Arbitron / Nielsen joint venture Project Apollo has reached agreement with four major US radio industry firms, to add audience data for commercials broadcast on their network and syndicated programs to its offer.

The four are Excelsior’s Dial Global, Jones Media America, Clear Channel subsidiary Premiere Radio Networks, Inc. and CBS-managed Westwood One. Data from these participants will now be included in that available to the seven advertisers participating in the Project Apollo Steering Committee.

In addition to the new arrivals, the system currently collects data from seven broadcast television networks; 60 cable television networks; 101 magazines; 2,240 newspapers and five newspaper magazines; and 33 ad circulars & coupon booklets. Television and radio data comes from encoded programs, with panel members incentivized to carry Arbitron’s Portable People Meter, while consumer exposure to the remainder is measured via in-panel web surveys. Data on consumer preference and purchases are also being collected from panelists via ACNielsen’s Homescan technology, which tracks packaged goods purchases.

‘With each monthly release of the multi-media and product sales data from the Project Apollo pilot, our pilot subscribers gain new insights into the power of single-source media and marketing information’ comments Dave Thomas, Nielsen’s President, Media Client Services. Linda Dupree, Arbitron’s Executive VP, PPM New Product Development, says that by agreeing to encoding of commercials for Project Apollo, the four companies are ‘taking accountability for network and nationally syndicated radio to the next level’.

The national pilot panel includes more than 11,000 persons in 5,000 households. Apollo aims to enable a better understanding of the link between consumer exposure to advertising on multiple media and their shopping/purchase behavior; and provide a superior measure of ROI. The pilot results go to seven charter supporters whose annual spend for advertising on measured media tops $6.8 billion.

The companies’ home pages are at www.arbitron.com and www.nielsen.com.

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