Nielsen to Offer Integrated, All-Electronic Television Measurement Across Multiple Media Platforms
15 June 2006 - 4:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement Initiative Enhances In-Home
Ratings and Tracks TV Viewing on the Internet, Outside the Home and
via Mobile Media NEW YORK, June 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Nielsen Media
Research, a unit of VNU, N.V., today announced that it will provide
integrated, all-electronic ratings for television regardless of the
platform on which it is viewed. Under the Company's Anytime
Anywhere Media Measurement (A2/M2) initiative, Nielsen will develop
and deploy technology to measure the new ways consumers are
watching television, such as on the Internet, outside the home, and
via cell phones, iPods and other personal, mobile devices.
Developed in close consultation with clients, A2/M2 reflects the
transformation of the television industry into a multi-platform
business. Key components include: * A continued focus on providing
the most accurate measurement of in-home television viewing through
state-of-the-art Active/Passive (A/P) metering technology *
Measurement of online streaming video as well as the addition of
Internet measurement in Nielsen's People Meter samples * The
addition of Out-of-Home measurement in Nielsen's People Meter
samples * The introduction of electronic measurement in all local
markets, targeted for 2011 * The development of new meters to
measure video viewed on portable media devices * The creation of
new research for measuring viewer "engagement" in TV programming
These initiatives build on the significant progress Nielsen has
made in modernizing media measurement for the 21st Century, such as
launching the Active/Passive meter, which serves as the basis for
measuring all time-shifted and place-shifted viewing; introducing
electronic Local People Meters into the top 10 local markets;
measuring DVR and VOD viewing; and securing a majority stake in
Nielsen//NetRatings (NetRatings, Inc.), the leading Internet
measurement company. "As digital distribution of television
transforms the way our clients do business, Nielsen is keeping pace
with new ways of measuring TV wherever it is viewed," said Susan D.
Whiting, president and chief executive officer of Nielsen Media
Research. "With continued client direction, patented technologies,
internal focus on speed and innovation and unrivalled understanding
of how people watch television, Nielsen is uniquely positioned to
anticipate and respond to the industry's evolution." "A2/M2 is the
result of extensive consultation with clients, who told us clearly
that we should 'follow the video' and deliver integrated
measurement of all television-like content regardless of platform,"
Whiting continued. "A2/M2 recognizes that there is no 'one size
fits all' approach to measuring television, while launching the
most extensive research and testing program in the company's
history. We thank our clients for the time they spent helping us
develop this initiative and look forward to their continued
collaboration during its implementation." To accelerate the process
of bringing new systems to market, Nielsen has created on-going
test panels of households recruited and managed in the same way as
its existing currency samples. This will include a test panel of
households leaving Nielsen's currency samples at the conclusion of
their maximum two-year tenure. This testing will enable Nielsen to
quickly answer many fundamental methodological questions prior to
extensive field testing, thus speeding the development and
introduction of new services. Integrating Television and Internet
Measurement The technological and economic barriers that have
traditionally divided the media are starting to come down, and
nowhere is this more evident than in the relationship between
television and the Internet. As more and more streaming video
content, including traditional television programming, becomes
available online, content providers need to measure this viewing
and understands how it complements their traditional television
programming. To help media clients measure their growing online
presence, Nielsen Media Research and its sister company NetRatings,
provider of the Nielsen//NetRatings service, will introduce a
number of unique integrated measurement services: *
Nielsen//NetRatings will establish the industry's most
comprehensive system for tracking and reporting digital audio and
video delivered via the Internet. Nielsen//NetRatings will
integrate data from its SiteCensus service, which uses proprietary
"ping back" technology to provide highly accurate and granular
measurement of what is delivered online, with demographic data from
its representative metered panels of Internet users. Local
