Arbitron Offers Post-Hurricane Status Reports

Ike Disrupts Arbitron Service

ARBITRON has issued status reports for PPM and Diary radio ratings services in markets impacted by HURRICANES IKE and HURRICANE GUSTAV. For the markets impacted by HURRICANE IKE, the ratings group issued the following report:

Our first concern is for the health and safety of the citizens in the affected markets, our PPM and diary respondents and our ARBITRON colleagues throughout the area.

Daily meetings are taking place at ARBITRON to review the status of surveys and panels in the affected markets. We are monitoring (at a county/sampling unit level) the status of electrical power, telephone service, and postal services, station programming/simulcasts and the survey processing data for the following markets:

HOUSTON-GALVESTON (PPM)
BEAUMONT-PT. ARTHUR, TX
LAKE CHARLES, LA
NEW ORLEANS,
LAFAYETTE, LA
LUFKIN-NACOGDOCHES, LA

PPM HOUSTON-GALVESTON recruitment has been suspended and panel management activities and contacts are being closely monitored, in addition to meter data feeds back to Arbitron, including in-tab and performance metrics.

We are also actively trying to establish contact with radio station engineers to assist in addressing any encoding questions or problems. SEPTEMBER 2008’s Week 4 (SEPTEMBER 11th-17th) data and reporting options will be evaluated later this week once we have reviewed all relevant data for weekly reporting and current market conditions.

For Diary markets, placement calling for the FALL 2008 survey was suspended in areas where mandatory evacuations were implemented due to HURRICANE IKE. Calling has resumed where evacuation orders have been lifted.

With the exception of the suspended areas, Week 3 (OCTOBER 2nd-8th) diary placement begins this week with follow-up calls for Weeks 1 (SEPTEMBER 18th-24th) and 2 (September 25-1) also taking place.

Hurricane Gustav -- Summer 2008 Diary Service

This is the last week of the SUMMER 2008 survey in NEW ORLEANS and BATON ROUGE, where GUSTAV caused major disruption. Diaries for SEPTEMBER 11th-17th (the final week of the 12-week survey) are with respondents. We continue to closely watch the diary returns from these markets from weeks 10 and 11, when GUSTAV made landfall, and the days shortly thereafter. We will not know the final return rate for Week 12 diaries for another two weeks.

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