A day after an influential trade magazine introduced a promising new method for measuring and reporting total audiences of print, digital and online publications, another major print medium - newspapers - raised concerns about that approach and introduced its own. "If this were a media math class, they would flunk," Mike Donatello, director of research at USA Today, quipped in reaction to the Audit Bureau of Circulations new Consolidated Media Report, which purports to measure the gross readership of publications distributed in print and online. "I have a problem with the way ABC seems to have gone about it, methodologically," echoed Gary Kromer, director of research for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and a member of the Newspaper Association of America's influential Research Federation. "Right now they're positioning it as a net figure--but it's not a net figure, because it's not extracting the duplication between print and online readership," he explained. "Until ABC clarifies that I don't think it's going to be particularly useful." On Tuesday, the ABC released the first of its new Consolidated Media Reports, which was conducted on behalf of trade magazine Advertising Age, which publishes in print, via digital editions and online. The report generates a consolidated audience estimate combining a publication's qualified circulation, pass-along readership, and the publication Web site's unique visitors. The last figure is derived from the same site-based visitor tracking that provides some data used by Web ratings companies like Nielsen//NetRatings and comScore--but it doesn't provide identifying information that would allow an accurate comparison with subscription lists, meaning that there's potential for significant overlap. Initially, the ABC, which is known mainly for auditing the circulation of consumer magazines and newspapers, is offering the new report for business publications, but the approach is generating interest among consumer publications as well. The report is the latest in a series of new products developed by the ABC over the last few years in an effort to diversify beyond its core business of circulation audits, something that has also fallen under criticism in the past few years following a number of high-profile magazine and newspaper circulation misstatements audited by the ABC. The diversification also comes as the BPA, a rival to the ABC known mainly for auditing business publications, has begun moving more aggressively into consumer magazines. It also comes at a time when new magazine audience measurement products are being introduced by other companies, including Mediamark Research Inc., the bible for consumer magazine planning, and upstart Readership.com, which was launched recently by magazine industry research diva Rebecca McPheters. Scarborough Research, which is regarded as the bible for planning newspaper media buys, Wednesday unveiled what may be the newspaper industry's approach to reporting consolidated media audiences. The method, outlined in a new Integrated Newspaper Audience white paper published online, finds that people who read a newspaper's website who don't also read its printed edition account for upwards of 15 percent of a paper's total audience. The incremental online audience can account for a gain of hundreds of thousands of readers for many papers in larger markets. "With all of the negativity the newspaper industry has been subject to, we are pleased to report that our analysis finds a positive story headline: newspapers are successfully extending their audience online," stated Gary Meo, senior vice president-print and Internet services at Scarborough. "Newspaper websites are attracting people that may not read the printed paper, resulting in audience growth overall. Demonstrating the strength of the combined print and Internet audience is critical to the future of the newspaper industry and that's what the Integrated Newspaper Audience metric does. It quantifies the newspaper audience in ways that circulation or print readership alone cannot." It's still unclear from newspaper executives how they plan to make such consolidated audience data a regular feature of the newspaper planning process, but they also are clearly opposed to the method chosen by the ABC to report business publications. "For example, our readership for our print product is just over a million over the course of a week, and our Web site is about 143,000--but well over 100,000 of that is subscribers," the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Kromer recalled. As an alternative he pointed to figures from readership measurement firm Scarborough, which "gives you the past week newspaper readership and past week Web site usage, and identifies how much is from newspaper alone, and how much is from Web site alone, and how much is overlap." And overlap is often significant, Kromer remarked, as "all the research shows that the people who go to the Web site tend to be 'newsaholics,' who also have subscriptions, and use the two outlets for different purposes." Newspaper executives also raised doubts about ABC's pass-along readership figures, which according to the ABC Web site are derived entirely from the "auditable aspects" of each publication's "subscriber file"--meaning that survey queries tracing transfers of a particular issue start with the subscriber, not the recipient. And according to Donatello, "at least on the consumer side of publications, just asking people how many other people read your copy is a notoriously unreliable way to measure readership... it could be grossly inaccurate." Some magazine industry vets, however, see the new ABC report as a promising step in the right direction. Steve Greenberger, senior vice president and chief strategic marketing officer at DJG Marketing and a former print services exec on Madison Avenue who has chaired ABC committees, is someone who is enthusiastic. "There's been so much discussion about the ABC statement and its need to have greater transparency, and I think this latest version is headed in the right direction," he noted. "It allows [titles] to disclose their public place circulation in a more enlightening way, so as to break out different venues." Greenberger also said it allows users "to see a lot of the numbers add up in a simple, easy-to-read format."
