• by April 7, 2004

THEY DISTORT? YOU DECIDE - If this is the way News Corp. behaves now that it's a U.S. corporate citizen, we'd just as soon they pack up and move back Down Under. At least that way we could take some solace by continuing to refer to them as "those guys" not "one of us." One thing is clear though, whatever their citizenship, those guys have certainly curried some political favor in the States. Enough to sway an important advertising marketplace issue that virtually everyone else had signed off on, but which News Corp. had vowed to disrupt because it would disproportionately hurt its Fox broadcasting operations. But the thing that really surprises us is the relative lack of outrage from Madison Avenue, which has taken News Corp.'s campaign to impede Nielsen's rollout of local people meters with relative indifference.

Sure, we understand that News Corp.'s decision to play the race card will only delay the inevitable, buying a three-month reprieve before the New York people meters are deployed and shave millions of dollars off of Fox's New York market share, but that three-month extension has another political implication: It coincides with a period that is expected to reap a windfall in political ad spending in the nation's largest market, including the build-up to the Republican National Convention in New York. If only News Corp. can figure out a way of derailing the effort indefinitely, or at least through the Nov. 2 election.

Actually, that's a real possibility given the disruption News Corp.'s marketing efforts have had on the New York DMA. The heavy marketing blitz waged by News Corp. is already causing fallout with Nielsen's people meter sample recruitment in the Big Apple and even though Nielsen chief Susan Whiting made nice with U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel in Harlem on Tuesday, there's no reason to believe that the disruptions won't continue. Without naming names, Nielsen said it already is looking into taking "action" against those behind the effort, especially a direct mail campaign designed to discourage minorities from participating in the people meter sample. How ironic. And how insidious. That move, in particular, has been cited by the influential Media Ratings Council as something that could actually hurt the representation of people of color in Nielsen's people meter sample, not help it. And if it hurts it enough, we imagine, Nielsen might have difficulty receiving accreditation from the MRC, which even now is auditing the new service. Coincidence? Come on.

But the biggest irony of all in News Corp.'s anti-people meter effort isn't the transparent, self-serving nature of its political maneuvering, it's the fact that they've actually convinced influential politicians and minority groups that the New York people meters will somehow damage the representation of Hispanics and African Americans in Nielsen's ratings. The reality is, they will improve them. And that's what really has Fox worried. Because the reality will show that Fox doesn't capture the sizeable shares of minority viewers - or of viewers of any kind - that the current TV set- meter/diary system reports. People meters may not be the Holy Grail of audience measurement, but they've been proven to be light years ahead of diaries for measuring how people watch TV. And if any self-respecting media planner or buyer doesn't see right through Fox's ploy and mentally adjust for that ratings overstatement in their heads, then they're not doing their jobs.

But in case they haven't been paying attention, let's state a few facts.

Fact: People meters are a more accurate methodology than diaries.

Fact: Diaries likely overstate viewing to certain programming sources due to a so-called "halo effect" - people don't recall everything they've watched, so they just fill in generally what they think they watched.

Fact: The New York people meter sample had one of Nielsen's best cooperation rates.

Fact: When Nielsen detected difficulties with the representation of minorities in its Los Angeles people meter sample, it elected to delay the rollout on its own accord.

Fact: The rollout of local people meters in major TV markets over the next 18 months will make Nielsen's national TV ratings sample far more representative of minorities - especially African Americans and Hispanics, which are now under-represented in the national ratings sample.

Fact: That move has been supported by major non-white programmers, including Univision and Telemundo.

Fact: Nielsen will begin weighing its national TV ratings sample for English- and Spanish-language household preferences beginning this fall, despite continuing heavy pressure from Anglo programming networks.

Fact: Fox has a lot to gain from delaying the rollout of people meters.

Hey, if you don't like the facts don't blame us. We're just reporting them. You decide.

FOX NEWS SAYS THEY DON'T LIKE THE RIFF AND THAT ROGER AILES HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST NIELSEN'S NEW YORK PEOPLE METERS - Speaking of Fox's New York people meter disinformation campaign, we are once again impressed by the organization's brilliant command of media spin, but we're also a bit confused about how they manage to pull it off. Especially, when their press department is so evasive, unhelpful and even surly to the press. When the Riff called Tuesday to speak to Fox News Channel chief Roger Ailes, an old political spinmeister and the person some Nielsen insiders believe was behind the anti-people meter campaign, we never expected to actually get Ailes on the phone. We knew that Ailes prefers to work in the shadows, but we placed the call anyway, because that's what the Riff is supposed to do. So we weren't surprised when Fox News Channel press aide Irena Briganti called the Riff back after Tuesday's column has appeared, complaining, "There's not even one thing in here that's remotely true. Roger has nothing to do with this."

At the risk of being redundant, we'll say it again: We report. You decide.