Arbitron and VNU Sign Agreement to Explore New Marketing Research Service to Help Drive Marketing ROI.

NEW YORK -- Procter & Gamble (P&G) Will Collaborate, Provide Marketing Expertise and Consumer Understanding

Arbitron Inc. (NYSE:ARB) and VNU (VNUN.AS) announced today that they have agreed to jointly explore the possible development of a new, national marketing research service which collects multi-media and purchase information from a common sample of consumers.

The service will be designed to enable a better understanding of consumer exposure to advertising on multiple media and the link to their shopping/purchase behavior. The ultimate objective would be to provide advertisers with an enhanced ability to determine the return on investment for their marketing efforts. Procter & Gamble will collaborate with the two companies to ensure that the service properly addresses the needs of marketers.

The innovative service would consist of a panel of participants who would be incented to voluntarily carry Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPM), a small, pager-like device that collects the volunteers' exposure to multiple media sources. Data on consumer preference and purchases for a wide range of services and products would also be collected from panelists, electronically and via surveys, with some households being part of ACNielsen's Homescan consumer panel, which currently tracks packaged goods purchases. Data would be collected in aggregate form to provide a holistic understanding of participants' media interactions and their resulting shopping and purchase behavior.

P&G has agreed to collaborate with VNU and Arbitron in the development of this new research service as P&G has long been interested in identifying new consumer-centric approaches for better understanding and reaching consumers in appealing ways.

"This collaboration combines Arbitron's and VNU's expertise in media and consumer insight," said Steve Morris, president and chief executive officer, Arbitron Inc. "Our goal is to provide the broadest possible view of the interaction between marketing and media elements in a way that allows marketers to maximize their return on investment. P&G's expertise in marketing, consumer understanding and research application will be very beneficial as we explore this opportunity and seek the support of a broad cross section of marketers including other package goods providers, retailers, automotive marketers, telecommunications providers, financial services firms, as well as many other companies."

"We look forward to joining forces with Arbitron in this exploration and continuing on a new front our relationship with P&G," said Michael P. Connors, chairman and CEO of VNU Media Measurement & Information, and Member of the VNU Executive Board. "Today's consumer marketplace is fast-moving and complex, and we want to provide a range of services that help our clients fully optimize their marketing activities. We believe a broader understanding of the impact of media and marketing activities on consumer behavior should provide benefits for both the industry and the consumers it serves. This new service will be in line with VNU's broader goal of combining media and market research in innovative ways that deliver more valuable insight to our clients."

"The consumer is boss at P&G," said Greg Ross, director, P&G North America media & marketing. "This new research approach will help marketers learn more about how consumer media and shopping habits are changing. It offers the potential for a breakthrough in consumer understanding about how and when consumers are most receptive to brand information."

Both Arbitron and VNU emphasized that the service announced today would be separate, distinct and designed very differently from any service for TV and radio ratings.

About VNU

VNU is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media measurement and information (Nielsen Media Research), business information (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Computing, Intermediair) and directory publishing (Golden Pages). VNU is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, The Netherlands and New York, USA. The company employs 38,000 people. Total revenues amounted to approximately EUR 4.0 billion in 2003. VNU is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam (VNUN.AS) stock exchange.

For more information, please visit the VNU website at www.vnu.com

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. The Company is developing 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 1700 employees; its executive offices are located in New York City.

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

PPMSM is a service mark 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 in this document 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 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:

--renew all or part of contracts with large customers as they expire;

--successfully execute our business strategies, including implementation of our Portable People Meter services, as well as expansion of international operations;

--effectively manage the impact of further consolidation in the radio industry;

--keep up with rapidly changing technological needs of our customer base, including creating new products and services that meet these needs;

--successfully manage the impact on our business of any economic downturn generally and in the advertising market in particular; and

--successfully manage the impact on costs of data collection due to privacy concerns and/or government regulations.

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.

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.