NBCU Counting On 'Simus' To Offer Olympian Insight by David Goetzl

It's a cool time for research-speak. There seems to be an arms race to coin the most lasting description of a new field. CBS's David Poltrack is championing "volumetrics," while PrecisionDemand, the measurement firm now headed by Jon Mandel, offers up "buyometric portraits." Albeit in a different realm, NBCU now has another moniker: "Simus." Pronounced Cy-muss, it's short for simultaneous media usage. For the 2010 Olympics, NBCU found 32% of people took in its coverage on more than one platform simultaneously -- at least once. For this summer's London Olympics as device multi-tasking balloons, it wants to delve into it ...Read the whole story

  • financial services John Hancock Promises 'You Are Not Alone' by Tanya Irwin

    John Hancock Financial Services is launching its first work under Chief Marketing Officer David Longfritz, who says the campaign "reflects the times we live in." ...Read the whole story

  • Siri Users Embrace TV Voice Recognition by David Goetzl

    The movement in the TV business to allow voice recognition to select shows and make other commands has a significant audience. A large percentage of Apple iPhone 4S users appreciate the Siri voice-recognition functionality and a notable chunk would like the opportunity to issue similar directives for their TVs, according to Parks Associates. ...Read the whole story

  • Adam Dolgins; truTV by Amy Corr

    Adam Dolgins has been named senior vice president of original programming for truTV. ...Read the whole story

Will Comcast's New Xbox Service Hurt Netflix? by Wendy Davis

Comcast this week rolled out a new free service allowing customers who subscribe to both Xfinity Internet and Xfinity Digital Video to watch TV on demand on their Xbox 360 consoles. While that sounds like a nice feature for subscribers, Comcast's move potentially hurts Netflix, Hulu Plus and other companies that offer video to Xbox users. That's because programs viewed through the Xbox 360 won't count against Comcast subscribers' broadband data caps, currently set at 250GB per month. ...More

  • Personalized TV Tune-In Video Ads Boost Interaction by 40% by Daisy Whitney

    Personalization works. At least, that's what cable network CMT learned during the January online tune-in campaign for its recently launched series "Bayou Billionaires" and "My Big Redneck Vacation." The network paired up with online video ad technology firm Eyeview to use its personalization tools for online video spots. The video ads contained local tune-in information for the two shows, tailored to the user's geographic area. ...More

  • Media Insights Q&A With Experian Simmons' Ken Wollenberg by Charlene Weisler

    Ken Wollenberg, president/general manager of Experian Simmons, has a range of measurement experience from MRI to Nielsen to Arbitron, which led to his current position at Simmons. In my interview with him. Ken talks about the pros and cons of STB data measurement, research quality, and the modeling and hybridization of STB data and other big data sets -- especially as it applies to Experian and the future of media. ...More

  • Should TV And Advertising Be Businesses Without Rules? by Wayne Friedman

    You know the HBO marketing line "It's not TV; It's HBO." That seems like a bold statement. But it should pertain to all cable TV -- at least for the money consumers pay. It doesn't. There are exceptions: AMC was a small, nondescript movie channel, now transformed to a channel of award-winning and critically acclaimed shows, thanks in part to Charlie Collier, president of AMC Networks. ...More

  • TV 'Friends' Social Nets At The Expense Of Radio, Print, and Other Media by Wayne Friedman

    Social media is getting more ad revenue. But the dollars are coming out of budgets for print, radio, outdoor and other media -- not TV. That is good news for sellers of traditional TV. ...More