Arbitron Settles California Under-Counting Lawsuit

In the US, ratings giant Arbitron has agreed to pay $400k to settle a lawsuit in California in which it was alleged to have under represented black and Hispanic listeners in California, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The suit - originally filed by the Attorney General of the State of California, the Los Angeles City Attorney, and the San Francisco City Attorney last Wednesday - claimed that Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPM) radio ratings technology 'dramatically' under-counted minority listeners when it was first introduced in 2008.

At that time, Arbitron recruited participants by calling land lines, which the lawsuit claimed under-represents minority populations.

As part of the settlement, Arbitron has agreed to continue implementing a number of measures including the transition to address-based sample frames, cell-phone-only sampling rates, reporting country of origin for Hispanic households, and certain other sample performance and demographic information to subscribers by individual zip code.

The firm has also committed to using 'all reasonable measures' to achieve Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for the data produced by the PPM ratings service in all California markets. Arbitron says these commitments are generally consistent with its agreements with other states, and are in force through until December 31, 2014, or until MRC accreditation is granted (whichever comes first).

Yesterday the parties agreed to resolve the allegations without litigation. In a statement, the company said it is not an admission of fault or concession of liability or wrongdoing by Arbitron, and that the company denies such allegations.

Back in 2009, Arbitron signed settlement agreements with New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to resolve their concerns that its PPM undercounted the listening habits of minorities. The result prompted a call for terms of the settlement to be rolled out across all PPM markets.

Web site: www.arbitron.com .