Arbitron Updates Portable People Meter Development Schedule.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 4, 2002

Arbitron Inc.

Company sets timetable for balance of U.S. market trial and issues

update to industry on status of proposed joint venture with Nielsen 

Media Research

Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) today released an updated development schedule for the Portable People Meter (PPM), and an update on the discussions with Nielsen Media Research regarding the proposed joint venture that would deploy the new audience measurement system that Arbitron is developing for use in local markets in the United States.

"In the first five months of 2002, we've made significant progress in the development and evaluation of the Portable People Meter," said Steve Morris, president and chief executive officer, Arbitron Inc. "We've released the first round of station and cable network ratings, and made substantial progress researching many of the factors that contribute to the ratings produced by the PPM.

"Our path to commercial deployment of the PPM is much clearer now, thanks to the results of our research program, the responses of the industry to the initial round of station ratings and the due diligence discussions we have held thus far with Nielsen Media Research," continued Mr. Morris. "As a result, we are issuing this update to the industry regarding our plans for the Portable People Meter."

Nielsen Media Research is providing financial support as well as its television survey research expertise in the U.S. market trial of the Portable People Meter. Nielsen also has an option to join Arbitron in the commercial deployment of the Arbitron Portable People Meter in the United States.

Regular ratings releases planned for industry evaluation throughout 2002

Beginning the first week in July, Arbitron will begin routine releases of specific audience estimates for radio, broadcast and cable TV to the participants in the U.S. market trial.

The July release of specific audience estimates for radio, broadcast television and cable television, will cover audiences for the month of May. These estimates will be released to radio station, broadcast and cable television participants along with a software analysis tool that will allow participants to evaluate the ratings in detail. Participating advertisers and agencies will receive the May television data one month after broadcast and cable television participants.

Subsequent ratings releases planned for the balance of 2002 will go to radio station, broadcast and cable television and advertiser/agency participants simultaneously.

               Radio station estimates    Broadcast and cable TV estimates

2002 Report    To radio     To agencies/     To broadcast    To agencies/

 period        stations    advertisers and   and cable TV  advertisers and

                               others                          others

May                    July 2                  July 2          July 30

July                 September 3                     September 3
September             November 5                      November 5
October               December 3                      December 3
November              January 7                       January 7

Arbitron released the initial round of TV station and cable network specific ratings for March to its participating broadcast and cable television outlets on May 21st. Radio station specific ratings for April were released to participating radio station customers beginning May 17th. (Participating advertisers and agencies will receive the detailed April radio station data on June 17th.) A general release, reviewing key broadcast and cable television results for March and the radio station results for April, is also slated for June 17th,

Evaluation program results slated for mid through late summer

Beginning with the release of the May audience estimates on July 2, Arbitron will begin releasing the first reports in a previously announced evaluation program which is designed to help the industry understand the differences reported by the Portable People Meter compared to the current Nielsen meter/diary estimates and Arbitron radio diary estimates.

The evaluation program is scheduled to be completed by no later than the end of the third quarter 2002. The reports will examine:

-        demographics of the Nielsen and Arbitron samples;
-        compliance and non-response patterns;
-        out-of-home viewing;
-        overnight audiences;
-        zero audience time periods in meter/diary estimates;
-        different definitions of audience (exposure to audio vs.
         watching or listening);
-        weighting;
-        edit rules and other areas.

"These reports will help the industry understand our new audience measurement system," said Marshall Snyder, president, Worldwide Portable People Meter Development, Arbitron Inc. "At the same time, an understanding of these reports is essential to our ongoing discussions with Nielsen regarding the proposed formation of a joint venture that would deploy the Portable People Meter in local markets in the United States."

Work towards joint venture with Nielsen continues

"We had anticipated that we could form the joint venture with Nielsen Media Research by the middle of 2002," said Mr. Morris. "It's clear that both our companies need additional time to consider whether to establish the proposed venture.

"A great deal of due diligence has already taken place among many departments at our two companies," continued Mr. Morris. "Considering the status of the market trial, the schedule of research evaluations, and the work that still needs to be done between our two companies, we now anticipate that the decision to form a joint venture with Nielsen would take place no sooner than the fourth quarter of 2002."

"The additional time we will take to reach a decision about a proposed joint venture will not impact Arbitron's guidance for 2002," said Mr. Morris. "Our plan for the Portable People Meter has sufficient flexibility that allows us to meet our financial commitment for this year."

About the Portable People Meter

The PPM is a pager-sized device that is carried by consumers. It automatically detects inaudible codes that TV and radio broadcasters as well as cable networks embed in the audio portion of their programming using encoders provided by Arbitron. At the end of each day, the survey participants place the meters into base stations that recharge the devices and send the collected codes to Arbitron for tabulation. The meters are equipped with a motion sensor that allows Arbitron to monitor the compliance of the PPM survey participants every day - a quality control feature unique to the Arbitron Portable People Meter in the realm of media research.

About Arbitron

Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) is an international media and marketing research firm serving radio broadcasters, cable companies, advertisers, advertising agencies and outdoor advertising companies in the United States, Mexico 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. Arbitron Webcast Services measures the audiences of audio and video content on the Internet, commonly known as webcasts. The Company is developing the Portable People Meter, a new technology for radio, TV and cable ratings.

Arbitron's marketing and business units are supported by a world-renowned research and technology organization located in Columbia, Maryland. Arbitron has approximately 800 full-time employees; its executive offices are located in New York City.

Through its Scarborough Research joint venture with VNU Media Measurement & Information, Arbitron also provides media and marketing research services to the broadcast television, magazine, newspaper and online industries.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statements regarding Arbitron in this release that are not historical in nature, particularly those that utilize terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "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 the 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 whether we will be able to:

         - realize the benefits we expect to achieve from our spin-off
           from Ceridian Corporation;
         - renew contracts with large customers as they expire;
         - successfully execute our business strategies, including
           timely implementation of our Portable People Meter and our
           Webcast Ratings services, as well as expansion of
           international operations;
         - effectively manage the impact of further consolidation in
           the radio industry; and
         - keep up with rapidly changing technological needs of our
           customer base, including creating new products and
           services that meet these needs.

Additional important factors known to Arbitron that could cause forward-looking statements to turn out to be incorrect 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 1. BUSINESS - Business Risks" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which discussion is incorporated herein by reference.

The forward-looking statements contained in this release 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.