Arbitron Inc. (ARB), with executive offices in New York city, is a media and marketing research firm serving media such as radio, television, cable, online radio, and advertisers and advertising agencies in the U.S. The company measures network and local-market radio audiences; surveys the retail, media and product patterns of local-market consumers; and provides application software used for analyzing media audience and marketing information data. Through its Scarborough Research joint venture with The Nielsen Company, the company provides additional media and marketing research services to the broadcast television, newspaper and online industries.

This week Arbitron released its June 2008 RADAR radio network audience reports (RADAR 97) for the period April 5, 2007 to April 2, 2008. RADAR (Radio’s All Dimension Audience Research) measures network commercial audiences by merging radio listening information with clearance data for broadcasts and commercial exposures. The RADAR 97 reports include Portable People Meter™ (PPM), a new technology for media and marketing research, and diary respondents.

The report revealed that during the survey period, 73% of U.S. consumers ages 12+ heard one or more network radio commercials in the course of a week. Among the prime audience demographics sought by advertisers, the commercials aired on the 58 radio networks reached an average of: 73% ages 18+; 73% ages 35+; 74% ages 18-49; and 74% ages 25-54. The 58 measured networks are operated by such media outlets as ABC Radio Networks, Westwood One Radio Networks and American Urban Radio Networks.

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