Simulmedia, Nielsen Team To Measure Small Cable Nets
- by Wayne Friedman , September 23, 2014
Simulmedia and Nielsen are joining up in a venture to measure small, unmeasured cable networks. The two companies say the development agreement is aimed at gaining "long tail" TV network
measurement, and capturing audiences that are unmeasured on niche cable networks. The effort is intended to help networks sell advertising.The deal will merge research from the Nielsen People Meter panel and Simulmedia’s 50 million set-top-box viewers.
Dave Morgan, chief executive officer of Simulmedia, stated: "In our work, we have found valuable blocks of audiences watching programs that may be under the radar of many network TV buyers.”
He adds: “This research will surface both the value of these networks and their audiences to brands, and the cost-effectiveness of working with them to reach attractive consumers and achieve positive business outcomes."
advertisement
advertisement
Steve Hasker, president of global product leadership for Nielsen, added: “We're committed to delivering solutions that drive business benefits for our clients. Big and small. Global and local. Across and within platforms.”
In October 2013, the two companies struck an agreement to integrate Nielsen Buyer Insights into the Simulmedia Audience Insights Database to foster TV viewer behavioral insights.
Media and marketing research professionals can only hope that Nielsen will now drop its plans to model half its national demographic TV & video viewing data -- in order to reduce the SE (standard error) for its "small cable nets" measurement. From what I know of Dave Morgan and his smart associates at Simulmedia, they are too discerning & principled to let Nielsen drag them into Nielsen's insane proposed TV audience measurement scheme, effectively making the best TV ratings measurement in the world, the worst. One can also hope that Nielsen's Steve Hasker will bring discerning & principled leadership to the new GTAM/STPM national TV audience measurement that starts on Monday, September 29 -- and replaces the NPM after 27 years of good service. Onwards and upwards.
Fortunately, the past few years have brought the TV media marketplace access to a massive amount of directly measured TV viewing data. We'll probably never have pure census measurement, but we will have powerful - and highly accurate - hybridized measurements and projections of TV program and ad viewing - and resulting consumer actions - at levels we couldn't have even dreamed of before. It will take a lot of work to bring together the best of direct measurement data and highly curated panel data and anonymized consumer purchase data and we're committed to helping bring that future to the fore. While I can't speak for Neilsen, I do know that they have been quite public about their commitment to make that future happen as well.
As a representative of a very small cable network I welcome any effort to help us measure our audience. To be clear, we operate five PEG channels- Public, Education and Government Access channels- in Contra Costa County, CA, serving just over one million residents.
As one of the "least of your brothers"(forgive me if you feel I've misappropriated the reference), we've heard the "You're too small to measure" lament.
In measuring our effectiveness and delivering audience numbers for sponsors, we appreciate any help we can get.
The comments of Dave Morgan (Simulmedia) and Chris Verdugo (Contra Costa Television) are measured and thoughtful to my ears. I trust and hope that both can and will achieve their respective objectives in a measured and thoughtful way. I do not expect either of them to speak for Nielsen or to take responsibility for Nielsen. After 40 years in the profession and business of advertising research, I have seen things go right -- and I have seen things go wrong where Nielsen is concerned. Those concerns are very much the byproduct of Nielsen Management at the time of critical decisions. The head of Alibaba, Jack Ma, said tonight that his corporate priorities are customers first, followed by employees and shareholders. Given the background of Nielsen's current CEO, Mitch Barnes, one can only hope that Nielsen's priorities are similar. However, I sincerely doubt it. Nonetheless, their (Nielsen's) future is not cast in stone. I hope that Steve Hasker, in consultation with Mitch Barnes, redirects Nielsen's plans to model half their demographic viewing data in the national USA sample/panel. It would be a dreadful and inexcusable methodological error and cause a decline in research quality that would leave it (i.e., NPM/GTAM/STPM) a service that is not deserving of MRC Accreditation by E&Y Audit. Nielsen is free to provide business partners and clients of modest size appropriate liasons and tools. What Nielsen ought not do is turn it's national service into a global "joke" for the survey and panel research cognescenti. I do not expect Simulmedia and Contra Costa Television to take responsibility for Nielsen's critical research or business decisions. I do hope, however, that they encourage Nielsen to find "the right way to do the right things." (Please see "Practical Wisdom" by Barry Schwartz and Kenneth Sharpe. Also see "The Paradox of Choice.") Thank you, Dave and Chris for your constructive continuation of this vital dialogue. Onwards and upwards. Nicholas P. Schiavone