(Editor's Note: This story has been updated with a clarification from a Crown Media Holdings spokesperson stating that its exploration of Rentrak "ratings guarantees" is entirely internal and that it does not plan to offer them to advertisers anytime soon, if ever.)Cable network operator Crown Media Holdings this morning unveiled a long-term contract with Rentrak to use its TV Essentials TV ratings, and said it would offer “dual ratings guarantees” to advertisers and agencies buying its Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel networks during the 2012-13 upfront advertising marketplace. The deals include Rentrak's proprietary "stickiness index," which measures the ability of networks and programs to engage and retain TV viewers. Ed Georger, executive vice president-advertising sales at Crown Media Holdings, said the deal represents an expansion of a previous agreement with Rentrak covering only part of its TV ratings services, and that Crown upped the ante “so that Hallmark could explore dual guarantees for its networks.” Rentrak’s TV Essentials service is based on what it calls “census-based" data derived directly from 19 million digital TV set-top boxes. Among other things, it enables advertisers and agencies to post their network TV buys on the basis of “exact” TV commercial ratings, and several major ad agencies have also agreed to use it on that basis.
In the wake of the cable industry's new advertising effort Canoe Ventures scaling back, more companies continue to talk up their future interactive TV services for advertisers.Time Warner Cable said it has launched Enhanced iTV, which offers its advertisers in specific iTV markets the added capability to deliver a targeted message based upon the time of day. In this time frame, advertisers can reach demographically targeted audiences on a variety of networks. Beginning today, Enhanced iTV is available in existing iTV markets nationwide, which include New York City, Charlotte and Cincinnati.Looking at some of its local TV successes, Time Warner Cable worked with the Ohio Lottery through an iTV effort to obtain data on consumer knowledge of their lottery games. It built awareness of three different games and gained young consumers. As with many interactive TV efforts, Time Warner Cable Media used translucent overlay messaging of TV commercials. For the Ohio Lottery, it ran a media schedule targeted at younger-skewing networks and high-profile shows.In another deal, Charlotte-based jeweler Brownlee Jewelers started up an iTV campaign offering to buy consumer gold through overlays of its TV advertisements. Time Warner says this resulted in a 150% increase in in-store gold transactions and significantly bolstered revenue.Time Warner's iTV efforts, initially launched in 2005, connect businesses with viewers through real-time engagement on their television screens.
Looking to build some momentum on what has become a throwaway night on broadcast TV, NBC will start a road/adventure reality series, "Escape Routes," with Ford Motor Company as a main sponsor.The all-new SUV Ford Escape will be featured during the six-episode limited series. Each week, the six two-person teams will arrive in a new city, where they compete in a series of spontaneous adventures and interactive challenges using their Escapes. "Escape Routes" begins in Los Angeles before heading to New York, Atlanta, Miami, San Francisco and Las Vegas/L.A. The winning team will receive the $100,000 grand prize plus two new Ford Escapes.Ford Motor Company executives say this is unique. "This is the first time an automaker has used prime-time television to launch a new vehicle, and it is a great showcase for the all-new Escape," said Jim Farley, Ford group vice president for global marketing, sales and service.Show producers say viewers will be able to watch the progress of the teams in real-time -- as well as allowing viewers to interact with the show with many social media elements.The series -- which will debut March 31 on NBC and its sister network mun2 -- will air Saturday evenings at 8 p.m./EST on NBC. It will also air on its sister network Telemundo's mun2, the network that caters to a young Latino American audience, Saturday nights at 11 p.m./EST. Each episode will also air on nbc.com and mun2.tv the day after the broadcast.James Hoffman, executive vice president of sales and marketing at NBC, says: "We're excited about the show and think the concept of 'Escape Routes' and its unique use of social media will add a compelling element to Saturday nights."Last fall, "Escape Routes" started up for Ford as an Internet/social media effort through Zynga, and with Jenny McCarthy competing against the whole country using the app Words With Friends.
