MediaWeek: Arbitron, P&G and VNU Team on New Research Tool

Bitter rivals Arbitron and Nielsen will team together to offer a media research service pegged to both the Portable People Meter (PPM) service that is rapidly rolling out, along with Nielsen's Homescan service that monitors household product usage. The combination of the two services could, theoretically, let consumer packaged goods companies determine which media buys are responsible for moving products off of shelves and into people's homes. The market research service could also help the companies roll out the PPM network without needing to rely on balky radio and television firms' desire to buy into the new measurement service. Many broadcasters have expressed white-knuckle fear over the prospect of their media being measured with the actual viewing precision seen commonly with online advertising.