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Week ending February 3, 2007

Jeffrey Gedmin Named President Of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty - February 2, 2007

from Martins Zvaners/RFE/RL

The Board of Directors of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has named Dr. Jeffrey Gedmin as the new president of RFE/RL. The Board consists of the members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

In making the announcement on behalf of the Board, Chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson said Dr. Gedmin will bring to the job “a blend of experience as a distinguished scholar, writer, administrator and a career devoted to international work.”

Dr. Gedmin will take up his duties as RFE/RL President in March 2007.

The RFE/RL board also praised Jeffrey Trimble for his distinguished service as Acting President of RFE/RL since November 2005, following the resignation of former President Thomas A. Dine.

Since 2001, Dr. Gedmin has served as Director of the Aspen Institute in Berlin. The non-profit, non-partisan organization’s mission is “to foster enlightened leadership and open-minded dialogue.”

For five years before that, Dr. Gedmin was Executive Director of The New Atlantic Initiative, a coalition of international institutes, politicians, leading journalists and business executives. Leading supporters and participants included Vaclav Havel, Margaret Thatcher, Henry Kissinger, and U.S. Senators Jesse Helms and Joseph Biden.

Dr. Gedmin has been a frequent contributor to leading U.S. and European newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Washington Post and the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as well as a regular columnist for Die Welt.

Dr. Gedmin has authored and edited several books and served as co-executive producer for two major PBS documentaries. He received his Ph.D. from Georgetown University in German Area Studies.

In accepting the appointment, Dr. Gedmin said, “I’m delighted by the opportunity to join this great institution. Its mission has always been dear to my heart and for a number of reasons Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is more important than ever.”

Dr. Gedmin was born in Washington, DC and raised in Northern Virginia.

The candidate search for this position was completed by the firm of Christian and Timbers.

See ftm follow-up:Prominent Neoconservative Wins RFE/RL Post

Arbitron and the Nielsen Company Sign Agreement and Form Jointly-Owned Limited Liability Company to Continue Development of ‘Project Apollo’ Marketing Research Service - February 1, 2007

from Thom Mocarsky/Arbitron

Proposed service would link the Arbitron Portable People Meter system with ACNielsen Homescan technology

Arbitron Inc. and The Nielsen Company announced today that they have signed an agreement that will govern completion of development and testing of the ‘Project Apollo’ marketing research service and the expansion of the pilot panel to a full national service if the test results meet expectations and generate marketplace support. The parties have formed a jointly-owned limited liability company to continue pursuit of the project.

The proposed ‘Project Apollo’ service would use the Arbitron Portable People MeterTM system, ACNielsen Homescan technology and other technologies to provide advertisers with a better understanding of the connection between consumer exposure to advertising on multiple media and their shopping/purchase behavior.

“By making it possible to link the Arbitron Portable People Meter system with ACNielsen Homescan technology, this agreement between Arbitron and The Nielsen Company will help make real the industry’s long standing dream of a true, ‘single-source’ consumer research service,” said Steve Morris, president and chief executive officer, Arbitron Inc.

Said Susan Whiting, executive vice president of The Nielsen Company and chairman/CEO of Nielsen Media Research: “During the past eighteen months, our two companies planned, built and have been operating a 5,000 household pilot panel for ‘Project Apollo’ that has been well received by the seven charter advertisers who are helping us develop the service. Together, our companies and our charter supporters in the advertising industry will work to make ‘Project Apollo’ the most advanced marketing research service of its kind.”

Nielsen and Arbitron announced an earlier agreement in May 2005 that allowed the two companies to share the costs of the deployment of a pilot panel for the ‘Project Apollo’ service.

The current agreement also encompasses related agreements between the jointly owned limited liability company, Arbitron and other Nielsen companies for services to be used by the pilot panel and the full national service.

About the ‘Project Apollo’ Pilot Panel

The Nielsen Company and Arbitron have deploy a national pilot panel of more than 11,000 persons in 5,000 households as a demonstration of the ‘Project Apollo’ national marketing research service. The pilot panel is delivering, to a select group of charter supporters, multi-media and purchase information from a common sample of consumers.

Seven advertisers are members of the ‘Project Apollo’ Steering Committee, a group of marketers who have signed agreements for the ‘Project Apollo’ pilot panel data. In aggregate, these seven advertisers spend more than $6.8 billion for advertising on measured media.

The pilot panel is intended to show advertisers how ‘Project Apollo’ enables a better understanding of the link between consumer exposure to advertising on multiple media and their shopping/purchase behavior. The pilot also showcases the enhanced ability of the ‘single-source’ marketing research service to measure the return on investment for marketing efforts.

How the ‘Project Apollo’ Pilot Panel Works

The panel members are being given incentives to voluntarily carry Arbitron’s Portable People Meter, a small, cell phone-sized device that collects the volunteers’ exposure to electronic media sources: broadcast television networks, cable networks, and network radio as well as audio-based commercials broadcast on these outlets and on additional media. Consumer exposure to other media such as newspapers, magazines and circulars is being collected through additional survey instruments.

Data on consumer preference and purchases for a wide range of services and products are also being collected from panelists, via ACNielsen’s Homescan technology, which tracks packaged goods purchases and by means of additional surveys. Data are being collected in aggregate form to provide a holistic understanding of participants’ media interactions and their resulting shopping and purchase behavior.