Arbitron Drops Internet Radio Ratings

Radio audience measurement firm Arbitron will drop weekly and monthly MeasureCast ratings for Internet audio content.

The company wants to better align its services with the needs of the market, meaning it doesn’t feel there’s enough of a market for these current services. The company was an early entrant to the Internet radio ratings game. Apparently, it now feels it was a bit too early.

“We remain committed to the Internet broadcast business and continue to believe in the viability of this medium and its long-term market potential,” said Pierre Bouvard, president of Arbitron New Ventures.

Bouvard added the company wasn’t earning enough from the services to cover the cost of providing them.

The monthly and weekly MeasureCast ratings helped advertisers make decisions about the audiences they could reach via Internet broadcasts. Those reports will cease March 28. They may replaced by a revised service.

“We will continue to document the size and growth of the Internet broadcasting audience through our Internet studies as well as offer consumer lifestyle and shopping data from Scarborough Research,” said Bill Rose, vice president and general manager of Arbitron Internet Broadcast Services.

Arbitron made a significant contribution to the industry’s understanding the Internet radio audience, dubbing streaming media listeners “streamies.” Its series of reports issued in conjunction with Edison Media Research were especially influential. Yet advertisers have been fairly slow to adopt Internet radio advertising.