Business Editors
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 25, 2003
Internet Broadcast Audience Surpasses 100-Million Person
Milestone; African Americans and Hispanics Are Narrowing the
"Digital Divide"
Consumers who have tuned to Internet broadcasts in the past 30 days, also known as "Monthly Streamies," are "very interested" in owning a variety of digital devices, according to a new study by Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) and Edison Media Research.
The study, entitled "Internet and Multimedia 10: The Emerging Digital Consumer," revealed that Monthly Streamies, are significantly more interested in digital devices than the general population. Twenty-nine percent of Monthly Streamies are "very interested" in plasma or flat panel television sets versus 17 percent of all Americans. Also, more than one in five Monthly Streamies (22 percent) are very interested in High Definition Television Sets (HDTV) compared with 12 percent of all Americans.
The scope of the latest research from Arbitron and Edison Media Research has been expanded beyond Internet usage and streaming media trends to include information on consumer interest in new digital devices, attitudes about programming and a variety of media including digital cable and satellite television.
"Internet broadcasting is rapidly becoming a mass medium with an estimated 103 million people or 44 percent of the total population having ever used Internet audio or video," said Bill Rose, vice president and general manager, Arbitron Internet Broadcast Services. "Considering the high degree of interest in digital devices exhibited by 'Streamies,' marketers of consumer electronics would be smart to consider advertising on Internet broadcasting to reach and influence their target audience."
The study also reports that the "digital divide" in Internet usage
appears to be narrowing:
-- Overall, 75 percent of the total population now has access to the Internet from any location compared with 74 percent of African Americans and 65 percent of Hispanic Americans. -- The "digital divide" is widest with home and work Internet access. Nearly half (48 percent) of Hispanics and 60 percent of African Americans have Internet access at home or work compared with 70 percent among whites. However, Arbitron and Edison Media Research report that public libraries and schools have done an exceptional job in providing more access to ethnic constituencies. Over a third (34 percent) of African Americans and nearly a quarter (24 percent) of Hispanics access the Internet at public libraries compared with 19 percent of White Americans. Also, nearly a third (32 percent) of African Americans and nearly a quarter (24 percent) of Hispanics access the Internet from schools compared with a quarter (25 percent) of White Americans.
"The 'digital divide' is narrowing and computer makers, Internet service providers, and broadband companies should be developing marketing plans for the African-American and Hispanic-American population," said Joe Lenski, executive vice president, Edison Media Research. "There is an opportunity to build brand loyalty among these important consumers while they make their computer, Internet and broadband purchasing decisions."
The Internet and Multimedia 10 study also reveals that the number of Americans who have super-fast broadband Internet connections in their homes has more than doubled in the last two years, from seven percent in January 2001 to 18 percent in January 2003. Average time spent online per week among those with broadband is 13 hours compared to eight hours per week for those who use dial-up. Between TV, radio, newspapers and the Internet, those with broadband allocate a much larger share of their daily media time with the Internet (27 percent) compared to those with dial-up connections (17 percent).
Additional findings from the study include:
-- Consumer satisfaction with Internet audio is on the rise, with
35 percent of Internet audio listeners reporting that they
"love it" or "like it" compared to 26 percent in July 2001.
-- Approximately 12 million Americans would be willing to pay a
small fee to listen to content provided by the one Internet
audio source they listen to most.
-- Most give local radio stations high marks for playing the
music they like and variety of programming. Nearly
three-quarters (73 percent) of Americans believe that radio
does a very good or good job of playing the music they like
and 69 percent believe that radio does a very good or good job
of providing a variety of programming.
The findings reported here are based on a January 2003 survey consisting of 2,005 telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of Arbitron Fall 2002 radio survey diary keepers. Since 1998, Arbitron and Edison Media Research have conducted 10 groundbreaking studies on the Internet and streaming media, one every six months. This latest study, as well as previous studies, may be downloaded free of charge via the Arbitron and Edison Media Research Web sites at www.arbitron.com and www.edisonresearch.com .
About Edison Media Research
Edison Media Research conducts survey research and provides strategic information to radio stations, television stations, newspapers, cable networks, record labels, Internet companies and other media organizations. Edison Media Research has been cited by Advertising Age as the fastest growing company among their list of Top 100 market research companies in their past five annual listings. Edison Media Research works with many of the largest American radio ownership groups, including Entercom, ABC Radio, Infinity, Bonneville, Emmis Communications and Westwood One, and also conducts strategic and perceptual research for a broad array of companies including AOL/Time Warner, Yahoo!, Sony Music, Princeton University, Northwestern University, The Blackstone Group, Time-Life Music and the Voice of America. Edison Media Research also conducts research for successful radio stations in South America, Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe. Edison Media Research designed and operated the CNN RealVote election projection system in 2002, and conducts all exit polls and election projections for the six major news organizations - ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, NBC and the Associated Press. All of Edison Media Research's industry studies can be found on the company's Web site at www.edisonresearch.com and can be downloaded free of charge.
About Arbitron
Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) is an international media and marketing research firm serving radio broadcasters, cable companies, advertisers, advertising agencies and outdoor advertising companies in the United States, Mexico and Europe. Arbitron's core businesses are measuring network and local market radio audiences across the United States; surveying the retail, media and product patterns of local market consumers; and providing application software used for analyzing media audience and marketing information data. Arbitron Internet Broadcast Services measures the audiences of audio and video content on the Internet, commonly known as webcasts. The Company is developing the Portable People Meter, a new technology for radio, TV and cable ratings.
Arbitron's marketing and business units are supported by a world-renowned research and technology organization located in Columbia, Maryland. Arbitron has approximately 800 full-time employees; its executive offices are located in New York City.
Through its Scarborough Research joint venture with VNU Media Measurement & Information, Arbitron also provides media and marketing research services to the broadcast television, magazine, newspaper, outdoor and online industries.
All names are the property of their respective owners.
This press release is available on the Arbitron Web site at www.arbitron.com and the KCSA Web site at www.kcsa.com. You may register to receive Arbitron's future press releases or to download a complete Digital Investor Kit(TM) including press releases, regulatory filings and corporate materials by clicking on the "Digital Investor Kit" icon at www.kcsa.com
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statements regarding Arbitron in this release that are not historical in nature, particularly those that utilize terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "likely," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes" or "plans" or comparable terminology, are forward-looking statements based on current expectations about future events, which Arbitron has derived from the information currently available to it. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our results to be materially different from results implied in such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include whether we will be able to:
-renew contracts with large customers as they expire;
-successfully execute our business strategies, including timely implementation of our Portable People Meter and our webcast ratings services, as well as expansion of international operations;
-effectively manage the impact of further consolidation in the radio industry;
-keep up with rapidly changing technological needs of our customer base, including creating new products and services that meet these needs, and;
-successfully manage the impact on our business of any economic downturn generally and in the advertising market in particular.
Additional important factors known to Arbitron that could cause forward-looking statements to turn out to be incorrect are identified and discussed from time to time in Arbitron's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in particular the risk factors discussed under the caption "ITEM 1. BUSINESS - Business Risks" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which discussion is incorporated herein by reference.
The forward-looking statements contained in this release speak only as of the date hereof, and Arbitron undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