NBCUniversal is joining other big digital companies in participating in a digital media version of a TV-style "upfront" event -- becoming the first traditional media company to do so. For the "Digital Content NewFronts" series of events, NBCUniversal joins AOL, Digitas, Google/YouTube, Hulu, Microsoft Advertising and Yahoo. (NBCUniversal is a co-equity partner in Hulu, along with News Corp., Walt Disney, and Providence Equity Partners.) Plans are set for NBCUniversal to host its presentation May 1 in New York City. NBC says it will "present innovative solutions for marketers across its vast portfolio of Web, social and mobile properties. "This includes stand-alone digital companies, DailyCandy, Fandango, iVillage, Television Without Pity -- as well as the TV-related digital properties for Access Hollywood, Bravo, Chiller, CNBC, E!, G4, Golf Channel, NBC Owned Television Stations, MSNBC, Mun2, NBC, The NBC Sports Group, Oxygen, Sprout, Style, Syfy, Telemundo, The Weather Channel, TODAY, USA Network and XFinity TV. Linda Yaccarino, president of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment and Digital Ad Sales, noting that NBCU, together with Comcast, reaches 77 million uniques each month, stated: “Now more than ever, digital is essential for every successful campaign." NBC says digital online advertising spending is forecast to grow 23% in 2012 to $39.5 billion in the U.S. Just looking at digital video, ad revenue is projected to more than double in three years to $7.1 billion -- up from $2.16 billion in 2011, per eMarketer. There has been disagreement about whether TV network-style "upfronts" can perform for major digital media platforms. Some think it's a waste of time -- that digital advertisers, unlike TV advertisers, buy more of their media on a year-round basis, rather than through "upfront" deals, where typically TV advertisers buy 70% or more of their yearly TV buys before the fall broadcast season starts. Other analysts believe that because traditional TV still commands the bulk of U.S. media dollars, established media companies need to participate in big, glossy-style presentations to get marketers' attention -- and media dollars.
Mid-size cable operator Mediacom Communications took in slightly better financial results in the fourth quarter of 2011 for its two main cable/broadband/phone divisions -- but local TV advertising sales were slightly lower. The company's bigger Mediacom Broadband unit witnessed hikes, with fourth-quarter revenues climbing 2% to $219.1 million, and for 2011 overall growing 3.2% to $874.8 million. Its Mediacom LLC division witnessed similar hikes. Overall revenues were $167.9 million -- a 2.3% increase from the same period a year ago, and a 3.7% gain for the full 2011 year to $675.6 million. As with most cable system operators, Mediacom Communications, which has operations in the Midwest and Southeastern markets, has seen continuing lethargy in older video services business -- losing customers year to year, while its new broadband/phone services have climbed. Still, as with other cable operators, Mediacom raised the average monthly bill to its basic subscribers -- $120.92 for Mediacom Broadband and $116.48 for Mediacom LLC. For the 2011 year, Mediacom Broadband lost about half a percent in revenues from its video business to $516.0 million, while its high-speed broadband operation grew 11.4% to $238.6 million and phone climbed 9% to $70.2 million. But local TV advertising sales headed in the other direction, down 2.1% to $50.0 million. Mediacom Communications video business at its Mediacom LLC unit was virtually flat at $400.4 million in revenue, while broadband business rose 11.4% to $176.1 million and phone business grew 9% to $63.5 million. As with its Mediacom Broadband business, advertising sales at Mediacom LLC also dropped -- down 8.8% to $15.5 million.
