CRE To Study How Mobile Impacts TV Viewing

Watching-TV-on-IpadThe Council for Research Excellence, the Nielsen-funded group looking to advance industry research, said it has issued a request for proposal for a study on how the use of mobile digital devices is affecting TV viewing behavior. Devices include tablets, smartphones and laptops.

The CRE is seeking insight into simultaneous usage of a mobile device while watching TV -- something NBCUniversal will look to measure with Olympic programming this summer. Other issues to study: Does mobile viewing cannibalize TV viewing or help increase it? What are the most popular ways for users to access video content on a mobile device, whether via an app or another entry point?

The CRE also wants some broader figures, such as estimates of reach and time spent consuming mobile media and where and when consumers are doing it the most. It wants to compare its data-collecting methods with how other industry researchers are seeking answers to these difficult-to-grasp matters.

“As usage of mobile devices expands, and the lines differentiating those platforms blur, it is incumbent upon the media industry to understand the trends and prepare for the future with respect to content development, advertising and measurement,” stated Joanne Burns, an executive vice president, 20th Television/Fox, who chairs the CRE’s Media Consumption and Engagement Committee.

NBCU’s research on the Olympics this summer will focus heavily on iPad consumption. On Wednesday, Disney/ABC Television Group said it would jointly conduct a study about iPad use, covering many of the same things the CRE research is targeting.  

Earlier this week, the CRE, which is comprised of top-level research executives, said Jeffrey Graham, director of advertising research, Americas, at Google, Judy Vogel, managing director, insights and analytics at Media Storm and Tom Ziangas, senior vice president, research at AMC Networks, had joined.

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