Ratings Data and Guidelines

Arbitron Ratings and Guidelines

Arbitron posts 12+ Estimates for Monday through Sunday, 6AM to Midnight for each of the quarterly surveys on http://www.arbitron.com/home/ratings.htm. At Arbitron's discretion, additional estimates may be provided. Reporters who need additional local market radio ratings for a news story should call Jessica Benbow at (410) 312-8363 or e-mail a request to press@arbitron.com

To understand what we provide to news reporters and what constitutes "fair use" of our copyrighted estimates, please read our guidelines below.

Guidelines For Using Arbitron Radio Ratings In News Stories

Arbitron is willing to grant to newspapers and other publications that write about radio a nonexclusive license to publish a limited, newsworthy amount of copyrighted data.

In general, when writing about the standings of the radio stations in a market, only Persons 12+ estimates may be published, regardless of the source of the information.

All other demographic information (Persons 25-54, Men 18-34, etc.) may only be used in a form that does not publish the actual estimate. Ranking or characterizing the data is acceptable, i.e. Station WAAA is #2 in Men 25-54.

All estimates and rankers without estimates must be properly sourced as to survey period, survey area, demographic, daypart and estimate (e.g., Spring 2001, New York Metro, Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6AM - Midnight, Average Quarter-Hour Share).

NOTE: Estimates may not be published until the day after Arbitron releases the information to clients, regardless of the source of the information.

For example:

Allowed: "Happy Herman’s Men 18-34 share took a beating in Toon Town when Merry Mooney signed on for the morning shift at WNXX. Herman, who ruled the roost in Spring ranking number 1 in AQH share, saw Mooney chew away a full third of his core demo. The Summer book dropped Herman to fourth in the market and Mooney jumped to the top among the morning talk fans."

Not allowed: "The 18-34 race in RadioTown USA is heating up. WAAA took top honors, with a 5.4 share, up half a share from the previous survey. WBBB is a close second, with a 5.2. In the middle of the pack are WCCC, with a 4.3, WDDD, a 4.2, and WEEE, posting a 4.1. WFFF pulled only a 3.5, while WGGG came close with a 3.3 share. There are no cheers for WHHH, with a dismal 1.8, and the Big Band AM WBND posted an unsurprising 0.9 share."

A subscribing station can use our data to promote its performance per its license with Arbitron. Should a station provide your publication with an 18-34 or 25-54 ranker, you may use the information as background for a story about the station. A station cannot, however, give you permission to reprint the estimates as a ranker for all the other stations in its market.

Note: Reporters are welcome to use the Arbitron Web site as a source of information for stories about radio, local market consumer behavior, Webcast audiences and all the other types of information and studies we provide. All we ask is that you properly source the information that is provided to you on this site.