Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau (ARB) by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s. The company's initial business was the collection of television broadcast ratings.
The company changed its name to Arbitron in the mid 1960s, the namesake of the Arbitron System - a centralized statistical computer with leased lines to viewers' homes to monitor their activity. Deployed in New York, it gave instant ratings data on what people were watching. A reporting board would light up to indicate what home was listening to what broadcast.
The Arbitron Workplace
Ethical Behavior Expected
Ethical behavior includes treating our customers, suppliers, and coworkers with respect,
and conducting business with the highest degree of honesty and personal
integrity.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Arbitron recognizes the value of diversity and is committed to complying with the law
and spirit of current equal employment opportunity laws. This commitment applies to all
aspects of the employment relationship, including (but not limited to) recruiting, hiring,
promotion, transfer, workforce reduction, termination, training
and compensation.
A Workplace Free of Harassment Is Fundamental
Arbitron seeks to protect all employees and applicants for employment from sexual or
other forms of harassment.
Harassment includes, but is not limited to: slurs, jokes and other verbal, graphic or
physical conduct relating to an individual’s race, color, religion, gender, sexualpreference, national origin, creed, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, or status
with regard to public assistance. Employees have both the right and the responsibility to
address their concerns in this regard. Your manager, Organization Effectiveness staff,
and the Legal and Business Affairs Department are available to assist you in this area.
Arbitron Values a Drug-Free and Safe Workplace
Arbitron is committed to providing a work environment free of illegal drugs and the
inappropriate use of alcohol. Alcoholic beverages should not be brought onto companyowned
or -leased property unless for a company-sponsored or -sanctioned event. The
sale, purchase, transfer, use or possession of illegal drugs will result in immediate
termination.
Antitrust Laws
United States antitrust laws serve to protect and encourage competition based on price,
quality and service by prohibiting actions that could unreasonably restrain the
functioning of a free and competitive marketplace. The antitrust laws cover a wide
variety of behavior, including agreements to restrain trade; illegal monopolies and
attempts to monopolize; certain mergers; unfair methods of competition; and price
discrimination. You should be aware that antitrust laws follow employees outside the
United States and therefore anticompetitive behavior by an employee conducted inside
the United States or while in another country may subject Arbitron and/or the employee
to criminal and/or civil penalties.
For more than 40 years Arbitron has conducted its business within the requirements of a
Federal Trade Commission order, known at Arbitron as the “FTC Consent Decree.”
Specifically, this Decree prohibits certain representations while requiring that certain
disclosures be made. Arbitron complies with the Decree through our “Limitations” and
“Description of Methodology” sections in our reports,
publications and contracts.
Highlights of the 1962 Decree include:
• Full disclosure of the methodologies used in audience measurement services.
• Prohibition of making certain representations in selling or offering to sell an audience
measurement service unless the proper qualifications and limitations regarding
probability sample, sampling error and accuracy or reliability of data are also
expressed.
• Prohibition of making statements that any steps or precautions are taken to ensure
the
proper maintenance of diaries unless such steps or precautions are in fact taken.
• Prohibition of representing the data as anything other than estimates.
• Prohibition of making a statement that the data are accurate to any precise
mathematical value.
• A requirement that certain affirmative representations be made in reports regarding
nonresponse and its effect on the data, the hearsay nature of the diarykeeper’s
response, the fact that projections have been made, and the limitations
and
deficiencies of the techniques or procedures used.
Arbitron is committed to compliance with applicable export laws that control the
commodities and technologies that it may export from time to time. Before an export
takes place, the matter must be brought to the Legal and Business Affairs Department to
ascertain which export rules and regulations apply. Failure to comply
with applicable
laws and/or regulations could result in significant civil and/or criminal penalties.
Many products, software and associated technical or commercial data may not be
exported without prior written approval from the government, and in some cases, export
licenses must be obtained. The United States government also prohibits exports to
certain countries, companies and individuals. Arbitron is responsible for ensuring that
items delivered abroad are not diverted to restricted countries. There are a variety of
transactions that may be considered exports requiring government
approval, including:
• Shipping data or software to an Arbitron facility in another country.
• Performance of a technical service in a foreign country.
• Conversations of a technical nature with a citizen of another country, even when the
foreign citizen is in your country, may be considered an export (for example, in the
U.S. you must have written U.S. government approval to release certain technical data
even in casual conversations).
• Disclosures to foreign visitors touring Arbitron facilities.
If you have any doubt about a pending situation, or need to discuss the specific
government restrictions, check the International Export and Travel Policy for Arbitron
Inc. and/or consult with an Arbitron lawyer.
