Arbitron To Withhold NYC Week 4 Estimates

Abritron informed subscribers Monday that Week 4 of the November 2012 estimates will not be released.

According to on October 29, during the November 2012 report period (October 11-November 7), Hurricane Sandy moved through the eastern seaboard, causing widespread damage and extended power outages.  During the last two days of Week 3 (October 25-October 31) and throughout Week 4 (November 1-November 7), a substantial number of homes remained without power.  Arbitron has carefully monitored Average Daily In-Tab and other PPM performance metrics for each market throughout this period.

The New York Metro includes the embedded Metros of Nassau-Suffolk and Middlesex-Somerset-Union.  As a result of the storm, approximately one third of the targeted in-tab sample in Nassau-Suffolk and Middlesex-Somerset-Union was unavailable during Week 4.  In addition, average daily in-tab rates were substantially lower for Week 4 in these embedded metros than during unaffected weeks in recent currency reports.

These factors, combined with other performance metrics, resulted in a decision to not produce PPM estimates for Week 4 for Nassau-Suffolk and Middlesex-Somerset-Union.  Since the New York Metro includes the Nassau-Suffolk and Middlesex-Somerset-Union Metros, the unavailability of these metros impacts the sample performance of the New York Metro.  As a result, Week 4 PPM estimates for New York will not be produced.

The November 2012 reports for New York, Nassau-Suffolk, and Middlesex-Somerset-Union will be based exclusively on November Weeks 1, 2, and 3 (October 11-October 31). Arbitron plans to release these reports on Monday, November 27, as originally scheduled.

The November 2012 report for all PPM markets other than New York, Nassau-Suffolk, and Middlesex-Somerset-Union will be based on the standard four-week November report period.  Arbitron plans to release these reports as originally scheduled.