Years after it has faced any real competition in the U.S TV ratings business, a new potential rival is emerging for Nielsen Media Research. TNS Media Research, a major provider of TV ratings outside the U.S., in June will begin providing a commercialized ratings service based on anonymous viewing data aggregated from Charter Communications' 55,000 subscribers in the Los Angeles area. The deal marks the first time a significant player has deployed a commercialized TV ratings service to compete with Nielsen since companies such as AGB, Arbitron and the R.D. Percy Co. abandoned attempts to launch various TV ratings systems in the 1980s. TNS' move comes as Nielsen's parent VNU is being acquired by a group of private equity firms that ultimately are expected to break-up the company and sell off its assets, and TNS is a likely bidder to vie for Nielsen's U.S. operations. Other bidders include Frank Maggio, the Florida real estate tycoon who owns erinMedia, a fledgling TV ratings firm that has filed two suits against Nielsen: one for antitrust; and the other for false advertising claims. Interestingly, erinMedia employs a similar model to TNS': aggregating viewing data from digital set-top devices installed by cable, satellite and other operators. However, erinMedia claims in its antitrust suit that Nielsen's business practices have made it difficult for erinMedia to strike deals with cable operators. TNS' deal with Charter, which was first announced April 10, is actually the second deal TNS has done with a cable operator. Late last year, TNS entered into an agreement with Time Warner's Oceanic cable system in Honolulu, Hawaii, to begin aggregating anonymous viewing data from its subscribers and compile them into ratings. But the data from that deal is not being offered commercially for advertisers, agencies and others to buy and use in their planning and buying. "It's still a market-by-market thing," George Shababb, COO of TNS Media Research, said of the company's rollout strategy in the U.S. Shababb said TNS is actively engaged in similar discussions with most if not all of the major cable and satellite operators, but that all of the deals may vary, including the level of detail of data derived from subscribers, as well as the commercial nature of the ratings that are distributed. In effect, he says, TNS is acting as a third-party processor of the data, which will continue to be owned by the operators, who in turn will respect their privacy agreements with subscribers. However, in cases where consumers opt-in to TV ratings panels, Shababb said TNS plans to offer set-top level data within households, including usage across multiple TVs and set-top systems, and potentially demographic and psychographic data as well. "The intent is to commercialize the data and take it to market," he says, drawing an analogy between TNS' plan and the way retail data companies like ACNielsen and Information Resources Inc. work with supermarket chains to compile and distribute their disparate retail scanner data into commercial databases. Shababb acknowledges that the rollout play is only as representative as the systems it is deployed in, and among the digital households who receive those set-top devices. However, he says the plan is just one part of a more ambitious strategy to begin measuring other components of TV viewing, including the kind done on new digital platforms such as video-on-demand, and even over the Internet. "I think there's real demand in the marketplace for competition," he assets, alluding to Nielsen's tacit monopoly of the U.S. TV ratings marketplace. TNS' strength, he says, is its long track record for TV research outside the U.S. where he estimated TNS is the second biggest player after Nielsen and AGB. The company is headquartered in London. More importantly, he noted that TNS' ratings systems are much more focused on the kind of digital TV platforms that are likely to be the future of TV measurement, vs. the old style, people meter-based system currently operated by Nielsen in the U.S. Nielsen's advantage, of course, is that it is the currency of the U.S. TV advertising marketplace. But even Nielsen has recognized the need for change, and is close to laying out details of an ambitious plan to expand the methods it uses for measuring how people view video on all the platforms they consume it on, including the Internet. Among other advances TNS plans to introduce in the U.S. is a personal metering device dubbed the UltraTag, which can tell where viewers are when they're watching TV within a household. TNS has already tested the passive measurement system during a field trial in Chicago, and is preparing a second market trial in Columbus, Ohio.
