Nielsen has moved to a second European territory and Asia with its measurement product that gauges the effect a TV spot has on brand recall, purchase intent and other emotions. Nielsen TV Brand Effect, which has been in the U.S. and U.K., has launched in Germany and China. Nielsen touts the product as being able to provide results swiftly enough to allow advertisers to make creative and other changes in near real-time, since surveys take place over a 24-hour period after an ad airs. Nielsen recently entered into a contract to conduct traditional TV measurement research in Hong King from 2013-2017. There, it will install people meters in 800 homes. It has also worked on a three-screen measurement initiative -- TV, Internet and mobile -- in China covering a panel of 300 homes in Shanghai. In China, Rentrak recently made a deal with Sinomonitor to measure TV viewing via set-top-box data, which Rentrak uses as a generator in the U.S. In the U.K., BARB (Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board) oversees traditional TV measurement, while commissioning organizations such as RSMB, Ipsos MORI and Kantar to help. In Germany, a unit of GfK provides the data. In the U.S., where Nielsen has been trying to bolster cross-platform measurement products, the company says the TV Brand Effect can serve as a complement to Nielsen's Online Brand Effect. In April, Univision used TV Brand Effect as a sales promotional tool, saying that data found Latinos “like” ads at a level of 51% higher if shown in Spanish versus English. In 2011, Bravo said TV Brand Effect showed it was the No. 2 network by one metric for brand recall for product placements.
Looking to entice sports viewers for its big August London Olympics push, NBC rolled out coverage of the U.S. Olympics Trials on Sunday. But it seems viewers need more enticement.NBC's "U.S. Olympics Trials" scored a Nielsen preliminary 1.2 rating/4 share among 18-49 viewers at 7 p.m. on Sunday -- which tied for the most-viewed show with NBC's "Dateline." Later in the night, a rerun of NBC's "America's Got Talent" took in 1.2/3 for 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.Bad as the numbers were for the "Trials," the numbers were in the range of what this kind of programming has done in the past. Back in 2008 -- before the Beijing Olympics -- the "Olympic Trials" took in a 1.5 rating.NBC was one of three networks to score over the 1 rating mark on the night. Univision was next with a 1.1/3 and ABC hit a 1.0/3. Fox and CBS tied with a 0.8/3. Except for NBC's "Trials" and "Dateline," all other networks were in repeats. Analysts say some summer weekend periods can yield typically low viewing totals.In terms of overall viewers, CBS took in the best results, at 5.7 million. NBC had 4.6 million; ABC had 3.4 million; Univision, 3.1 million and Fox, 2.1 million. Univision continues to make inroads with younger viewers. It earned a 1.2/4, followed by ABC and Fox, which each earned a 0.8/3, then NBC at a 0.7/3 and CBS at a 0.4/1.
The National Basketball Association says eight brands have signed up to activate as sponsors of this year's NBA Draft. At the top of the heap is State Farm, which has title sponsorship as well. Also on board are Sprint, HP, Taco Bell, BBVA, Gatorade, American Express, and Adidas, per the association. BBVA, Gatorade, HP, Sprint and Taco Bell are associate partners. The NBA says State Farm gets its name on the event logo, and throughout the arena and stage set up, during the live telecast on ESPN. State Farm will also be on Draft coverage on NBA TV, on NBA.com, and on the NBA’s Facebook and Twitter social media channels. The company will run four 30-second ads during the draft on NBA TV. At NBA.com, State Farm will have an online roadblock on draft day. Also, the NBA says State Farm will be setting up basketball shooting stations for fans on the concourses of the Prudential Center and distributing branded Thundersticks to fans. Adidas will have co-branded NBA draft hats worn by top picks, who will pose in the hats beside the NBA commish. The 2012 NBA Draft Hat features the team name on the front with the official NBA Logo, and team logos are on the back. They are being sold at the NBA store in Manhattan and online, per the the NBA. American Express will use its sponsorship to host a pair of cardmember experiences. The first is the 2012 NBA Draft Experience -- where in addition to access to the draft, cardmembers get a behind-the-scenes tour, a pre-Draft reception and a meet and greet with 2012 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year, Kyrie Irving. Cardmembers will also have reserved seats to watch the event. BBVA will have on-site branding, digital and social media and broadcast units, and will give financial advice to the families of drafted players during the NBA Draft Family Seminar on Wednesday. Gatorade bottles and Gatorade branded cups will be everywhere at the event and back of house areas, and the brand gets on-site signage, broadcast and digital media assets. HP Touchsmarts will be used during the draft at the reception space and back of house and the Commissioner will use HP-branded index cars to read each draft pick. HP also gets on-site signage, broadcast and digital media assets. Sprint will host a live broadcast of the draft through its Sprint NBA Mobile app on Android 2.2 and 2.3 phones, and through the NBA Game Time app on iPhones. The NBA says that companies that have committed to advertising during the draft are State Farm, Taco Bell, Sanofi-Aventis, Spalding, Right Guard, HP, Anheuser-Busch and Sprint.
In an unbundled, a la carte cable TV world, you are looking at a much smaller selection of cable channels being profitable -- maybe five to 10. This figure is what Laura Martin, media analyst of Needham & Co., estimates. That's out of some 125 viable cable networks, which would then be uneconomic to run. (Of these, 60-plus cable networks sell significant advertising inventory). This five to 10 range is also the figure some research studies have suggested is the real number of channels we regularly or semi-regularly watch -- this out of a 100 to 200 routinely available on cable, satellite, or telco multi-channel services. Martin says there is more bad news should the Federal Communications Commission move in the a-la-carte direction: That $300 billion market capitalization among public traded stocks would disappear. This breaks down further to seeing 75% of all cable advertising revenues departing, along with 15% to 20% of all subscription revenues. I'm guessing that with this model the consumer cost for monthly cable packages probably wouldn’t be lowered that much. Those surviving networks will need to charge a lot more to make ends meet. A la carte means we get what we want -- but the savings won't be as much as we think. Who would be the surviving channels? You could imagine channels supported by big media companies that could amortize programming costs across other networks -- cable, broadcast, VOD, or otherwise. ESPN, USA Network, TBS, FX, and TNT perhaps? Many more niche networks like A&E, Discovery, Bravo, E! and MTV. Who gains? Perhaps YouTube, Netflix, AOL, Yahoo and Hulu, as consumers gravitate towards cheaper options. Still, Martin says this group needs to do better in terms of quality, search/discovery, and longer length video/TV content. In its more traditional association, a la carte means picking just one or two foods/dishes from the menu. You might proceed this way because your appetite is low. But restaurants are a savvy bunch, which doesn't mean you bill will end up lower. Even then, no one goes to a restaurant only to leave hungry.