broadcast stations and cable operators will be able to take
advantage of Nielsen//NetRatings' SiteCensus Market Intelligence
service, which offers syndicated Internet audience measurement
data. * Nielsen will add Internet television measurement to its
People Meter samples next year, creating a single panel to measure
the relationship among TV viewing, web site usage and streaming
video consumption. Under the plan, this summer Nielsen will install
and test software meters, including Nielsen//NetRatings' patented
metering technology, on the personal computers and laptops of
People Meter panelists exiting our panels, with the goal of fully
deploying them during the 2007-2008 broadcast season. Nielsen will
use the testing to identify the potential impact of Internet
measurement on panel-quality metrics. * As a springboard to the
introduction of this single-sample Internet/television panel,
beginning this summer Nielsen and Nielsen//NetRatings will offer
"fused" data, combining the viewing results from matching
respondents in their television and Internet panels. This will make
it possible to report the relationship between television and
Internet consumption, and to provide combined reporting of
viewership of broadcast or cable networks and usage of their web
sites. This fused data will be an important planning tool to allow
agencies and advertisers to optimize combined TV/Internet
campaigns. "NetRatings has a long history of leadership and
innovation in Internet measurement and we are pleased to expand our
partnership with Nielsen Media Research to develop the industry's
most advanced measurement of Internet television," said William
Pulver, president and chief executive officer, NetRatings, Inc. "By
bringing together the best assets of our two companies, we will
offer media and advertising clients a unique service for navigating
the rapid convergence of TV and online media." Measuring Television
Outside the Home Because consumers increasingly are watching
traditional television away from home, including at work, in bars,
restaurants, hotels and airports, Nielsen is developing and testing
new personal meters to measure this viewing. Nielsen expects to
introduce these meters into its National and Local People Meter
panels by the end of 2008 and eventually add out-of-home viewing
into its national and local television currencies. Starting this
fall and continuing into the beginning of 2007, Nielsen will
conduct a preliminary external test of two personal meters, called
"Go Meters," designed to capture out-of-home viewing by collecting
audio signatures. One device places metering technology in cell
phones and the other is a customized meter that resembles an MP3
player. Nielsen will likely offer panelists several options based
on their experiences and preferences. Expanding Electronic
Measurement Given the hundreds of television channels available to
consumers and the growing popularity of digital services such as
video on demand (VOD) and digital video recorders (DVRs), Nielsen
has in recent years been engaged in an extended dialogue with
clients about how to bring improved electronic measurement to local
markets. Based on these discussions, Nielsen is committed to
bringing electronic measurement to its local-market services --
both by adding electronic persons measurement to existing Set-Meter
markets and by converting Diary-only markets to electronic
measurement. It will do so through the following initiatives: *
Nielsen will expand Local People Meter (LPM) service beyond the 10
largest local television markets to the next 15 largest markets.
These rollouts will begin when they are launched in Houston,
Seattle and Tampa in October 2007. At the end of the roll-out
process, local samples representing nearly half of the U.S.
population would be measured by LPMs. * For existing Set-Meter
markets in markets sizes 26 to 60, Nielsen will introduce the A/P
3.0, a variation of the Active/Passive meter that will not need to
be wired directly into the TV set. This meter is designed to be
placed next to the television, where it will accurately collect the
required TV on/off and program information. Information on who is
watching the program will be collected through the same People
Meter technology used in National and Local People Meters, which
will be integrated into the A/P 3.0 design. Pending the results of
large-scale field tests, Nielsen plans to begin introducing these
meters into remaining Set Meter markets in 2008. * For medium-size,
current Diary-only markets (approximately market size 61 to 125),
Nielsen proposes to mail battery-powered meters to sample homes,
initially supplementing them with simple viewing logs. The meters
would be placed near televisions to capture all programming on the
set, requiring household members to record only what they watched.
