Rentrak Plans To Seek MRC Approval For TV Essentials

Bruce Goerlich

As media researchers grapple with the colossal, cumbersome data from set-top boxes, one measurement company will look to assure them its data can be used with a notable degree of confidence. Perhaps as early as this fall, Rentrak plans to seek approval from the Media Rating Council (MRC) for its TV Essentials product that offers data from millions of the boxes.

 

The MRC is an independent industry body that evaluates and determines the stability and effectiveness of audience measurement products. The judgment process can take years, but Rentrak could be the first company to submit a product based on set-top-box (STB) data for the valuable MRC accreditation.

"We do believe in transparency," said Rentrak's chief researcher Bruce Goerlich at an Advanced Advertising 2.0 event Monday sponsored by publications Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News.

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The MRC submission will come after Rentrak integrates STB data from millions of homes served by Dish Network as it expands the scope of its TV Essentials product. By summer's end, TV Essentials is expected to be based on data culled from 17 million sets in homes served by Dish, AT&T and Charter Communications.

Still, Goerlich said agencies such as Zenith, Starcom and MediaVest have been using it to negotiate deals in the upfront market. Some 47 networks -- many unrated by Nielsen -- use the data.

TV Essentials offers second-by-second data with insight into commercial performance for the networks. A derivate product -- that the MRC would also evaluate -- is known as StationView Essentials, which provides similar STB data in local markets.

While some believe the promise of STB data still remains to be shown - partly because it is so difficult to sort through -- Goerlich said the "data is delivering today."

Goerlich also said at the B&C/Multichannel News event that for local markets, Rentrak is working with companies such as OneDomain and MediaBank to sync with their systems to assist agencies in using it.

Stations owned by Post-Newsweek in Houston and Miami recently signed up to receive StationView Essentials data.

1 comment about "Rentrak Plans To Seek MRC Approval For TV Essentials".
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  1. Andrew Crowley from ggiyt, June 22, 2010 at 10:21 a.m.

    I dont understand why companies are paying rentrak for a service they can get for free. the information rentrak is selling is not even theirs. it is information provided by satelite services. Why are network affiliates wasting their money?

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