Ford is getting into reality TV. Given what the automaker has been doing around vehicle launches and (especially) pre-launches, the upcoming TV-based platform for the 2013 Ford Escape is a natural extension of what it's M.O. Programs like “Fiesta Movement” focus on a younger demo by having social-savvy people in their 20's and 30's drive the vehicles around, doing various Ford-delineated tasks and generating buzz. But while the new "Escape Routes" does have a heavy digital and participatory element, it is also the first time the automaker is running it on prime time TV as a reality show. Like last year's "Focus Rally: America," the program follows six teams of two people on a cross-country, multi-city "Amazing Race"-type format. And like last year, this one is also produced by reality auteur Elise Doganieri. The new program, produced by Doganieri's production house Profiles, airs Saturday nights starting March 31 on NBC and young-Latino network mun2. The episodes will also air on nbc.com and mun2.tv the day after the broadcast. The show, to air for six consecutive episodes, will be hosted by reality TV show personality Rossi Morreale. The “Escape Routes” trip starts in Los Angeles before heading to 16 markets including New York, Atlanta, Miami, San Francisco and Las Vegas. In each city, the teams will live together in a loft (which will make for its own frictions and drama) while competing against each other in daily challenges that use the vehicles. Viewers can interact with and compete alongside the six teams throughout their adventures at escaperoutes.com. Ford selected four teams to compete for the last spot in “Escape Routes.” Two models from New York, chosen via online voting, are the sixth team. Fans can talk to the cast, Ford, the producers and host on March 8 at 3:30 p.m. EST via a Google Hangout on gplus.to/fordmotorcompany. Crystal Worthem, multicultural marketing manager at the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker, tells Marketing Daily that the show differs from most reality TV in that it doesn't depict events that happened weeks or months ago, but are pretty much contemporaneous with the weekly broadcasts -- so viewers can participate in what happens, change events, and follow the team in the digital space. "There are a lot of cool, interactive twists,” she says. “People who get involved in reality shows have teams they like and those they don't so they want to get involved. Unfortunately, most are shot so far in advance you don't have an impact on the actions the teams take. But with this show you can get engaged with them and interact with them in real-time." Another digital element of the show has Internet personality, iJustine (ijustine.com), embedded with the "Escape Routes" teams where she will stream behind-the-scenes content. The winning team will receive the $100,000 grand prize plus two new Ford Escapes. Online participants can win trips, high-tech gadgets and a brand-new Escape. Worthem says the fact that the show is advertiser-produced is not really an issue from the networks' perspective. "A lot of shows now have so heavy a reliance on brand participation beyond the 30-second spot, there's actually a fine line between studio-produced and advertiser-produced." She said using multiple Emmy-winning Profiles gave Ford clout in the space. "Doing this with producers who have made great content year over year makes it a much easier sell."
The Marine Corps is launching a new multimedia campaign called "Toward the Sounds of Chaos." The campaign, which highlights the breadth of the Marine Corps mission both in military operations and in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in places like Haiti and Japan, aims to boost diversity among potential recruits and reacquaint the public with the Marine Corps. The message: Marines are elite warriors, but also smart, courageous and compassionate citizens. The effort, via JWT, the Marines' AOR for the past 65 years, includes a newly designed Web site, www.marines.com, national television, print and online advertising, in addition to in-school, cinema, mobile and social media advertising. The national TV launch is on March 10 during the Big 12 Championship Game on ESPN. The ads have also been online at the Marine Corps’ Facebook tab. The Marines say that the campaign, currently slated to run throughout fiscal 2012 and into fiscal year 2013, reflects its own recent market research suggesting that young Americans respond to the idea and appeal of the warrior. The second trend the service recognizes is the multicultural nature of the young American population. The research suggests that youth have traditionally viewed military service as a route to personal focus and improvement, but that a third of young Americans naturally inclined toward military service are equally likely to value military involvement in humanitarian missions as they are to support a military response