Infinity signs multi-year deal with Arbitron

RBR hears Arbitron brought a good offer to the table, what it is we just are not sure yet, but whatever it is Infinity decided it was fair. RBR had stated the hard posturing from Infinity (6/24 RBR Daily Epaper #124), may have been, but was, a bluff and wouldn't last a quarter. In fact, many in the industry said they knew this was all a "joke" from the start.

However, Infinity President Joel Hollander was serious enough to the point he decided to work on launching a new radio ratings system altogether ("Radio Ratings USA") with The Media Audit (7/8 RBR Daily Epaper #132)

for major markets. Apparently, that is still going forward. "Not for at least six months though," the Infinity source said.

TVBR observation:

Infinity's biggest problem with Arbitron was and always will be price. We wonder how low Arbitron went to get the deal done. Why did Infinity go back so quickly? Because Infinity and Arbitron need each other.

Representing 9%-15% (depending on whom you ask) of Arbitron revenues, Infinity's announcement in June sent ARB's stock price from nearly $40 down to $32 just last week.

Also, we would find it hard to believe Infinity could go for long without some kind of ratings to sell against with agencies and advertisers. A potential lawsuit would have been always just around the corner with sales folks screwing up and talking numbers to get a sale.

Another problem Infinity has with Arbitron is the need to improve their methodology and delivery system. Until they get that on track, they are likely to be a bit more flexible on deal-making, especially agreeing to shorter term agreements.

We bet MediaAudit is a bit disappointed in this news. Just like Cumulus pumped up Eastlan, Infinity did the same with MediaAudit. But as the source said, the deal with them continues. We were told to stay tuned on that matter.