The company changed its name to Arbitron in the mid 1960s, the namesake of the Arbitron System - a centralized statistical computer with leased lines to viewers' homes to monitor their activity. Deployed in New York, it gave instant ratings data on what people were watching. A reporting board would light up to indicate what home was listening to what broadcast.
The Arbitron Workplace
Ethical Behavior Expected
Ethical behavior includes treating our customers, suppliers, and coworkers with respect,
and conducting business with the highest degree of honesty and personal
integrity.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Arbitron recognizes the value of diversity and is committed to complying with the law
and spirit of current equal employment opportunity laws. This commitment applies to all
aspects of the employment relationship, including (but not limited to) recruiting, hiring,
promotion, transfer, workforce reduction, termination, training
and compensation.
A Workplace Free of Harassment Is Fundamental
Arbitron seeks to protect all employees and applicants for employment from sexual or
other forms of harassment.
Harassment includes, but is not limited to: slurs, jokes and other verbal, graphic or
physical conduct relating to an individual’s race, color, religion, gender, sexualpreference, national origin, creed, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, or status
with regard to public assistance. Employees have both the right and the responsibility to
address their concerns in this regard. Your manager, Organization Effectiveness staff,
and the Legal and Business Affairs Department are available to assist you in this area.
Arbitron Values a Drug-Free and Safe Workplace
Arbitron is committed to providing a work environment free of illegal drugs and the
inappropriate use of alcohol. Alcoholic beverages should not be brought onto companyowned
or -leased property unless for a company-sponsored or -sanctioned event. The
sale, purchase, transfer, use or possession of illegal drugs will result in immediate
termination.
Antitrust Laws
United States antitrust laws serve to protect and encourage competition based on price,
quality and service by prohibiting actions that could unreasonably restrain the
functioning of a free and competitive marketplace. The antitrust laws cover a wide
variety of behavior, including agreements to restrain trade; illegal monopolies and
attempts to monopolize; certain mergers; unfair methods of competition; and price
discrimination. You should be aware that antitrust laws follow employees outside the
United States and therefore anticompetitive behavior by an employee conducted inside
the United States or while in another country may subject Arbitron and/or the employee
to criminal and/or civil penalties.
For more than 40 years Arbitron has conducted its business within the requirements of a
Federal Trade Commission order, known at Arbitron as the “FTC Consent Decree.”
Specifically, this Decree prohibits certain representations while requiring that certain
disclosures be made. Arbitron complies with the Decree through our “Limitations” and
“Description of Methodology” sections in our reports,
publications and contracts.
Highlights of the 1962 Decree include:
• Full disclosure of the methodologies used in audience measurement services.
• Prohibition of making certain representations in selling or offering to sell an audience
measurement service unless the proper qualifications and limitations regarding
probability sample, sampling error and accuracy or reliability of data are also
expressed.
• Prohibition of making statements that any steps or precautions are taken to ensure
the
proper maintenance of diaries unless such steps or precautions are in fact taken.
• Prohibition of representing the data as anything other than estimates.
• Prohibition of making a statement that the data are accurate to any precise
mathematical value.
• A requirement that certain affirmative representations be made in reports regarding
nonresponse and its effect on the data, the hearsay nature of the diarykeeper’s
response, the fact that projections have been made, and the limitations
and
deficiencies of the techniques or procedures used.
Arbitron is committed to compliance with applicable export laws that control the
commodities and technologies that it may export from time to time. Before an export
takes place, the matter must be brought to the Legal and Business Affairs Department to
ascertain which export rules and regulations apply. Failure to comply
with applicable
laws and/or regulations could result in significant civil and/or criminal penalties.
Many products, software and associated technical or commercial data may not be
exported without prior written approval from the government, and in some cases, export
licenses must be obtained. The United States government also prohibits exports to
certain countries, companies and individuals. Arbitron is responsible for ensuring that
items delivered abroad are not diverted to restricted countries. There are a variety of
transactions that may be considered exports requiring government
approval, including:
• Shipping data or software to an Arbitron facility in another country.
• Performance of a technical service in a foreign country.
• Conversations of a technical nature with a citizen of another country, even when the
foreign citizen is in your country, may be considered an export (for example, in the
U.S. you must have written U.S. government approval to release certain technical data
even in casual conversations).
• Disclosures to foreign visitors touring Arbitron facilities.
If you have any doubt about a pending situation, or need to discuss the specific
government restrictions, check the International Export and Travel Policy for Arbitron
Inc. and/or consult with an Arbitron lawyer.
Last edited: