If All You've Got Is a Gizmo,
You've Got a Long, Long Way to Go
By David Lapovsky

	Ratings System Components Introduction Sampling Panel Balance Data Processing Station Encoding and/or Monitoring Operations and Production Sample Weighting Useful Reports Multiple Market Measurement Client Service Support for the Industry MRC Accreditation Print-friendly: Click here to print entire document.

Operations and Production
Systems Must be in Place to Convert the Collected Data into Usable Audience Estimates

Data collection is only the beginning. There has to be an operations center that is supported by a thoroughly documented set of processes and software to convert the data into usable audience estimates. The data production environment must be demonstrated to be stable so users can have confidence that estimates will be delivered on schedule. Plans must be in place for disaster recovery, and there must be safeguards and data checks in place to prevent tampering with the results.

Arbitron’s Operation and Production Center, in Columbia, Maryland, is recognized as a world leader in survey result processing. It is supported by a full-time staff of 900 skilled individuals in all aspects of data processing, radio broadcasting, customer service, information technology and data security. The staff uses documented procedures that have been developed over some 40 years of radio audience measurement. Audited and accredited by the MRC, Arbitron’s track record speaks for itself, with better than 99.9 percent of reports delivered on time and accurately over the past five years.