At the end of the survey period, participants would mail back the
meters and logs. Pending sufficient and successful test results by
mid-2007, Nielsen will decide whether to proceed with this
approach. * For smaller markets currently served only by the paper
Diary, Nielsen will aggressively pursue a full electronic
measurement plan and investigate a number of possible electronic
solutions, including set-top box data and Internet Diaries. Nielsen
understands the technological and financial challenges of providing
electronic measurement in every market and has set a target to
reach this goal by 2011. * Nielsen will work on a parallel track to
develop and test passive persons measurement, including wearable
personal tags that let meters know when viewers are in direct line
of sight of their TV sets. If these tests prove effective from both
a quality and economic perspective, tags could conceivably replace
button-pushing in People Meter homes. This will require extensive
methodological and field testing before such a decision can be
made. Tracking Portable Media Devices Nielsen is building the
foundation to measure television content that is migrating to new
portable media platforms -- including cell phones, iPod, portable
game players and handheld computers -- in ways that clients can
evaluate and monetize. The Company is continuing engineering work
to create "Solo Meters" that can be used with any portable media
system. For platforms that use a wireless, Bluetooth(R) connection,
Nielsen is developing a very small wireless meter that would
passively listen to communication between mated devices. For
systems that are wired, Nielsen is building a diminutive "in-line"
meter that would be physically inserted between the device and its
earphones. Both metering solutions would be "device-neutral" to
work with a wide variety of personal media platforms without having
to be customized for specific devices. They also would identify
viewing by collecting audio signatures. Development of the systems
starts this summer and functional prototypes would be available
within six to 12 months, so that testing could begin by the latter
part of next year. As Nielsen pursues these initiatives, it also is
implementing a comprehensive research plan to track consumer
adoption and usage of a wide array of portable media devices,
including the creation of a 400-person panel of iPod users by the
end of 2006. Measuring Engagement To help address the industry's
desire to adopt a measure of engagement for television, Nielsen is
conducting a detailed test to evaluate the strength of intrinsic
and extrinsic measurements. The pilot program, which also will help
lay the groundwork for possible engagement metrics, is being
undertaken in consultation with a 20-member client committee
representing broadcast and cable networks, syndicators and
agencies. National and Local People Meter households that are
leaving the panel will be asked to maintain the meters for an
additional six weeks, during which time they will participate in
telephone surveys designed to measure commercial recall and
qualitative engagement factors for the programs they watch. The
test will evaluate the strength of behavioral measures in
predicting commercial recall, an important attribute in advertising
strategy. Nielsen expects to publish the results of the survey in
the fall, at which time it will decide on future plans, including
additional phases of research or the launch of a specific
engagement product. About Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media
Research is the world's leading provider of television audience
measurement and advertising information services. In the United
States, Nielsen's National People Meter service provides audience
estimates for all national program sources, including broadcast
networks, cable networks, Spanish language networks, and national
syndicators. Local ratings estimates are produced for television
stations, regional cable networks, MSOs, cable interconnects, and
Spanish language stations in each of the 210 television markets in
the U.S., including electronic metered service in 56 markets.
Nielsen Media Research is part of VNU Media Measurement &
Information, a global leader in information services for the media
and entertainment industries. VNU is active in more than 100
countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands and New
York, USA. VNU is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam (ASE:VNU) stock
exchange. For more information, please visit the VNU website at
http://www.vnu.com/. About Nielsen//NetRatings NetRatings, Inc.
(NASDAQ:NTRT) delivers leading Internet media and market research
solutions, marketed globally under the Nielsen//NetRatings brand.
With high quality, technology-driven products and services,
Nielsen//NetRatings is the global standard for Internet audience
measurement and premier source for online advertising intelligence,
enabling clients to make informed business decisions regarding
their Internet and digital strategies. The Nielsen//NetRatings
portfolio includes panel-based and sitecentric Internet audience
measurement services, online advertising intelligence, user
lifestyle and demographic data, e-commerce and transaction metrics,
and custom data, research and analysis. For more information,
please visit http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/. DATASOURCE:
Nielsen Media Research CONTACT: Gary Holmes of Nielsen Media
Research, +1-646-654-8975, or Susan Hickey of Nielsen//Net Ratings,
+1-212-703-5909 Web site: http://www.nielsenmedia.com/
http://www.vnu.com/ http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/
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