CBS Radio has settled its lawsuit with radio personality Howard Stern, his agent Don Buchwald and Sirius Satellite Radio, Stern's current employer. CBS sued Stern, Buchwald and Sirius in February after learning that Stern, who touted Sirius while still a CBS employee, would receive a stock bonus if Sirius subscribers grew to a certain target level. Stern touting Sirus for almost year as a CBS employee, which didn't seem to be a concern to CBS until late in 2005 when CBS found out about the stock bonus. CBS originally wanted Stern, Buchwald; and Sirius to return any financial benefits they received from using CBS Radio's air time to promote Sirius, including the value of a Sirius shares that Stern and Buchwald received for exceeding a target for subscriber increases by the end of 2005. Stern's block of 34.4 million Sirius shares was originally worth $100 million at the time the deal was announced in 2004, but its value swelled to $200 million by the time Stern actually received the shares at the beginning of 2006, bringing the total value of his five-year deal to just under $600 million. According to a press statement, Sirius will make a total payment of just $2 million. CBS Radio will also get payment for the recordings of CBS' "The Howard Stern Show." Other terms and conditions of the settlement weren't disclosed. Stern has sad CBS was trying to "bully" him, calling the lawsuit a "personal vendetta" against him by CBS CEO Leslie Moonves.
The fajitas are good, the atmosphere pleasantly relaxed, and the chips and salsa a welcome sight as soon as you sit down. But by and large, the Chili's restaurant chain isn't nearly as well known for its menu as its jingle. It's so catchy it inspires one to sing along, perhaps even fall under the delusion that he/she has an undiscovered knack for a capella. How ingrained is the ditty about baby back, baby back, baby back...ribs in American pop culture? Perhaps the greatest recognition came when the character "Fat Bastard" launched into a mocking rendition in the 1999 film "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me." It has also appeared by happenstance in multiple television shows. Last year, a Chili's executive told Advertising Age that the jingle's unexpected appearance in pop culture prompted the chain to take more control and look for ways to do paid product integration in shows such as NBC's "The Office" and the WB's "Gilmore Girls." The strategy is continuing. On the May 16 episode of NBC comedy "Scrubs," the jingle was sung in all its mellifluousness, and even played a role in the story line (the integration was evaluated and ranked via research firm iTVX as one of the five most effective product placements last week). First, one of the characters, nurse Carla Espinosa (played by Judy Reyes), has a baby shower. A quartet begins to serenade her with an opening line of "Baby, baby, baby, oooh," indicating that there's more to come about the joys of motherhood. Then, suddenly, the crooners launch into a tune about a different baby...baby back ribs... -"I want my baby back, baby back, baby back...I want my baby back, baby back, baby back..." -"Chili's, baby back ribs. I want my baby back ribs." -"Barbecue sauce." Carla is appalled. Her friend and shower patron, Dr. Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke), is furious and demands her money back. The motley quartet pleads leniency on the grounds that it's the only song they know with "baby" in it. Later, the show pokes fun at the unforgettable nature of the jingle. After a doctor botches a vasectomy on fellow physician, Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley), Cox opts to punish him by using the jingle in the vein of Chinese water torture. The errant physician is straitjacketed with duct tape and forced to listen to the quartet stuck on repeat--with "I want my baby back, baby back, baby back, I want my baby back, baby back, baby back, I want my baby back, baby back, baby back..." The physician is apoplectic. "When do they say ribs?" he asks in desperation. The vindictive Cox responds: "Never...They never say ribs." Credit Chili's for not taking itself too seriously. It seems the chain is reveling in--rather than rejecting--the Austin Powers tongue-in-cheek take on its jingle, and happy to pursue the same tack. The "Scrubs" integrations are a clever way for Chili's to insert its calling card into a popular show and reinforce the memorable jingle's place in peoples' inner jukeboxes. And if Chili's has its way, the tactic will bring a few more people into its restaurants seeking those Grilled Baby Backs, perhaps whistling or singing the tune along the way.
Show ProductQ-Ratio The Apprentice Xbox 360 8.737 The O.C. Toyota 5.949 The Amazing Race T-Mobile Sidekick 2.758 Scrubs Chili's 2.147 How I Met Your Mother Red Lobster 1.007 Click here to view these placements. Data and analysis provided by iTVX.