• by Wayne Friedman , June 3, 2008

NBC Universal and The Nielsen Co. have struck a deal to create a new TV/media research product--possibly a new currency--that will get advertisers closer to their holy grail of return on investment (ROI) results.

Using the sometimes controversial method of "fusing" different sets of databases, Nielsen will pool together data from its TV ratings service, its VideoCensus service (which measures streaming video over the Internet), as well as data of consumer purchases in many product categories, including packaged goods, pharmaceuticals, automotive and movies.

Some analysts believe this effort to be a cheaper version of the now defunct "Project Apollo," the expensive and ambitious research system that would cull together data from a single panel of some 60,000 consumers analyzing all their media usage and product purchases.

The problem with Project Apollo is that it was difficult and costly to maintain a large 60,000 consumer group. "Fusion" products take care of this by combining different research products with different panels of consumers.

From NBC's point of view, the effort with Nielsen will help get it on the ground floor in possibly developing the next currency for TV and media. "We are all looking for alternative metrics," said Alan Wurtzel, president of research for NBC Universal. "I don't mean to get rid of ratings. We know our clients are looking for ways to be more granular and to be more efficient."

But Wurtzel stopped short of saying this initiative would be a new way to doing business. "A new currency may be too strong a word." Concerning the fusion aspects of the plan, Wurtzel said: "All this stuff is hard. Fusion is obviously a compromise. All we are saying is that we'd love to get them to another level with new metrics."

In a statement, Jon Mandel, CEO of NielsenConnect, said: "By combining the power of Nielsen's unique research capabilities with the insight of a significant media client like NBC Universal, we can help develop a new metric which will ultimately benefit all of Nielsen's customers."

Nielsen has done similar fusion products with ESPN, Sony and Univision. But those were individual data deals with different Nielsen products. Those networks/programmers, in turn, melded--with some help from Nielsen--and then sold the service to ad clients.