US consortium to develop new TV measurement system
US media companies and marketers are coming together to create a new TV audience measurement system.
A report in today’s Financial Times says that media agencies GroupM and Starcom MediaVest are joining a consortium along with networks owned by NBC Universal, Time Warner, News Corp, Viacom, CBS, Discovery and Disney.
The report says the companies are frustrated by the slow pace of change with the current US audience measurement system controlled by Nielsen.
Procter & Gamble, AT&T – the top and third biggest US advertisers – and Unilever are also involved with the new consortium, said the FT.
Sam Armando, senior vice-president of audience analysis at Starcom MediaVest, told the FT: “The most deficient thing is there’s no single source measurement (for television and digital video).
“The thing is not let’s go out to replace Nielsen,” Armando said, although he added: “It’s not a leap of faith to think that another [measurement company] can come in and do both.”
It is expected that the consortium will tender new contracts for the development of a measurement system for TV set-top boxes and digital platforms.