TiVo, the Video iPod, and mobile phone TV present the next big challenges to television research and ratings giant Nielsen Media Research. To be sure, the game is changing for Nielsen, who for years
has been rating television programs by giving a representative panel of U.S. consumers a diary to keep track of their TV viewing habits. But now companies like TiVo, a purveyor of digital video
recording services, can provide exact usage numbers to TV networks and advertisers--calling into question the quality of panel data in an age of real-time data reporting. That said, Nielsen is
expanding its tools to cover these new forms of TV usage. They already have the brand and the client relationships to stave off any challenges by would-be usurpers to its ratings empire.
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