Infinity Drops Arbitron in Favor of Media Audit

Infinity Broadcasting has decided not to renew its agreement with Arbitron, and go with Media Audit instead for its audience research. Infinity President/CEO Joel Hollander said, “After lengthy negotiations with Arbitron, it has become clear that we will be unable to reach a mutually satisfactory financial arrangement,” said Hollander. “We will ready our company to grow our business using other means. The data provided by The Media Audit qualitative product is just one of the methodologies we will utilize to provide our stations with the highest quality research needed to compete in their markets.”
But Arbitron still believes the talks are ongoing. Arbitron President/CEO Steve Morris stated: “We remain willing to work with Infinity Broadcasting with the goal of reaching a mutually beneficial agreement for the renewal of our ratings contracts.”
Infinity said the contract with Media Audit for Infinity’s 185 stations begins July 1. The market research firm will provide multi-media ratings, demographics and product use information to Infinity stations.