• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, August 6, 2010

Without a key to the mint, there will be no new currency. As the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement -- the think tank known as CIMM and backed by NBC Universal, Procter & Gamble and more -- gauges whether set-top boxes can upend the TV market, the group plans to ask those guarding the wealth a series of pointed questions.

The overarching concern: CIMM is trying to pin down whether the cable/ satellite/telco TV operators controlling set-top boxes with their granular viewing data believe they can make a business out of selling it.

  A series of positive answers could signal that the information may be widely available, starting a snowball effect leading to a new marketplace currency. But if enough operators effectively shrug their shoulders, the full potential of set-top-box data may never be realized.

As it holds conversations with Comcast, DirecTV and AT&T, CIMM has provided them with a series of advance questions to be used to frame the discussion.

"Do you see STB data as a measurement product, as part of your company's revenue stream?" one question reads. "If so, how long do you think it will take for STB data to become a viable, revenue producing business for your company?"

In addition, CIMM asks: "Do you have a separate department or headcount against a STB data revenue model initiative?"

Cable operator Charter offered a sign that it believes the business is viable, cutting a deal with Rentrak to give it access to data from boxes across its footprint.

CIMM is asking the questions as it preps a report on the gestalt of STB data. Set for a September release, it could lead to some pilot testing. In addition to operators, it is also seeking input from networks, agencies, and data processors such as Rentrak and other stakeholders.

"We'll take all of the responses and find the commonalities -- the outlying opinions as well -- and place it in a way that is informative and hopefully actionable," said Charlene Weisler, a CIMM consultant writing the "white paper."

But as CIMM moves ahead, how many cable or satellite operators will be willing to hold frank conversations with the coalition is unclear. CIMM Managing Director Jane Clarke says it promises confidentiality, but researchers for the Council for Research Excellence conducting a recent STB study found minimal cooperation with a similar effort.

They offered to sign nondisclosure agreements, but of 11 data owners approached, only two participated: cable operator Cox and TiVo. CIMM's Weisler indicated that the group has had some success.

Still, beyond questions about revenue models, CIMM wants to ask operators about "challenges" and "advantages" in making STB data available to the marketplace. There's also a technical question about the difficulty of extracting the mound of data from the boxes. CIMM also touches on operators' concerns about protecting their subscribers' privacy.

"If privacy is currently a concern, how long do you think it will take for privacy issues to dissipate?" a question reads.

As with the operators, the framework for discussion with networks and agencies offers direct questions. If the end game is an altered national TV currency helped along by STB data, the CIMM is interested in opinions on what the currency may look like. It also hints at where Nielsen may currently be falling short.

"If you could construct the optimal media measurement that could be used as a currency, what attributes would it have?" one question reads. "These attributes could already be available or could be something created in the future."

Related: "What do you need from the current measurement currency that you are not getting now?"

Drilling down into the longer-term, CIMM is interested in perceived strengths of STB data, and hurdles that may be "ingrained and unfixable" in using it in the market.

Separately, CIMM is approaching the middlemen that help cable and operators extract the data from the STBs. The ultimate vendors, such as Rentrak, Kantar Media and TRA, already have STB-based products on sale that networks and agencies can use for data analysis. But each has access to STB data from only a small portion of the 115 million U.S. TV homes, so CIMM wonders: "How do you create a national sample?"

Nielsen is also likely to be asked that question should it submit to a CIMM interview.

Clarke said not all questions to all stakeholders will focus on STB data as potential currency over the long haul, but will address its immediate possibilities, such as leading to addressable and interactive advertising. Cable operators, for one, are offering marketers those opportunities now on a local level.

The CIMM membership includes programmers such as Time Warner, NBCU and Discovery; agencies such as GroupM; and advertisers such as P&G and Unilever. The well-funded group is approaching its first anniversary.

One issue that STB data poses is a need for standards, adhered to at all levels of the data flow chart. As Clarke said, even if Rentrak or TRA offer products to networks with "a secret sauce," the industry can be sure the data forming the basis is a sort of common language, ensuring that definitions of a tune-in or ad zap are consistent.

"It may be a little messy over the next couple of years, while more and more data will start to come out into the market," Clarke said. "You'll see different, interesting ways in how people are using the data. I'm just guessing that you probably won't get to a full-scale auditable media currency for a couple of years."

The analysis of STB data is thorny enough, CIMM author Weisler said. The more she evaluates it, "the more I appreciate the quality of sample that Nielsen has constructed."