In an effort to generate water cooler talk for its new shows, CBS has placed its programming brands on, well, water coolers. It recently unveiled plans to crack another new media format: etching promos on eggs. Now the network is harvesting a new, er grassroots media buy, in the hopes of generating some viral buzz for new post nuclear holocaust drama, "Jericho." "We've hired a crop artist to create field art promoting the show," George Schweitzer, president of the CBS Marketing Group, tells MediaDailyNews. The artist, Stan Herd, is in the process of carving the silhouetted image of a boy gazing at mushroom cloud in a cornfield in Lawrence, Kansas, the real world setting for the fictional town of Jericho. The image, which will stretch across 20 acres of cornfields, will also include the words "Jericho" and "CBS." The stunt, which is geared to generate both consumer buzz and media publicity, is part of a broader publicity push in the city of Lawrence, which will be renamed "Jericho" for a day-long stunt that may get a state-wide push including the participation of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. "Jericho" will not be the first time the city of Lawrence has been the setting for a network TV nuclear holocaust drama. Lawrence was also the setting for ABC's controversial "The Day After" made-for-TV movie in the 1980s. Schweitzer said footage of the crop field art would ultimately be streamed online. He said it might be difficult to calculate the media generated by the stunt, but he said he has devised a method for calculating the impact of the egg etchings CBS will use to promote "Jericho" and its other new series this fall. "Each one will generate three exposures," he said. "When you open the carton in the store to check the eggs. When you take the eggs out of the carton to put them in the refrigerator. And when you crack the egg open to prepare a meal."
While top selling executives at networks from NBC to the Hallmark Channel have rejected a proposed online media-buying auction, Discovery Networks' Joe Abruzzese is open. He's the only seller to publicly express a willingness to consider participating. That's why he plans to attend a two-day planning session next month at eBay headquarters to see how the system might work. The eBay-enabled system, known as the e-Media Exchange, is being driven by a task force of advertisers and agency execs looking for a way to modernize and streamline parts of the television (and other media) buy-sell process. Abruzzese, Discovery's president of ad sales, has not committed any of his network's ad time, preferring to describe himself as "open-minded" about the proposal. He is inclined to make decisions while sitting at the table. "If clients are interested, I'd rather be involved," he says. "If you don't embrace an idea that may change the business for the positive, nothing changes. If we sit through these meetings and we decide it doesn't work, at least we've learned something." The gathering in northern California the week after Labor Day is expected to include presentations from executives at eBay. It will also give the advertiser-agency task force a chance to advance its own plans to develop logistics for a planned test in early 2007. Working committees could be formed, and assigned specific roles. Abruzzese may not be the only seller present. Steve Grubbs--CEO of agency PHD USA and a task force member--says two other sellers may attend. Others have shown an interest and may eventually participate, although he declined to name them. Grubbs did say the task force is ramping up outreach efforts to the sales community; without inventory for sale, the auction is DOA. Grubbs also says interest from Abruzzese is key--not just from a participation standpoint, but an advisory one. "We need to make sure we get some of the best and brightest minds in the business to work through details to make sure we get this right," he says. "Joe knows the business as well as anyone and can help us craft the structure." One proposal calls for the system to be a reverse auction. Advertisers would delineate what they're willing to spend and for what inventory, then media companies would bid for the dollars--a process likely to drive prices down. Even though task-force members such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot have committed to pool $50 million for the test, some leading sales executives have said that bounty--or any amount--doesn't tempt them. NBC Universal Television Group President-COO Randy Falco has called the proposal "ridiculous," while Bill Abbott, evp of ad sales for Hallmark Channel, says he "absolutely" and "unequivocally" will not participate. Both Falco and Abbott have suggested that the process commoditizes their inventory. Other sales executives have questioned why advertisers that are pressing sellers to devise multifaceted, holistic media opportunities--product placement, brand integration, sponsorships and other newfangled touchpoints--would also lobby for a rudimentary swap of spots. Abruzzese concurs: "There is a disconnect between what I'm hearing from clients and this. I'll ask clients the question [at the e-Media Exchange meetings], if you want more bang for your buck, doesn't this go against it? But that's why I'm there--to learn." Grubbs counters that this move is not meant to take "the relationship part of the business out of the equation." Buy-side participants in the e-Media Exchange have suggested that sellers "will benefit from...greater operating efficiencies." But Abruzzese shot that notion down, at least from Discovery's perspective. "We don't need this for efficiencies." While Abruzzese, who oversees sales at 13 U.S. networks, has many questions about the e-Media Exchange's viability, he says it could be effective for networks that have trouble selling out. But he wonders: "Is that really what clients want? More lower-tier stuff?"
