Arbitron announced that Gregg Linder is joining the company as Chief Research Officer and Executive Vice President, Service Innovation. That creates a management hole that has to be filled at Scarborough Research, which is half owned by Arbitron and half by The Nielsen Company.
Linder, as Executive Vice President, has been running Scarborough since President and CEO Robert Cohen began a medical leave of absence in November 2009. Scarborough now says Cohen will not be returning in a full-time capacity. So, the search is on for a new CEO.
For now, Linder will continue to manage the Scarborough business and operations until the end of this year or a new CEO is hired. He will continue on as a member of the board.
In his new post at Arbitron Linder will report to President and CEO Bill Kerr. He will be responsible for Arbitron’s research quality and methods, product development as well as policies and standards for the Portable People Meter, diary, and cross-platform services, and leadership for the company’s Media Rating Council accreditation initiatives.
“Gregg brings with him more than twenty five years of experience as a leader across key areas of our business–research, product development and operations–areas that are important to Arbitron’s future growth. In addition to his strong technical skills, Gregg is widely respected by broadcasters, agency executives, and marketers as well as by his peers in the media and marketing research industry,” said Kerr.
