Nielsen Falls Short

1. "TV Measurement Comes Up Short
Most Agree the Payment Model Is Broken; They Just Differ on How to Fix It"
By Brian Steinberg
Published: July 23, 2007

"When CBS yanked sci-fi drama "Jericho," it was caught off guard by the enormous fan reaction. The network, which eventually agreed to keep the show on the air, hadn't realized that the program had a significant following among viewers who watched it on the web and via DVRs, said Leslie Moonves, CBS Corp.'s chief executive, at a recent event.
What galls him is that those audiences aren't helping networks as much as their executives might like. "Jericho" fans need to "show up on the television," Mr. Moonves scolded. "That's how we get paid."
( Mr. Moonves, I have an idea for you. Count all the Jericho fans who ARE in front of their TV's. You know- the ones Nielsen fails to count.)

Almost everybody wants to change Nielsen -- they just can't agree how. The ability of Nielsen to measure a range of media venues won't be fully realized until at least 2011. In the meantime, with $70 billion in total TV spending at stake, the networks are trying to prove that their audience numbers haven't dwindled -- they've just splintered into other viewing venues such as DVRs, streaming video and video iPods.

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Please sign the Petition asking CBS to count ALL viewers.
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2. According to a recent study from Nielsen, the number of folks watching online video continues to rise, while a third of those respondents said that watching Web video actually increases the amount of traditional television they watch. Only 13 percent of those surveyed said that watching video online has decreased their watching television.

The study found that 81 million broadband customers reported watching online video, up 16 percent from September 2006 to March 2007. The 16 percent hike has been getting some attention.



3. "Watching TV programs on the Internet has jumped 16 percent in six months, but it hasn’t cannibalized the traditional TV audience, according to a new study conducted by Nielsen for The Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM)".
The study, A Barometer of Broadband Content and Its Users found that as of March 2007, about 81 million people or 63 percent of the 129 million people who access the Internet over broadband, watch broadband video at home or at work, up from 70 million in September 2006.
Broadband viewing is also likely to continue to increase as it becomes easier for viewers to find and view programming on the Internet. Some 32 million lighter broadband users reported being open to TV programs on the Internet.
The top broadband video brands dominate broadband video viewing with ABC.com the leading Web site among all the TV networks. Yahoo! Movies was the leader in the movies.




4. Later this month, Nielsen will be testing a new metering device which will plug in to iPods, MP3 players and other personal video devices (PVDs) to enable measurement of video-based programming wherever it is being watched.
* It will detect video and audio played on any portable media device
* Enhanced tracking research to determine which devices are being adopted by consumers and which devices are actually being used to watch video
* The recruitment of a panel of 400 known iPod owners to track their video and audio usage, both on their iPod and through the iTunes software portal
* The creation of a separate wireless division called Mobile Vector, to pursue measurement of video and other activity on cellular devices .



5. Just got the numbers for online video sites for June from Nielsen/NetRatings and Veoh has registered the second fastest growth among major video sites, jumping 254 percent from the same month last year. The fastest growing of the major players is Yahoo! which is up over 400 percent.