XM Satellite Radio is dropping Arbitron in favor of Online Testing Exchange (OTX), a Culver City, California based online research firm. Arbitron had provided XM with custom studies of its audience estimates since 2002.

In a statement, XM said, "We had a very good relationship with Arbitron, but XM is a highly specialized media vehicle, and Arbitron's methodology didn't adequately reflect that. After years of trying to work with its methodology, it was still not accepted by most agencies and clients. The feedback we have received from our clients on OTX's online methodology has been phenomenal and, based on one year's worth of side-by-side testing, it better represents our subscribers' listening habits."

Arbitron's methodology was based on telephone interviews with XM subscribers. OTX will provide XM with reports every four months, compared to Arbitron, who only provided reports every six months.

OTX will also provide audience estimates by channel and by daypart. “We also wanted to know how many additional listeners we had besides the primary subscribers,” said Eric Logan, executive vp of programming for XM. “The type of things we asked Arbitron to do became cost prohibitive for both companies.”

[MediaWeek]