PPM delays costly for Arbitron
Shares of Arbitron tumbled 7.2% to $41.70 on Tuesday after the radio ratings company said that it will delay the rollout of a new electronic audience-measurement system in nine markets, giving in to pressure from broadcasters who said the data wasn’t reliable. In a surprise announcement late Monday, Arbitron said its earnings this year and next will be lower than expected because of the delays, which range between three and nine months in key cities including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Arbitron said it now expects its 2008 earnings to be 22 cents-33 cents per share lower than previously thought because of lost revenue that the new Portable People Meters would have brought and additional costs for extending the traditional diary systems.
October rough for Tribune
Tribune said Tuesday that its October revenue fell 9.3% to $383 million, driven by declines across its businesses. Publishing revenue was off 7.9% to $287 million, advertising revenue dropped 10.6% to $222 million and circulation revenue dipped 6.3%. Broadcasting and entertainment group revenue in October came in at $96 million, down 13.3%. Shares of Tribune fell 4.7% on Tuesday to $27.25.