Nielsen Media Research says the estimated universe of U.S. TV households will inch up 1.1 percent to 111.4 million for the 2006-2007 broadcast season, which begins September 23. Similarly, the estimated number of TV viewers will rise 1.1 percent--to 283.5 million potential viewers, with the largest growth coming from the Southern and Western sections of the United States. Nielsen says the fastest-growing demo groups are older viewers ages 55 to 64--a group that rose 3.9 percent. Men ages 55 and older grew by 2.9 percent, and women 55 and older climbed by 2.5 percent. After that, the next-biggest growth area has been young adults 18-24, which rose by 2.0 percent. The slowest-growing TV viewer group is young viewers: Kids 2-11 and teens 12-17, both of which inched up just 0.3 percent. Two key advertiser viewer groups also saw little change. Adults 18-49 rose 0.5 percent to 130,600,000; adults 25-54 grew 0.4 percent to 122,490,000. Nielsen also adjusted its TV audience numbers, due to the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes. New Orleans is now estimated to have 566,980 TV households, down from 672,150 in 2005. New Orleans moves down 11 places--now ranked as the 54th-largest TV market--down from 43rd last year.
So what if this season doesn't boast a big broadcast hit? More people are watching TV than in previous summers, Turner Broadcasting's top research executive said Wednesday. It gets better: Ad-supported cable beats the seven broadcast networks by two to one. That, of course, is in terms of Nielsen's traditional program ratings. In regards to Nielsen's new commercial ratings, Jack Wakshlag, chief research officer at Turner, said the cable industry has a number of key concerns. "There is more viewing in the summer now than four years ago in prime-time broadcast," Wakshlag told a group of reporters during his annual end-of-summer TV ratings briefing in New York. One major reason is the growth of ad-supported cable programs during the summer that enjoy substantial viewership. Moreover, summer viewing consumption keeps gaining on other seasonal periods. Last summer's numbers were down just 3 percent, compared with the regular prime-time 2004-2005 TV season. The average viewing was 57 hours 17 minutes per week, per household. This season, cable continues to gain on broadcast networks. Ad-supported cable beat the seven broadcast networks by two to one, he said. Ad-supported cable has a 62.2 household share versus 31.1 share for seven broadcast networks. The numbers aren't quite as high so far among 18-49 viewers--cable grabbed a 51.1 share versus 27.4 for the broadcast networks. Wakshlag also noted that cable TV researchers are wary of Nielsen proposed commercial ratings. The key issue is being accredited by the Media Rating Council. "Without that," he said, "discussion stops." There are other concerns that Nielsen must resolve before commercial ratings can be considered as industry currency, such as Nielsen's ability to separate program content from commercial content. For instance, Nielsen Monitor Plus is unable to distinguish between national and local cable ads, lumping the local ad minutes into program minutes, resulting in a significantly lower average "commercial rating" for each show. Wakshlag said the solution proposed by Nielsen--using the "cue tones" that signal local cable affiliates to play their local ads--was viable, but "they've still got to buy the equipment, install the equipment, and test it." Wakshlag also cited an example from Nielsen's Npower in May 2006, in which there is no recorded commercial inventory for Turner Broadcasting's "Adult Swim" programming block. Npower is the basis Nielsen will use to determine minute-by-minute ratings, which in turn will determine commercial ratings. More troubling, he said, is the question of how to weight commercial ratings. "Remember, these aren't really commercial ratings, these are ratings for minutes with commercials in them." Nielsen might suggest weighting the minutes "by the number of seconds of commercials in them, but then you have to be sure Nielsen can measure exactly when the commercials start and finish. I don't think they can right now." Wakshlag said the system currently proposed by Nielsen--tracking audio tags inserted by broadcasters in commercial time--would not be reliable. Some of the tags are selectively muted to avoid disrupting quiet periods in commercials, so Nielsen equipment would miss these markers. Covering a wide range of research topics, Wakshlag slammed some research companies--especially Forrester Research, which claims TV viewing is declining at the expense of growing digital platforms. These are research companies that typically ask consumers to record and determine their media usage, he added. In 2005, Forrester Research said consumers' self-reported TV usage was 10.6 hours per person per week, versus Nielsen People Meter's 24.2 hours per week count. Wakshlag said this means "people