ESPN to launch cross-media measurement project around FIFA World Cup

American sports broadcaster ESPN is using this year’s FIFA World Cup 2010 to launch a new research initiative measuring media usage and advertiser effects across all media platforms – TV, radio, internet, mobile and print.

The ESPN XP project brings together The Keller Fay Group, Knowledge Networks, The Media Behavior Institute, The Nielsen Company and The Wharton Interactive Media Initiative (WIMI), with more members to be announced.

The new project is an ongoing initiative, with the World Cup the first in a series of quarterly projects under the ESPN XP name. “The goal is to create a scalable research plan to measure cross-media audiences 12 months out of the year by 2012,” the broadcaster said.

The research will also use TouchPoints, licensed by the IPA to the Media Behavior Institute as part of its USA TouchPoints system.

Glenn Enoch, vice president of integrated media research, said: “This is about the future of cross-media measurement.

“We are working with these companies to help develop a model for the industry, to advance knowledge about cross-media research and behaviour, to find techniques that work and discard ones that don’t.

“We want to bring work in this area closer to currency measures and bring the industry closer to a day when measuring cross-platform behaviour is a standard practice instead of a special project.”