• by Wayne Friedman , October 23, 2009

On the heels of its clients starting up a separate independent new media research entity, the Nielsen Company says it will be investing an additional $2.5 million to the 4-year-old independent media research forum, the Council for Research Excellence.

The CRE, established in 2005, is composed of Nielsen clients formed to conduct its own research and act as a think tank of sorts. Nielsen gave the group a $2.5 million grant; Nielsen's total investment now is $10 million.

This comes a month after Nielsen clients established another independent media research entity -- the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement, which was formed among some 14 members -- TV networks, media agencies and advertisers.

Nielsen is not yet a member of this group. Some media analysts view the CIMM as a competitor to Nielsen; CIMM proponents say this isn't the case.

One of the CIMM's prime objectives is looking for single-source media research -- something that could amass traditional and new digital media where content is consumed. The goal of CIMM will be to fund new media research projects. Presently, the group has a $1.4 million budget.

CRE currently has about 40 Nielsen client members: advertisers, media agencies, broadcast networks and TV stations, cable networks and syndication companies.

"We continue to see the CRE as one of the best investments we can make towards bringing together people who often have competing agendas and different points of view," said Susan Whiting, vice chair of The Nielsen Company, in a release. "We look forward to the new ideas and insights our continued investment help generate."