• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, August 11, 2010

The Media Rating Council (MRC), NCC Media and a broad coalition of cable, satellite and telco-based subscription TV providers Tuesday announced plans to develop guidelines for the creation of consistent digital video viewership data. The organizers said the objective of the coalition is to "foster consistency and enable accumulation of this data" across the TV service providers.

Among other things, the initiative plans to develop "best practices" surrounding terms, definitions and calculations for accumulating digital viewership data.

The initiative comes as a number of organizations are trying to develop and commercialize syndicated TV audience measurement services via digital set-top data, including Kantar, Rentrak, TRAnalytics, TiVo, and even Nielsen.

The guidelines will include specific recommendations for data processing procedures, which will cover data-capture, editing and reporting as well as guidance for privacy and security safeguards and appropriate consumer notice and communication.

One of the big stumbling blocks to date has been the concern among TV operators that the commercializing TV viewing behavior from digital set-top devices might generate a backlash from consumer groups and regulators.

The organizers did not announce a timeframe for the initiative, but said that when the guidelines are drafted, the MRC would seek input from the broader media industry, including programmers, content providers, advertisers and their agencies, media researchers and consumer advocates, to facilitate the discussion and seek consensus among the participants.