-----BEGIN PRIVACY-ENHANCED MESSAGE----- Proc-Type: 2001,MIC-CLEAR Originator-Name: webmaster@www.sec.gov Originator-Key-Asymmetric: MFgwCgYEVQgBAQICAf8DSgAwRwJAW2sNKK9AVtBzYZmr6aGjlWyK3XmZv3dTINen TWSM7vrzLADbmYQaionwg5sDW3P6oaM5D3tdezXMm7z1T+B+twIDAQAB MIC-Info: RSA-MD5,RSA, RW9EhThbqgaKHSYgfvxu5ZMxODhsl7PhZ1ampBmgy74+sgK3vgE+6MrrCAhc3wXO 9LNYZKnx6SnV/nnDo/yrNA== 0001299933-07-003941.txt : 20070629 0001299933-07-003941.hdr.sgml : 20070629 20070629165008 ACCESSION NUMBER: 0001299933-07-003941 CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE: 8-K PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT: 2 CONFORMED PERIOD OF REPORT: 20070626 ITEM INFORMATION: Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement ITEM INFORMATION: Regulation FD Disclosure ITEM INFORMATION: Financial Statements and Exhibits FILED AS OF DATE: 20070629 DATE AS OF CHANGE: 20070629 FILER: COMPANY DATA: COMPANY CONFORMED NAME: ARBITRON INC CENTRAL INDEX KEY: 0000109758 STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION: SERVICES-ENGINEERING, ACCOUNTING, RESEARCH, MANAGEMENT [8700] IRS NUMBER: 520278528 STATE OF INCORPORATION: DE FISCAL YEAR END: 1231 FILING VALUES: FORM TYPE: 8-K SEC ACT: 1934 Act SEC FILE NUMBER: 001-01969 FILM NUMBER: 07951605 BUSINESS ADDRESS: STREET 1: 142 WEST 57TH STREET CITY: NEW YORK STATE: NY ZIP: 10019-3300 BUSINESS PHONE: 2128871300 MAIL ADDRESS: STREET 1: 142 WEST 57TH STREET CITY: NEW YORK STATE: N1 ZIP: 10019-3300 FORMER COMPANY: FORMER CONFORMED NAME: CERIDIAN CORP DATE OF NAME CHANGE: 19920901 FORMER COMPANY: FORMER CONFORMED NAME: CONTROL DATA CORP /DE/ DATE OF NAME CHANGE: 19920703 FORMER COMPANY: FORMER CONFORMED NAME: COMMERCIAL CREDIT CO DATE OF NAME CHANGE: 19680910 8-K 1 htm_21204.htm LIVE FILING Arbitron Inc. (Form: 8-K)  

 


UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

     
Date of Report (Date of Earliest Event Reported):   June 26, 2007

Arbitron Inc.
__________________________________________
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

     
Delaware 1-1969 52-0278528
_____________________
(State or other jurisdiction
_____________
(Commission
______________
(I.R.S. Employer
of incorporation) File Number) Identification No.)
      
142 West 57th Street, New York, New York   10019-3300
_________________________________
(Address of principal executive offices)
  ___________
(Zip Code)
     
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:   212-887-1300

Not Applicable
______________________________________________
Former name or former address, if changed since last report

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

[  ]  Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
[  ]  Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
[  ]  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
[  ]  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))


Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

On June 26, 2007 Arbitron Inc. (the "Company") entered into a new multi-year agreement (the "New Agreement") with Clear Channel Radio ("Clear Channel"), a division of Clear Channel Broadcasting, Inc., to provide radio ratings and other related services through December 31, 2011 to Clear Channel’s 268 radio stations located in the 46 markets in which Clear Channel operates out of the 50 markets identified in the Company’s previously announced Portable People MeterTM ("PPM") roll-out plan (we refer to the 46 markets in which Clear Channel operates that are included in the PPM roll-out plan, collectively, as the "Clear Channel PPM Markets").

