Arbitron Prospers in Q1

Radio ratings giant Arbitron has seen first quarter 2011 net revenue rise 5.2% to $100.9m, from $95.9m in the prior year period, while net income rose 18.2% to $16.2m.

Costs and expenses for the first quarter 2011 increased by 1.5%, to $71.8m (Q1 2010 = $70.7m) because of costs associated with commercializing the Portable People Meter (PPM) in the second half of 2010; only partially offset by savings on the operation of the diary service.

Operating income in the first quarter of 2011 increased 15.5%, to $29.1m.

William Kerr, President and CEO, comments: 'For the balance of 2011, we still expect revenue to grow faster than costs. Because we have fully commercialized the PPM service in all 48 markets, we anticipate margin expansion as our costs stabilize and as we continue to benefit from the phase-in of pricing for our PPM service.'

For the full year 2011, Arbitron continues to expect revenue to increase between 6% and 8% compared to 2010 revenue of $395.4m.

Last month, the Media Rating Council (MRC) accredited the monthly average-quarter-hour radio ratings data produced by Arbitron's PPM in 11 more markets, bringing the total number to 14. To date MRC accreditation has been denied in the other 34 PPM markets, based on the findings of the 2010 audits.

Web site: www.arbitron.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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