It took a while, but the broadcast media community is starting to realize that Nielsen Media may not have the answers to all their audience-related questions.
So, 14 of the largest players in the space -- including programmers, advertisers, and ad buyers -- are shelling out some cash to see if there's a better way. The group claims it isn't looking for an alternative to Nielsen ... but let's do the math on this one. If they aren't looking for some new choices, then just what the hell are they doing?
Among the participants in the hunt for a new audience measurement system are CBS (NYSE: CBS), Disney (NYSE: DIS), GE's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal, News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS), ad giant Omnicon (NYSE: OMC), and TimeWarner (NYSE: TWX).
The light at the end of the tunnel, presuming they don't need a road map to find it, is a solution suited to an age of digital video recorders, online video, and handheld devices that can do far more than the first television I was allowed to have in my bedroom.
The need is palpable: CBS is the only major broadcaster to see an up-tick in its audience in the season ending last May. Overall, it looks like people aren't watching as much television -- a conclusion supported by ad sales. The Television Bureau of Advertising puts the year-over-year plunge at 12.8% and landing at $9.6 billion for the second quarter of 2009.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-12-2009 @ 3:46PM
thedude said...
I've been advocating for this for some time now. Since digtal cable came out with those nifty interactive remote controls and program guides
It wouldn't even be that much work to incorporate a rating system into the programs and commercials
When a commercial comes on there can be a "RATING" bar at the bottom of the screen. You would first have a chance to rate the quality of the commercial 1-10 on whether the commercial was effective in suggesting you buy the product then once that input was collected there could be another "RATING" on whether you like the product or not
There could be similar rating questions for program viewers asking during the opening credits if they are regular viewers and what they think of the show overall and at the end credits what viewers thought of the particular episode they just watched
All using a 1-10 rating scale that would go a long way in colating data for networks and advertisers
Yes you would get a group of upstarts who would give negative ratings just to gam the system but this happens in all general polls and can not be avoided
Instant feedback on ads and shows would prove invaluable to the people who care about these things
9-12-2009 @ 7:29PM
Georgia said...
Dear TheDude -
When talking about ratings they are talking about how many viewers and their demographics - not how a viewer 'rates' a show or commercial. That is how media is purchased - numbers of viewers, ages, gender and geographical locations. I am surprised this article did not mentioned People Meters which has been implemented in most of the top markets in the US now and is a much more effective means of measuring audience viewing as well as the personal information of each participant - they must have a device on their persons which will tranmit who they are and what they are watching at all times. This is new for radio as well.
9-13-2009 @ 10:37AM
Vince Hennigan said...
Because of the number of interuptions by commercials I have switched to Netflix and consquently reduced my TV watching time by 50-75%. The only channel I watch on a regular basis is C-Span and BBC America that has the best evening news of any channel. I can't EVER remember buying ANYTHING because a paid actor in a 'mina drama' commercial tells me to. As far as I'm concerned commercials, like billboards, are just a tax write-off for corporations. The days are long past when we relied on TV for entertainment. It simply doesn't appear to be relevant to people's lives anymore. Oh sure, there are some 'good for a laugh' programs like 'Repo' but they are few and far between. Miami CSI is another well produced show, but the rest...forget about it. All we still have is : '200 channels and nothing on'.