Pursuant to the terms of the New Agreement, the Company will provide Clear Channel with PPM ratings services, as and when the new audience ratings technology is deployed in the Clear Channel PPM Markets. Until such time as the PPM ratings technology is deployed in a particular market, the Company will continue to provide Clear Channel with its diary-ba sed ratings services in that market. As the PPM ratings technology is deployed in a particular market, the diary-based ratings contract will lapse and the New Agreement will become applicable to such market. The New Agreement also extends the diary-based ratings agreement in the Clear Channel PPM Markets that do not enter into PPM pre-currency prior to December 31, 2008 until such time as the PPM service is commercialized in those markets, but not later than December 31, 2011. The existing agreement between the Company and Clear Channel for diary-based ratings in markets outside of the Clear Channel PPM Markets is not amended by the New Agreement and is currently scheduled to expire December 31, 2008, with certain software licenses and other services scheduled to expire March 30, 2009.

Under the terms of the New Agreement, the Company will provide its PPM Market Report Service, including the Company’s PPM Market Report, PPM Analysis Tool software, PPM Weeklies reports, Tapscan software, and its diary-based Radio Market Report Service, including the Company’s Radio Market Report, Maximi$er, Arbitrends, PD Advantage, Sample Surcharge, Ethnic Data, Processor Data Clearance, Sample Increase, and Tapscan software, to Clear Channel, as applicable. These services include new services as well as renewals of existing services.

The aggregate amount of all payments to be made by Clear Channel for the diary-based Radio Market Report and related services in the Clear Channel PPM Markets between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2011 currently is expected to be approximately $30.7 million, based on the radio stations currently owned by Clear Channel and the anticipated roll-out of the PPM ratings services. The aggregate amount of all payments to be made by Clear Channel for the PPM Market Report and related services in the Clear Channel PPM Markets during the term of the New Agreement currently is expected to be approximately $160.6 million, based on the radio stations currently owned by Clear Channel and the anticipated roll-out of the PPM ratings services.

A copy of the New Agreement will be filed as an exhibit to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2007.





Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure.

On June 27, 2007 the Company issued a press release announcing the New Agreement. A copy of the press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1, and is incorporated herein by reference. The information in this Item 7.01, including the information set forth in Exhibit 99.1, shall not be deemed "filed" for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act"), nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.





Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits

See Exhibit Index attached hereto.

Forward-Looking Statements

This Current Report on Form 8-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statements regarding Arbitron Inc. and its subsidiaries ("we," "our," "Arbitron" or the "Company") in this document that are not historical in nature, particularly those that utilize terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "scheduled" "likely," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," or "plans" or comparable terminology, are forward-looking statements based on current expectations about future events, which Arbitron has derived from information currently available to it. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our results to be materially different from results implied in such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, in no particular order, whether we will be able to:

• successfully implement the rollout of our PPM service;
• renew contracts with large customers as they expire;
• execute our business strategies, including entering into potential joint-
venture or other third-party agreements;
• effectively manage the impact of any further consolidation in the radio
and advertising agency industries;
• respond to rapidly changing technological needs of our customer base,
including creating new proprietary software systems and new customer
products and services that meet these needs in a timely manner;
• successfully manage the impact on our business of any economic downturn
generally and in the advertising market in particular;
• successfully manage the impact on costs of data collection due to lower
respondent cooperation in surveys, privacy concerns, consumer trends,
technology changes and/or government regulations ;
• successfully develop and implement technology solutions to measure multi-
media and advertising in an increasingly competitive environment; and
• successfully obtain and/or maintain Media Rating Council accreditation for
our audience measurement services.

Additional important factors known to Arbitron that could cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements are identified and discussed from time to time in Arbitron’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in particular the risk factors discussed under the caption "ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS" in Arbitron’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006.

The forward-looking statements contained in this document speak only as of the date hereof, and Arbitron undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.






SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

         
    Arbitron Inc.
          
June 29, 2007   By:   /s/ Timothy T. Smith
       
        Name: Timothy T. Smith
        Title: Executive Vice President, Legal & Business Affairs Chief Legal Officer & Secretary


Exhibit Index


     
Exhibit No.   Description

 
99.1
  Press Release dated June 27, 2007
EX-99.1 2 exhibit1.htm EX-99.1 EX-99.1

For Immediate Release

Arbitron and Clear Channel Sign Multi-Year Agreement
for Portable People Meter Radio Ratings Services in 46 Markets.