to a terrorist attack. The Marines concede that youth view military with high admiration, but not the level of aspiration or prestige they associate with college. The print ads offer dramatic panoramic photos of Marines leaping into action on the ground, with one shot showing gunships and Osprey (tilt rotor tactical aircraft) swooping overhead. Supers say things like: "Anyone can hear chaos. Marines move to silence it" and "Anyone can see tyranny. Marines advance to stop it.” Maj. John Caldwell, assistant chief of staff/national director of public affairs of the Marine Corps Recruiting Command, tells Marketing Daily that the 35th Commandant of the Marine Corps made it explicit in his planning guidance that the corps' rank and file needs to be more diverse. “To that end, Marine Corps Recruiting Command (MCRC) has an integral role at the accession point.” He says the Marine Corps accessed its most diverse group of young officers in a decade during Fiscal Year 2011 and that this year the MCRC will expand its event programs to boost awareness both to potential officers and enlisted candidates and the general public. "These engagement events build lasting relationships among diverse communities, dispel common misconceptions about the Marine Corps, and increase overall diversity accessions," he says. "Our survival, status, and reputation depend on our special relationship with the American people. Diversity broadens the base of support. Additionally, Marines deserve to be led by a diverse and representative officer corps." Caldwell adds that the last big recruiting campaign for the service was in September 2009, with “America’s Few,” which he says will be replaced by the new campaign. "This campaign -- like those that precede it -- represents an evolution to the brand message designed to address the challenges of the era and the unique traits inherent in this generation of potential recruits," he says. "Today’s millennial youth have a different definition of service than previous generations."
With more than two-thirds of the TV season completed, all three broadcast networks' main late-night shows are in a virtual dead heat among key viewers that advertisers want. NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno," CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" and ABC's "Nightline" have each posted a Nielsen 0.9 rating/3 share among 18-49 viewers through March 2. But looking at overall viewers, ABC's "Nightline" is tops, averaging 3.9 million viewers, with NBC's “Tonight” at 3.8 million and CBS' “Late Show” at 3.3 million viewers. At midnight, ABC's “Kimmel" is at a 1.8 million viewer average. NBC's and CBS' 12:35 a.m. shows are around the same number. NBC's “Late Night” has 1.8 million viewers, while CBS' “Late Late Show” holds 1.6 million viewers. Looking at the cable networks' late-night fare, much of the same continues with Comedy Central's two main shows "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report." At 11 p.m., “The Daily Show” is at 1.7 million viewing; at 11:30 p.m. “The Colbert Report” is at 1.3 million. "Conan" -- from Turner Broadcasting TBS, which runs from 11 a.m. to 12 midnight -- continues to hover around the 1.0 million viewer mark. But other Turner late-night programming services, also targeting young viewers, still outrank "Conan." Turner's one-hour Adult Swim programming block at 11:30 p.m. reaches 2.1 million and the second hour of Adult Swim at 12:30 a.m. is at 1.4 million. With more than two-thirds of the TV season completed, all three broadcast networks main late night shows are in a virtual dead heat among key viewers advertisers want. NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno," CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman", and ABC's "Nightline" have each posted a Nielsen 0.9 rating/3 share among 18-49 viewers through March 2. But in looking at overall viewers, ABC's "Nightline" is tops, averaging 3.9 million viewers, with NBC's “Tonight,” at 3.8 million; and CBS “Late Show,” 3.3 million viewers. Later that night, at 12 midnight, ABC “Kimmel" is at 1.8 million viewer average. NBC's and CBS's 12:35 a.m. shows are around the same number: NBC “Late Night” has 1.8 million viewers; and CBS “Late Late Show”, 1.6 million viewers. Looking at the cable networks late night fare, much of the same continues with Comedy Central two main shows "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report" on top. At 11 p.m. “The Daily Show,” is at 1.7 million viewing; at 11:30 p.m. “The Colbert Report,” is at 1.3 million. Turner Broadcasting' TBS' "Conan", from 11 a.m. to 12 midnight, continues to hover around the 1.0 million viewer mark. But other Turner late night programming services -- also targeting young viewers -- still out-rank "Conan". Turner's one-hour Adult Swim programming block at 11:30 p.m. gets 2.1 million and the second hour of Adult Swim at 12:30 a.m. is at 1.4 million.
