Bouvard to Leave Arbitron after 23 Years

In the US, Arbitron veteran Pierre Bouvard is to leave his role of EVP of Cross-Platform Services at the end of September, after 23 years with the firm.

Since joining the ratings giant in 1983 - with the exception of a six-year break as EVP of radio consulting firm Coleman Research - Bouvard has held a variety of roles including President, Sales & Marketing; President, PPM (Portable People Meter); and President, New Ventures. He began his career with the firm in various sales and management roles in Chicago, San Francisco, New York and Dallas.

He moved to his current post last year, when Arbitron formed a 'cross-media' measurement group to use its PPM technology and third-party partnerships to establish a new audience measurement service across TV, radio, Internet, mobile and place-based media. One of his most recent projects was Arbitron's measurement of Olympics viewing for NBC.

In a memo distributed to staff on Friday, Arbitron's EVP of US Media Services and CFO Sean Cramer said Bouvard would be continuing his career in what he describes as 'the business of building businesses'.

Bouvard has since told the Radio Business Report/Television Business Report that he plans to move into the 'world of starts ups and venture capital funded companies'.

Web site: www.arbitron.com .