Nielsen Global Revs Up 8%, Set To Deliver Wal-Mart Data

DavidCalhounNielsen is set to begin offering sales data from Wal-Mart in the second quarter, which will supply a fuller picture of U.S. retail activity for clients. Separately, Nielsen has had some difficulty getting the industry to embrace its online campaign ratings.

CEO David Calhoun said Monday that Nielsen has made a significant investment in determining how to process and release the Wal-Mart data, but “we remain on track.” Nielsen cut a deal with the country’s largest retailer for data acquisition last year.

For the online campaign ratings, where the goal is to attach the type of reach and frequency metrics used in the TV business, Calhoun said it has been a “tough implementation.”

He notes that the challenge "is getting the industry lined up to accept and learn how to use,” although he did say the company is optimistic, with 35 advertisers and 48 publishers on board and about 400 campaigns having run. (Calhoun said there are a “few examples where we’ve charged clients, but considers the program to be in pilot mode.)

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Calhoun spoke on a call to announce financial results as Nielsen moves into its second year after an IPO. In 2011, global revenues were up 8% to $5.5 billion -- including an increase of 4% for its TV measurement business. Profits dropped from $130 million to $84 million.

With more cross-platform consumption, Calhoun was asked whether he expects an upfront market to develop a “three-screen” upfront market, which would help Nielsen as it looks to be a pacesetter in multiscreen analytics.

“It’s not going to move there real soon,” he said. “I believe that three screens is still what everyone is after, for all the good reasons. The upfront and the dynamics around all those instant negotiations, in my view, present a hurdle for it, because I don’t think the analytic community has yet fully accepted it. It’s just going to take some time for it.”

He indicated that finding an agreed-upon metric for online consumption is critical, which the online campaign ratings are ticketed for.

On Sunday, the Super Bowl was available live online and on mobile devices, which Calhoun said could encourage some movement in the multiscreen area. Nielsen will also look to use the London Olympics this summer to show the possibilities of multiscreen measurement.

Separately, Calhoun said he expects Nielsen’s group of private-equity owners to maintain their positions for some time. “Everything we do in terms of operating investments and all the things that we want to do to continue to run this business are fully supported,” he said.

The CEO said he expects the Nielsen Catalina co-venture, which wants to track the relationship between media consumption and sales, to “really come into full force” in the back half of this year.

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