The year is still young, but my early choice for most improved returning series of 2012 is TNT’s gritty cop drama “Southland,” currently finishing up its fourth season. I can’t recall another series that made several key changes so far into its run and emerged much better than it had ever been. Beginning with its first season, which unfortunately was on then hit-repelling NBC, this saga of Los Angeles detectives and street cops was too grim and serious for its own good. That’s not to say that its cast and production values weren’t always first-rate. But in its efforts to be as darkly realistic as possible, it often became too depressing for weekly consumption. At least that’s how I felt about it. Apparently I wasn’t alone; “Southland” has always been somewhat ratings-challenged, so much so that many industry observers didn’t expect it to last as long as it has. Thank goodness TNT stepped up to save this deserving series, identifying “Southland” as a program worth supporting on its road to near-greatness. (I use that term because it isn’t great in the way of other groundbreaking cop dramas like “Hill Street Blues” and “The Shield,” but it is a genre standout nevertheless.) It has always been and remains unapologetically adult, pushing the limits of language (while beeping the really bad words) and more recently loosening up in the sex and nudity department. It’s not quite FX-bold, but it’s getting there. This season we’ve seen the trimming of its primary cast, which has served to heighten the contributions of its central players and intensify their characters, specifically Ben McKenzie as Ben Sherman, a rookie cop with a big heart and a hot temper; Regina King as Detective Lydia Adams, who this season is struggling to keep her unexpected pregnancy a secret at work; Michael Cudlitz as veteran cop John Cooper, now recovering from a dependence on painkillers, and especially Shawn Hatosy as Sammy Bryant, an arrogant detective who decided to go back to being a beat cop after his partner was murdered. In addition to a reduction in the number of characters, the show’s narrative deck has been reshuffled: Sherman is now partnered with Bryant, Cooper is teamed with veteran cop Jessica Tang (Lucy Liu in what maybe the best role of her career to date) and Adams is working with Ruben Robinson (Dorian Missick), a family man and Afghanistan war vet who is now a detective trainee. Happily, C. Thomas Howell still shows up in some episodes as unrelentingly arrogant Officer “Dewey” Dudek. McKenzie and Hatosy are terrific together, especially when their characters are giving each other a hard time, in the process bringing some much needed humor to the show. Cudlitz and Liu also have great chemistry. Their characters are learning how to work together and help each other navigate their returns to the force after suffering intense personal traumas (his drug addiction, her brutal assault one year earlier). In recent episodes they have suffered fresh crises: In pursuit of a suspect, Liu’s Officer Tang shot a teenager who stupidly pulled a toy gun on her, almost killing the boy, while Cudlitz’s Officer Cooper was savagely assaulted while breaking up a fight. The Cooper assault, in which a man resisted arrest by biting Cooper and attempting to tear open his throat, was as horrifying as anything I have seen this season on “The Walking Dead,” perhaps because such thingsreally happen. A recurring theme this season has been the extent to which cell phone cameras and instant Internet postings have created a new set of challenges for police officers. Bryant said it best when he recently complained toSherman, “Every day I gotta watch my back. Guns, knives, people with camera phones hoping we screw up …” In the world of the show, Officers Sherman and Tang are well known for two videos that have gone viral: his capturing the moment when he punched an especially aggressive young woman at a protest; hers documenting the near-fatal beating she suffered on the job a year earlier. In fact, the Tang footage hasactually become an instructional video used by the LAPD to illustrate what not to do when approaching a suspect. Since his video went viral Sherman has been something of a rookie rock star, frequently approached by young women willing to let him punch them (which he doesn’t do) and wanting to have sex with him (a desire he often accommodates). “Southland” is so chillingly documentary-like it can be disturbing to watch, but that’s the point. This extremely well-done show seemingly seeks to do two things: remind the rest of the country that our inner-city neighborhoods are suffering from inexcusable squalor and often degenerate into war zones; and educate the public about the everyday dangers and challenges faced by police officers, especially those who patrol such areas. I have watched enough episodes of “Cops” during the last twenty-two years to know that much of what “Southland” shows us comes from truth (including the terrible biting attack). That makes it more than just another outstanding drama; it may be the most important scripted series on television.
