BBGI Beasley Broadcast Group Inc

Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) announced today that Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: BBGI), a top 20 radio broadcasting company that owns or operates 41 stations - 26 FM and 15 AM stations - located in 10 large- and mid-sized markets in the United States, has entered into a multi-year agreement for Arbitron's radio ratings services that include Portable People Meter (PPM(SM)) audience measurement services when deployed in Philadelphia. George G. Beasley, chairman and chief executive officer of Beasley Broadcast Group commented, "Beasley is a progressive company committed to utilizing the most advanced technologies available to the radio industry to enhance our platform for both listeners and advertisers. The Portable People Meter will provide additional integrity to our ratings results, which we believe will be embraced by our advertising clients." "Our goal is to secure a critical mass of stations and agencies to allow us to go forward with the deployment of the Portable People Meter system for radio audience measurement in the United States," said Pierre Bouvard, president, Sales and Marketing, Arbitron. "We anticipate that Beasley Broadcast Group will be the first of many to embrace the Portable People Meter as a means to support radio industry growth. With wide-spread industry use, the PPM will help radio enhance the medium's credibility among advertisers and help improve the programming offered to listeners." The agreement with Beasley Broadcast Group does not commit Arbitron to a specific timetable for deployment of the Portable People Meter system. Arbitron has not yet to determine when and in which markets it will deploy the Portable People Meter system to measure local market radio audiences. Arbitron is evaluating two approaches for the commercialization of the Portable People Meter system. Arbitron granted Nielsen Media Research an option to join in the potential commercial deployment of the Portable People Meter for audience measurement in the United States. In the event that Nielsen Media Research exercises the option, Arbitron and Nielsen would form a joint venture to commercially deploy and operate the Portable People Meter system for the collection and measurement of listening and viewing audience data in local markets for broadcast and cable television as well as for radio. In the event that Nielsen Media Research chooses not to exercise its option to form a joint venture with Arbitron to use the PPM technology for radio and television audience measurement, Arbitron intends to offer a PPM service for audience measurement to the radio industry. About the Portable People Meter The Arbitron Portable People Meter system uses a passive audience measurement device - about the size of a small cell phone - to track consumer exposure to media and entertainment, including broadcast, cable and satellite television; terrestrial, satellite and online radio as well as cinema advertising and many types of place-based electronic media. Carried throughout the day by randomly selected survey participants, the PPM device can track when and where they watch television, listen to radio as well as how they interact with other forms of media and entertainment. The PPM detects inaudible codes embedded in the audio portion of media and entertainment content delivered by broadcasters, content providers and distributors. At the end of the day, the meter is placed in a docking station that extracts the codes and sends them to a central computer. The PPM is equipped with a motion sensor, a patented quality control feature unique to the system, which allows Arbitron to confirm the compliance of the PPM survey participants every day. About Beasley Broadcast Group Founded in 1961, Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: BBGI) is a radio broadcasting company that owns or operates 41 stations (26 FM and 15 AM) located in ten large- and mid-size markets in the United States. About Arbitron Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) is an international media and marketing research firm serving radio broadcasters, cable companies, advertisers, advertising agencies and outdoor advertising companies in the United States, Mexico and Europe. Arbitron's core businesses are measuring network and local market radio audiences across the United States; surveying the retail, media and product patterns of local market consumers; and providing application software used for analyzing media audience and marketing information data. The Company has also developed the Portable People Meter (PPM), a new technology for media and marketing research. Arbitron's marketing and business units are supported by its research and technology organization, located in Columbia, Maryland. Arbitron has approximately 1,700 employees; its executive offices are located in New York City. Through its Scarborough Research joint venture with VNU, Inc., Arbitron also provides media and marketing research services to the broadcast television, magazine, newspaper and online industries. PPM(SM)is a service mark of Arbitron Inc. Note from Arbitron Inc. regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statements regarding Arbitron in this document that are not historical in nature, particularly those that utilize terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "likely," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes" or "plans," or comparable terminology, are forward-looking statements based on current expectations about future events, which Arbitron has derived from information currently available to it. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our results to be materially different from results implied in such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include whether we will be able to: -- renew all or part of contracts with large customers as they expire; -- successfully execute our business strategies, including implementation of our Portable People Meter services and to execute potential joint venture or third party agreements; -- effectively manage the impact of any further consolidation in the radio and advertising agency industries; -- keep up with rapidly changing technological needs of our customer base, including creating new proprietary software systems and new customer products and services that meet these needs in a timely manner; -- successfully manage the impact on our business of any economic downturn generally and in the advertising market in particular; and -- successfully manage the impact on costs of data collection due to privacy concerns, technology changes and/or government regulations. Additional important factors known to Arbitron that could cause forward-looking statements to turn out to be incorrect are identified and discussed from time to time in Arbitron's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in particular the risk factors discussed under the caption "ITEM 1. BUSINESS - Business Risks" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K. The forward-looking statements contained in this document speak only as of the date hereof, and Arbitron undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Note from Beasley Broadcast Group Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Statements in this release that are "forward-looking statements" are based upon current expectations and assumptions, and involve certain risks and uncertainties within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words or expressions such as "intends", "expects," "expected," "anticipates" or variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Key risks are described in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Readers should note that these statements are subject to change and to inherent risks and uncertainties and may be impacted by several factors, including: economic and regulatory changes, the loss of key personnel, a downturn in the performance of our large-market radio stations, the Company's substantial debt levels, and changes in the radio broadcast industry generally. The Company's actual performance and results could differ materially because of these factors and other factors discussed in the "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition" of our SEC filings, including but not limited to annual reports on Form 10-K or quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which can be obtained from the SEC, www.sec.gov, or our website, www.bbgi.com. These statements do not include the potential impact of any acquisitions or dispositions announced or completed after January 31, 2006. All information in this release is as of January 31, 2006, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update the information contained herein to actual results or changes to the Company's expectations.