Arbitron Meters to Track TV Viewing

Arbitron Inc. said Tuesday it will use its Portable People Meter radio-audience measurement device to track TV viewership, vaulting it onto Nielsen's turf. Arbitron aims to offer more details about who watches various TV shows. Filling advertisers' demands for as much information as possible on their target customers has become increasingly important for media companies as more ad spending moves online. The company, whose pager-sized meters are worn by a sampling of people in about 15 major U.S. cities to track radio listening, says the devices also can track TV viewing by using sound encoding that isn't audible to humans. The idea is to use the meters to track people's TV viewing in bars and other locations outside the home.