Not everyone gets it when it comes to advertisers and controversial content in TV shows. Advertisers aren't linear about a full season's worth of a particular show. Just because you viewed a Ford commercial in, say, "Desperate Housewives" one week doesn't mean you are necessarily going to see it the next. But the press still believes that an "advertiser" pulling out of a show means it is always because of content. This is not to say that some advertisers don’t indeed drop out because of content and viewer reaction -- as in the case of Rush Limbaugh's radio show. With ABC's new show "GCB," this shouldn't be surprising for viewers or advertisers. Some controversy started months ago due to the title of the show’s original inspiration -- the book "Good Christian Bitches." Give some credit to Kraft (at least according to one statement received by The Hollywood Reporter) whose initial intent was to advertise Philadelphia Cream Cheese only in the show’s first episode but not succeeding ones. Kraft said it made a media buy on ABC for "GCB" as part of multi-network deal. Why? Because networks spend a lot of money launching a series’ first episode. That means if the show is only mediocre, as many are, it will get a relatively high number of initial viewers and then decline. To be fair, TMZ reported something totally different than The Hollywood Reporter -- that Kraft was pulling its advertising after the first episode because of viewer comments and putting its advertising in other ABC shows. Hmmm... While you ponder this, consider something else: For decades, many big TV advertisers got pretty specific scripts and content beforehand about what episodes they would be in. Additionally, because of a specific marketing push, a big TV advertiser might buy, for example, only four episodes of a series -- and then put its money elsewhere. All to say, within a given year, some big marketers can shift money around. When this happens in the midst of a controversial show, minds can go racing. There are, of course, specific cases where advertisers make moves considering content or viewer reaction. Lowe's seemed to suggest both motives when it left TLC's "American Muslim.” And then there is "post-game" reaction to content itself, as in the case of some 40 advertisers that reacted to Limbaugh's "slut" remark about a Georgetown University law student. Limbaugh said this won't be an issue because his radio show can draw from some "18,000 advertisers." And as TV Watch has noted previously, TV and other media can always weather content storms if viewership continues strong. We get it. Advertisers don't want to give away any strategy. But we know that what really goes on with sponsors isn't always apparent.
“Who is your real TV competitor?” That has always been the question haunting Netflix -- and now, even more so. A little while ago, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said the answer wasn't what some analysts might think -- TV networks, cable or satellite TV distribution companies. He said the closest competitor was HBO Go, the mobile streaming video service of HBO. In that regard, the news that Netflix is now talking to major multiple system cable operators about a possible programming deal shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Prospective pacts might include having Netflix's growing online video service as part of cable broadband programming packages. Many U.S. cable operators now count more on broadband for rapid revenue growth than on their traditional cable TV system operations. But, in addition to this, many big cable operators have big stakes in their own growing online video services -- like Comcast’s Streampix. So that could be a Netflix competitor in the making. While Hastings sees HBO Go -- and maybe HBO itself – as a competitor, Netflix has been viewed as a growing service for reruns of TV shows, not necessarily for movies. That is good and bad news. Here's the good news: Netflix could provide its service as subscription video-on-demand to cable operators who now have mostly free video-on-demand services. The bad new comes from those reruns of shows that already air on TNT, TBS, USA or other places that have "NCIS," "The Office," "Law & Order" or "House." Cable operators have had decades-long relationships with networks that, despite their push for original programming, still get big revenues from off-network broadcast shows. As such, Netflix could run into conflicts with existing deals, which would have to be reworked. We might know who Netflix's competitors are now. But who will they be in a couple of years?
