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JOE MANDESE

Joe Mandese is the Editor in Chief of MediaPost. You can reach Joe at joe@mediapost.com.

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  • The Suite Smell Of Nielsen's Big Data Success by Joe Mandese (TV Watch on 12/22/2025)

    @William Abbott: You are fundamentally correct, and it's mostly due to the fact that I often write columns like this one too cryptically. If you read between the lines (including the use of the word "suite" in the headline), I was hoping readers would realize some of Nielsen's Big Data success was intended as sarcasm. But I've always appreciated Howard Shimmel's efforts to make his case and figured this might be as good a time as any to present it.Personally, I'm not convinced, and the most important part of this story (as well as the Big Data integration stories coming out of big ad agencies) is that we now live in an industry that prizes data for data sake and that it has become the grease that keeps the gears turning.It has been frustrating for me personally, because it's almost impossible to vet superior data integration claims when I can't see either the data or the integration, so all a trade journalist can do is report what people and companies say they can do, and let it stand on its own merits. But I can also keep raising the question: Is it actually better?That's what I was trying to do with this column.The other most important part is the ongong reference to Kelly Abcarian's brilliant quip that "every single number" the advertising and media industry now uses is modeled. Not primary audience measurement. I think that's important to remember, because modeled numbers are only as good as the model (assumptions being applied) and the data inputs they're being applied to.I have no doubt that Nielsen has some of the best data modelers in the world working for it. (See Howard Shimmel.) But they are models nonetheless.

  • Misinformer Of The Year: Nick Fuentes by Joe Mandese (Red, White & Blog on 12/19/2025)

    @Dan C. from MS Entertainment: Funny how you read things into columns "Madese" never wrote or even implied. Other than my Global Alliance for Irresponsible Media plug, all of it came from Media Matters' "Misinformer of the Year" announcement.Speaks volumes that you don't think Fuentes should be condemned for what he promotes.

  • The Federal Censorship Commission by Joe Mandese (TV Watch on 12/18/2025)

    @Mark Winslow: Interesting point, but also mostly whataboutism. My column was about the characterization -- and reaction -- of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr during a Congressional hearing about threats he made to media he regulates (TV stations). The FCC doesn't regulate social media platforms, which are inherently unregulated -- and indemnified from any liability of the content they distribute, thanks to Section 230 of the Communications Act.And personally, I don't think you can compare the White House pressuring social media networks to moderate misinformation to the head of the FCC threatening government licensed TV stations for broadcasting a comedian whose humor the administration didn't like.One was pressure, jawboning, "extensive communications," or whatever you want to call it on companies the White House had no regulatory power over. The other was an explicit threat to TV station owners, who are licensed by the FCC.

  • Snow White And The Seven Prompts by Joe Mandese (Media 3.0 on 12/11/2025)

    @Brian Bieron: I have heard of Google and written about it in the past, including how it indexes images published on the Web. This column was about chatbots -- including Google's Gemini -- and how they generate things that may not be appropriate for children.

  • After Peaking In Recent Years, LGBTQ+ Ad Spending Decelerates Under Trump by Joe Mandese (MediaDailyNews on 12/09/2025)

    @Dan C. from MS Entertainment: You missed the part where the rate of growth decelerated 61% during Trump's first year of his second term.

  • From H2H To A2A, A New Marketing Framework by Joe Mandese (Media 3.0 on 11/10/2025)

    @David Raab: Would love to read your take and happy to publish it H2M (on MediaPost), if that's something you're interesetd in. Happy Thanksgiving.

  • When TV Was Really Good: The Old Normal Of Alan Cohen by Joe Mandese (TV Watch on 11/10/2025)

    @Tim Spengler: Great anecdote. I did not know that. Thank you for sharing. I'm only surprised that Alan didn't use something from the Boss.

  • It's Moron Again In America by Joe Mandese (Red, White & Blog on 10/24/2025)

    @Andrew Susman: I'm proud to say I broke the story that the Tuesday Team had created "There's A Bear In The Woods" spot, and got to interview Hal Riney after it broke. If he were updating it today, it would probably be more like, "There's an unbearable in the woods..."

  • It's Moron Again In America by Joe Mandese (Red, White & Blog on 10/24/2025)

    @Joshua Chasin: Tough to beat the NY Post. Thrilled to be a runner-up.

  • ANA Cross-Measurement Platform Aquila Taps Samba For Streaming Data by Joe Mandese (MediaDailyNews on 10/22/2025)

    @Ed Papazian: Oh you were talking about Aquila's calibration panel, not the Samba TV data that will be used to measure the reach/deduplication of the streaming component of its cross-media measurement platform. To be clear, the calibration panel is just a small panel Big Data-plus measurement services are using to calibrate their massive Big Data sources. It's the same model being used by Nielsen and other Big Data-plus panel services. In Nielsen's case, the calibration panel is bigger -- about 42,000 homes/100,000 individuals, but it's not the same as a conventional audience measurement panel. It's just their to tune the massive Big Data sources that go into the hybrid service. I have no idea whether Aquila's 5,000 household calibration panel should be deemed small, but it's not intended to be used as currency-grade measurement for media-buying. It's intended so marketers can understand their audience reach, deduplicate audiences, minimize excessive frequency and inform their marketing mix models. Maybe another reader can weigh in on whether a 5,000 household calibration panel is small to do that? I'm just a journalist.

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