIAM T. KERR. "By combining Nielsen’s global capabilities and scale with ARBITRON’s unique radio measurement and listening information, advertisers and media clients will have better insights into consumer behavior and the return on marketing investments."

On a conference call, CALHOUN noted that he always, "had high regard for the people at ARBITRON."

Outgoing ARBITRON CEO BILL KERR added that the move was "putting together two cultures of excellence."

Last week (NET NEWS 12/13), The Board of Directors of ARBITRON announced plans to appoint SEAN R. CREAMER as Pres./CEO effective JANUARY 1st. Upon his appointment, CREAMER will succeed WILLIAM T. KERR, who has announced his intention to retire as Pres./CEO on JANUARY 1st. As for CREAMER and all ARBITRON employees' future under the new ownership, CALHOUN said, "we're doing our best to keep them."

CCM+E Chairman/CEO JOHN HOGAN reacted to the news, saying "We think it's a step in the right direction that NIELSEN recognizes that Radio, TV and digital are the top three critical media to marketers, and that this combination has the potential to offer broader insights and better measurement across multiple platforms."

MMTC Pres. DAVID HONIG added, "NIELSEN's acquisition of ARBITRON is welcome news for multicultural entrepreneurs, programmers and audiences.  NIELSEN has unparalleled expertise in accurately measuring multicultural viewership, demographics, and consumer trends such as audience engagement.  As audio, video and print content transitions to IP, it's reassuring that the leading audience measurement company has such an outstanding record of accurately and thoroughly measuring multicultural populations across several technologies."

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