CIMM is taking a pro-active role in advancing new media nomenclature and processes with both its Lexicon(terms and definitions associated with return path data measurement) and Asset Identification Primer (glossary of asset terms). These documents form the basis of this column, which offers a common language for return path data (RPD) nomenclature that can expedite the rollout of the data for its many industry applications. Starting with this week’s column, we transition from the term “Set-Top-Box data” to the more accurate term of “Return Path data” or RPD. While STB data is RPD, Return Path Data is a more expansive term that includes any data collected within the media platform beyond the physical box such as the television itself, middleware, mobile, remote and internet. As the industry expands to cross-platform measurement, RPD is a better term to represent all the various Big Data sets available in the industry. There are terms like Reach (or Cume) that have more than one term to describe the same thing (Set-Top-Box Lexicon: Reach Or Cume), while Frequency is an example of one term that has two different definitions, depending on the context. Reach and Frequency are often paired in discussions of advertising and viewing measurement. As defined in last week’s column, Reach is the number of unduplicated viewers, sets, set top boxes or homes that have been exposed to a piece of content. This week we explore frequency. When paired in the discussion of reach, frequency is the number of times each individual target has been exposed. But in another part of the media industry, definition of frequency is quite different. In the electronics realm, frequency is an electromagnetic wave cycle. That is the fun and the challenge of creating a common industry language. FrequencySee also: Reach & Frequency CIMM DEFINITION : The average number of times the unduplicated homes reached are exposed to a schedule of content, whether an ad, a program, a video or a schedule of spots. 2 : The number of times a complete electromagnetic wave cycle occurs in a fixed unit of time, usually one second. The rate at which a current alternates, measured in Hertz on a telecommunications medium. (Source: CableLabs) Please refer to the CIMM Lexicon online at http://www.cimm-us.org/lexicon.htm for additional information on these and other terms.
"Every1 who can please turn to OWN especially if you have a Neilsen [sic] box." With that tweet to her 9 million followers at 9:03 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 12, Oprah Winfrey caused a stir in the TV world and drew a rebuke from Nielsen for violating its rules against trying to bias the TV ratings sample (but, apparently, not for misspelling the company's name). Oprah's ability to move markets through her fans is famous. Termed the "Oprah Effect," companies featured or mentioned on her show in the past have seen sales sky-rocket, sometimes by thousands of percentages. When Oprah has promoted a book on her show, it has not been unusual for the mere mention to generate the sale of millions of additional copies. In fact, most publishers have run special printings of books (and prepared those eye-catching stickers) in advance of an Oprah appearance in anticipation of a big sales spike. Thus, it's not surprising that when one of America's most influential personalities singled out the Nielsen households among her many millions of followers to watch her show, that folks in the TV industry got upset. However, it turns out it was really much ado about nothing. It didn't work. When you analyze either the Nielsen ratings data for her show that night, or the anonymous set-top-box viewing data of 30 million Americans within Simulmedia's database, you discover that OWN received no discernible bump in ratings from the tweet or any of the many re-tweets. The OWN show that night had the lowest viewership of any new episode airing within the couple of weeks before and after for that time slot for the network. At best, the tweet might have moved a few thousand viewers. That's a far cry from the many millions of books Oprah has helped sell. Now, the lower rating is not surprising. It was running against the Grammys on another network that night. However, the failure of her tweet to move the needle in the ratings at least causes one to wonder whether the Oprah Effect translates to social media. Maybe this is a fundamental limitation of today's online social media? It's not as powerful as TV, and text characters can't do what a personality can do with sight, sound and motion. There are hundreds of causes trolling social media for sympathizers and donors. Are Facebook likes and tweets any more powerful than a segment of the network news or a mention by a talk show host? Not that I have seen. What do you think? Social media can reach a lot of folks, but can it move the needle when it comes to causing them to take desired actions?