Posted by chicagomedia.org on June 24, 2009 at 13:59:25:
Arbitron Meters Will Track TV Viewing
By Staff
TVNEWSDAY, Jun 24 2009, 7:23 AM ET
Vaulting onto Nielsen's turf, Arbitron Inc. said Tuesday it will use its Portable People Meter radio audience measurement device to track TV viewership, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Written by Sarah McBride, the story said Arbitron aims to offer more details about who watched various TV shows.
The company's pager-sized meters are worn by a sampling of people in about 15 major U.S. cities in order to track radio listening. The same devices can track TV viewing by using sound encoding that isn't audible to people. The idea is to use the meters to track people's TV vieewing in bars and other locations outside the home, the story says.
Nielsen has said that out-of-home viewing isn't a priority for its clients.