Arbitron says it will discontinue "Total Line Reporting" for broadcasters that don't subscribe to its ratings service -- likely as a way "to woo back non-subscribers that benefit from TLR," suggests Inside Radio (here).
Total Line Reporting enables stations to combine their online simulcast listening with over-the-air listening for ratings purposes. Now, starting with the winter 2014 book in diary markets and the January 2014 report in PPM markets, non-subscribers will be reported as individual stations only. Ad buyers will not see combined ratings for simulcasts of non-subscribing stations, beginning next year.
As we reported here, Arbitron recently changed the requirements for what's considered a "simulcast," requiring stations to stream 100% identical content (programming and ads) only in their home Metro and DMA. The new policy allows the station to stream any content it likes outside its home Metro/DMA.
RAIN Summit Orlando will feature a discussion panel dedicated to ad-insertion and broadcast radio online simulcasts on September 17. We have more detail on that panel here.