cannot accurately report their own media consumption." New digital platforms target teens and young adults--but there are many myths about their media usage, he said. "Teens are watching more TV than 10 years ago," said Wakshlag. "It hasn't halted TV. All demos are watching more TV." Cable networks with the biggest viewership gains this summer versus a year ago are: The Biography Channel (a 104 percent hike); Discovery Science (58 percent); BBC America (35 percent); ESPN Classic (33 percent); A&E Network (24 percent); USA (22 percent); and HGTV (20 percent) On the down side: Game Show Network dropped 35 percent, The Weather Channel is down 26 percent, and Fuse is 23 percent lower. For the summer as a whole, USA Network is No. 1 in every major viewing category in total viewers for all cable networks: adults 18-34, adults 18-49, and adults 25-54. TNT and TBS are second and third, respectively, in all other categories except one--in adults 18-34, TBS was second, MTV was third, and TNT came in fourth. Among the broadcast networks, NBC made the biggest gains this summer--up 11 percent in adults 18-49 due to more original programming versus previous years. Fox has also done well--up 9 percent. Every other broadcaster is lower: ABC is down 10 percent; CBS is off 5 percent; UPN has fallen 20 percent, and WB dropped 13 percent.
In a move symbolic of its shift from its Netherlands-based roots, VNU finally named a new CEO Wednesday morning, tapping an executive from one of the most American corporations: David Calhoun, vice chairman of General Electric Co. Calhoun, who doesn't appear to have any direct experience managing the types of media and marketing research and publishing enterprises that comprise VNU's operations, has been named CEO and chairman of VNU's executive board. In addition to serving as vice chairman of GE, Calhoun has been president-CEO of its GE Infrastructure unit, which is responsible for GE's Aviation, Energy, Oil and Gas, Transportation and Water units. Earlier in his GE career, he oversaw transportation, insurance, lighting and plastics operations, and has an extensive financial background. And even though GE is the parent of one of the world's largest media conglomerates, NBC Universal, which itself is a big client of VNU's Nielsen Media Research unit, Calhoun does not appear to have any experience working in either media or marketing research. His hire resolves an important transition for VNU, which was acquired by a consortium of private equity firms earlier this year, and was recently taken private, becoming delisted from various financial exchanges. The takeover was precipitated by an ill-fated attempt by former VNU Chairman-CEO Rob van den Bergh to mount a takeover of IMS. That deal was rebuffed by key shareholders, and van den Bergh was essentially ousted in its aftermath, which also set VNU up for a private takeover. Rob Ruijter, who has served as interim CEO since June 13, will continue as VNU's Chief Financial Officer. In addition to Nielsen, VNU operates ACNielsen and various trade publications. It has been implementing a long-term cost-cutting program to help offset the high debt service it assumed as part of its buyout. The moves coincide with Nielsen's most ambitious capital spending and expansion plan ever.
On September 5, 2006 Katie Couric will make broadcast history--not by becoming the anchor of the "CBS Evening News," but by participating in the first network television newscast to metamorphose into a full-featured Internet simulcast. Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports, explains: "For people who can't be in front of their televisions when the 'CBS Evening News' is on, they can now watch the program live on their computers." The success or failure of this new online programming will have nothing to do with making the show available to people who can't watch TV live. It is totally about finding a new audience for the content, and packaging it in a way to attract people who already choose to get their news online. However, McManus may be right for all of the wrong reasons--or I may be wrong for all of the right reasons. Let's review. The simulcast of the show, formatted for television and distributed over the public Internet through a Web site, should be a very bad idea. There is no demonstrated need for this type of distribution. Expatriates might like to see it from abroad. But domestically, sitting in a lean-forward posture at a desk and watching a 30-minute news program with commercials on the Net is probably not what anyone wants. On a good day, the public Internet offers only a "best efforts" quality of service--and even triple-play customers will find themselves lacking in bandwidth for sustained viewership of this kind. Everything that everyone schooled in the art knows about long-form programming online says this won't work. On the other hand, CBS is offering up some daily content that is much more suited to Internet distribution.