The following statement was issued by Arbitron Inc. in response to the recent statement by the Office of Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-NY) of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform:
“Over the last four months, Arbitron has been actively engaged with Chairman Towns and the Oversight Committee Staff. Arbitron has been open and forthcoming, supplying detailed information, answering questions and providing proactive recommendations to address the challenges faced by minority broadcasters. We were aware of the Committee’s contact to the Media Rating Council (MRC) and we are extremely surprised and disappointed at the analysis and erroneous conclusions reached by the Oversight Committee Staff and communicated in their press statement.
We respect and support Chairman Towns’ commitment to the health of minority broadcasters and believe that our collaboration with his staff, the MRC, as well as a number of initiatives that we have underway, will help address that challenge.
We look forward to a fact-based dialogue as we clarify some of the erroneous conclusions reached in this current analysis, and will continue to work to resolve these issues. Arbitron is a leader in audience measurement and continues to stand firm in our commitment to delivering the top quality data that our customers can use with confidence in their transactions.”