NEW YORK, June 27, 2007 – Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) today announced that Clear Channel Radio (“Clear Channel”), a division of Clear Channel Communications, Inc., has signed a multi-year agreement for Portable People MeterTM radio ratings services in 46 markets, as and when those services are rolled out by Arbitron. The agreement encompasses all Clear Channel radio stations in those markets that Arbitron has converted or is planning to convert to the Portable People Meter ratings methodology by the end of 2010.

The agreement expires December 31, 2011, and also extends until that date the current contract for diary-based radio ratings in each of the markets covered by the agreement that have not been converted to Portable People Meter radio ratings before the end of 2008, the expiration date of the current diary agreement with Clear Channel.

Clear Channel is Arbitron’s largest radio ratings subscriber and represented approximately 19 percent of Arbitron’s revenue in 2006.

By the end of 2010, Arbitron is scheduled to deploy the Portable People Meter in the top 50 markets in place of the paper and pencil diary method that the company has employed to collect radio audience estimates since 1965.

Editor’s Note: This press release was updated from Arbitron’s June 26, 2007 announcement to remove Clear Channel’s company description. All contractual information remains the same.

About the Portable People Meter

The Arbitron Portable People Meter system uses a passive audience measurement device – about the size of a small cell phone – to track consumer exposure to media and entertainment, including broadcast, cable and satellite television; terrestrial, satellite and online radio as well as cinema advertising and many types of place-based electronic media. Carried throughout the day by randomly selected survey participants, the PPMTM device can track when and where they watch television, listen to radio as well as how they interact with other forms of media and entertainment.

The PPM detects inaudible codes embedded in the audio portion of media and entertainment content delivered by broadcasters, content providers and distributors. At the end of the day, the meter is placed in a docking station that extracts the codes and sends them to a central computer. The PPM is equipped with a motion sensor, a patented quality control feature unique to the system, which allows Arbitron to confirm the compliance of the PPM survey participants every day.

About Arbitron

Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) is an international media and marketing research firm serving the media – radio, television, cable, online radio and out-of-home – as well as advertisers and advertising agencies in the United States and Europe. Arbitron’s core businesses are measuring network and local market radio audiences across the United States; surveying the retail, media and product patterns of local market consumers; and providing application software used for analyzing media audience and marketing information data. The company has developed the Portable People Meter, a new technology for media and marketing research.

Arbitron’s marketing and business units are supported by a world-renowned research and technology organization located in Columbia, Maryland. Arbitron has approximately 2,100 employees; its executive offices are located in New York City.

Through its Scarborough Research joint venture with The Nielsen Company, Arbitron provides additional media and marketing research services to the broadcast television, newspaper and online industries.

###

Portable People MeterTM and PPMTM are marks of Arbitron Inc.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statements regarding Arbitron Inc. and its subsidiaries (“we,” “our,” “Arbitron” or the “Company”) in this document that are not historical in nature, particularly those that utilize terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “likely,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “believes,” “is scheduled to,” or “plans,” or comparable terminology, are forward-looking statements based on current expectations about future events, which Arbitron has derived from information currently available to it. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our results to be materially different from results implied in such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, in no particular order, whether we will be able to:

• renew contracts with large customers as they expire;
• successfully execute our business strategies, including implementation of our Portable People MeterTM system and entering into joint-venture or other material third-party agreements;
• effectively manage the impact of any further consolidation in the radio and advertising agency industries;
• keep up with rapidly changing technological needs of our customer base, including creating new proprietary software systems and new customer products and services that meet these needs in a timely manner;
• successfully manage the impact on our business of any economic downturn generally and in the advertising market in particular;
• successfully manage the impact on costs of data collection due to lower respondent cooperation in surveys, privacy concerns, consumer trends, technology changes and/or government regulations;
• successfully develop and implement technology solutions to measure multi-media and advertising in an increasingly competitive environment; and
• successfully obtain and/or maintain Media Rating Council accreditation for our audience measurement services.

Additional important factors known to Arbitron that could cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements are identified and discussed from time to time in Arbitron’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, in particular, the risk factors discussed under the caption “ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS” in Arbitron’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006.

The forward-looking statements contained in this document speak only as of the date hereof, and Arbitron undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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