Arbitron Hires Nielsen Veteran Bhatia as EVP

US ratings giant Arbitron has appointed Nielsen veteran Manish Bhatia as Executive Vice President, New Product Innovation, to direct the firm's cross-platform initiatives and lead teams tasked with developing non-radio research services.

Bhatia (pictured) joins with more than 23 years' experience of Internet and TV research. Most recently, he served as CEO of ad performance analytics firm Symphony Advanced Media (SymphonyAM), which was formed last year following Symphony Technology Group's acquisition of cross-media brand measurement specialist Factor Technology Group.

Prior to this, he spent 21 years at Nielsen in senior roles in the Internet and TV research divisions. These included EVP of Global Operations and US sales for Nielsen Online, where he led the integration of NetRatings after its 2007 acquisition, and developed services to deliver cross-media insights. Latterly, he served as President, Advanced TV, leading efforts to use set-top box tuning data to create new insights into TV audience behavior. He left Nielsen in 2010.

In his new role, Bhatia reports to Sean Creamer, Arbitron's EVP and Chief Operating Officer, who comments: 'In addition to his leadership role for the company's growth initiatives, Manish will serve as a key partner for the Radio Service Innovation team which is led by Gregg Lindner, EVP and Chief Research Officer. Gregg and Manish will both focus on ways to leverage the potential of our PPM technology and consumer panel for current and emerging customer groups.'

Bhatia will be based in New York and will maintain an office at the Arbitron headquarters in Columbia, Maryland.

Web site: www.arbitron.com .