Top Nielsen Executive Casts Doubt On Rentrak And Set-Top Data's Viability by David Goetzl

The Data Wars got some fuel this week. The pole sitter acknowledged this week engines are revving behind it, but suggested they would blow a gasket. Nielsen CFO Brian West said problems with set-top-box (STB) data would prevent it from being used as a currency by itself. Rentrak has inked deals with some 150 local stations for its STB product, which it says is gaining some traction as a basis for buying and selling. But West said: "I'm not losing clients as Rentrak signs them up... doesn't bother me a bit." ...Read the whole story

  • automotive Mercedes-Benz Focuses On Icons by Karl Greenberg

    Mercedes-Benz USA is using the national broadcast of the Academy Awards ceremony as a springboard for its new marketing campaign, "State of the Art." The campaign throws the limelight upon the sixth-generation 2013 SL 550 Roadster. ...Read the whole story

  • Online TV Shows Go From Nice-To-Have To Expect-To-See, Social Sharing Becoming A Must by Joe Mandese

    The availability of TV programming online has gone from being a nice-to-have to an expect-to-see option in the minds of most Americans, raising major implications for networks and potential new opportunities for advertisers, according to the most recent installment of an ongoing tracking study of the Internet's effect on TV viewing. The study, Knowledge Networks' annual "TV Web Connections" report, will be released today and shows that in the four years since their online TV viewing attitudes and behaviors have been tracked, Americans have shifted from thinking of it as a novelty to an expectation. ...Read the whole story

  • retail Will JCPenney's 'Ellen' Ads Backfire? by Sarah Mahoney

    Some critics say the ads, from San Francisco-based Brandadvisors, are premature -- and may even drive business to competitors like Kohl's and Macy's before earning it any new fans. ...Read the whole story

  • Charter Completes EBIF Rollout To Permit Interactive Advertising by David Goetzl

    One of the challenges Canoe Ventures faced was building a platform where set-top boxes across six cable operators were in sync, allowing interactive TV ads to be served nationally. But with Canoe halting its foray into national interactive advertising last week, Charter will only be able to sell iTV ads in its local markets. ...Read the whole story

Online Video Ads Are Unique Media Buys by Alex Rowland

The quality and diversity of ad inventory online is far more varied than on television.This is leading to the creation of more avails for traditional interstitials, while exploding the diversity of ad units to satisfy every price point and engagement level. ...More

  • Social Media Drives TV Watching by Erik Sass

    Everyone knows that the "screens" (TV, laptop, mobile device, another mobile device) are colliding and overlapping, but how exactly do online behaviors and TV viewing interact? TV Guide took a whack at understanding the relationship between social media buzz and TV watching with a new survey of 3,041 U.S. adults, and found that social media buzz does indeed help drive TV watching. ...More

  • The 18-49 Bad Habit by Gary Holmes

    On December 31, 2013, the last of the Baby Boomers will turn 50 years old, and the most significant generational cohort in history will graduate from the 18-49 TV ratings category: the demographic group usually referred to by television journalists as "highly prized" or "most coveted." With the Boomers moving into a new demographic, isn't it time for reporters to stop fixating on 18- to 49-year-olds? ...More

  • Oprah Turns To Oscars In Search Of Women Viewers, But Own Has Much More Work To Do by Wayne Friedman

    On a big TV viewing night, Oprah Winfrey looked to gain some visibility during ABC's Academy Awards telecast with a commercial promoting her OWN network and her show, "Oprah's Next Chapter." The ad -- most likely a local spot run in key markets -- was followed later in the show by a video segment of Oprah receiving one of the Academy's Governor's Awards. All this made sense. The Oscars are the so-called Super Bowl for Women, and ratings for key women viewers 18-49 rose a bit from a year earlier, with women 25-54 also continuing strong. ...More