• by January 31, 2005

DEAR SENATOR BURNS - Today's Real Media Riffs guest column is written by George Ivie, CEO and executive director of the Media Rating Council, with a little help from his friends. It is addressed to you, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras, certain other members of Congress, and of course, indirectly, the management of Nielsen Media Research. Here it goes:

The undersigned members of the Media Rating Council (MRC) board of directors support the important role and mission of the MRC in a free-market economy and reaffirm their belief in the appropriateness and fairness of its procedures. The mission of the MRC is to secure valid, reliable and effective audience research through setting the Minimum Standards for Media Rating Research, conducting audits to validate compliance with the Standards and informing users about Standards-compliance through an Accreditation procedure.

We present below our recommendations for strengthening the MRC's oversight function and certain other initiatives we are pursuing to promote more effective media measurement. We would appreciate your consideration of this information.

Recommendations

Actions Related to MRC Oversight:

* The Congress and the Federal Trade Commission should actively reaffirm the role and mission of the MRC, which was established as the Broadcast Rating Council in 1963 as a result of the Harris Committee Hearings, including the MRC Board's subsequent expansion of this role and mission from a Television and Radio focus into syndicated measurement of Print, Internet and Out-of-Home media.
* The MRC and appropriate governmental organizations should establish a periodic communication linkage to allow for more continuous interaction. Such interaction will provide a useful mechanism for the MRC to periodically update the government on its activities.

Actions Related to Nielsen Media Research:

* The Federal Trade Commission should reaffirm Nielsen Media Research's "consent" to the MRC accreditation process for their key media measurement products (Nielsen's original consent to be audited by the Broadcast Rating Council was obtained at the time of the Harris Committee Hearings).
* The MRC, coordinating with the Federal Trade Commission and Congress, should establish a voluntary code of conduct for Nielsen Media Research, which specifies ground-rules for interaction with the MRC accreditation process. This would establish a framework for other providers that possess similar marketplace dominance which have the potential to undermine the voluntary adherence to the accreditation process.

Other Initiatives

We believe it is important to inform you of other initiatives that the MRC is pursuing to promote more effective media measurement:

* A diverse group of users of media measurement data are exploring the establishment of an Industry-funded research Consortium to study the effectiveness of measurement methodologies and pursue development of better measurement techniques (this is similar to the role of CONTAM as established by the Harris Committee recommendations but with broader representation; this Consortium is not intended to replace CONTAM). Specifically:
* This Consortium could utilize the procedures and anti-trust protection of the National Cooperative Research Act of 1984, which allows for appropriate cooperation by otherwise competing organizations for the purpose of pursuing research and development activities,
* This Consortium would not be an MRC organization, although the MRC should observe the Consortium's activities. The MRC must maintain the independence needed to audit and assess new methodologies developed by the Consortium, to the extent they are adopted by existing measurement services, and
* Innovations or improvements discovered by the Consortium would be published and taken to measurement services for recommended adoption.
* The MRC is working with its membership to broaden and strengthen the MRC/National Association of Broadcasters Voluntary Mediation Procedure, which was developed to assist in resolving disputes between measurement services and their customers. The revised procedure will be broadened to cover media platforms beyond television and radio and given greater visibility within the Media Industry.

We hope this information will be helpful to your review; and the MRC would be pleased to answer any questions you may have and discuss any other recommendations you propose.

- George W. Ivie
- Henry DeVault, VP-research, ABC/Disney
- Nicole Alemanne, VP-research, A&E Television
- Barry Feldman, executive director-marketing research, American Urban Radio Networks
- Dan Jennings, research director, BusinessWeek
- Ira Sussman, VP-research, Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau
- Rob Frydlewicz, VP-research director, Carat North America
- David Poltrack, executive VP-research & planning, CBS Broadcasting/UPN Network
- Lisa DeFelice, senior VP-research, Channel One
- Jonathan Sims, VP-research, Comcast Spotlight
- Stephen Tyler, director-syndicated research, Condé Nast
- Nicole Buie, director-research & sales development, Cox Media
- Tom McClendon, consultant, Cox Radio & Television
- Laurie Burns, VP-ad sales research, Discovery Networks
- Mary Heed, VP-ad sales research, Entertainment Television
- Artie Bulgrin, senior VP-research & sales development, ESPN
- Melva Benoit, senior VP-research & marketing, Fox Television Network
- Tom Herwitz, -president-station operations, Fox-Owned Stations Group
- Debbie Shinnick, VP-research, Galavision Cable Networks
- Tom Somers, VP-strategic initiatives, Gannett
- Marlene Greenfield, director-research, Gruner + Jahr Publishing
- Pat Keane, executive director, Hachette Filipacchi
- Susan Walsh, executive director-market research, Hearst Magazines
- Larry Wefring, director of research, Hubbard Broadcasting
- Tony Jarvis, executive VP-research, Infinity Broadcasting
- Greg Stuart, CEO, Interactive Advertising Bureau
- Ray Hockstein, VP-research, Interep Radio
- John Shreves, president-TV Group, Jefferson Pilot Communications
- Tim Brooks, senior VP-research, Lifetime Television
- Tony Marinaro, director-LIN Television Audience Research, LIN Television
- Alan Rovitzky, senior VP-director of strategic insights, MediaCom
- David Shiffman, research director, MediaVest
- Tonya Deniz, senior VP-director of research & modeling, MPG
- Marshall Jacobowitz, VP-research & planning, MTV Network
- Jim Conaghan, VP-business analysis and research, Newspaper Association of America
- David Gunzerath, VP-research information group, National Association of Broadcasters
- Nancy Gallagher, senior VP-news, sports & affiliate research, NBC
- Tina Silvestri, VP-research, NBC Owned Stations Group
- Sheryl Feldinger, senior VP-ad sales research, NBC Universal
- Jeff Boehme, VP-marketing & research, National Cable Communications
- Wendy Robinson, advertising research director, New York Times
- Beth Uyenco, U.S. director of strategic research & analysis, OMD
- Rob Hebenstreit, VP-research, Pax Television
- Gary Corbitt, director-research, Post Newsweek Stations
- Len Klatt, director-research, Premiere Radio
- Don Gloeckler, manager-media research, Procter & Gamble
- Andy Rainey, senior VP-research, Radio Advertising Bureau
- Alison Jaye, senior research manager, Reader's Digest
- Doug Pulick, senior VP-research and analysis, Regal CineMedia
- Michael Pardee, senior VP-research, Scripps Networks Inc.
- Kate Sirkin, executive VP-global research director, Starcom
- Millie Carrasquillo, senior VP-research, Telemundo
- Jean Goldberg, VP-media sales research, Time Warner
- Steve Schussel, director-research, Tribune Broadcasting
- Michael Propper, senior VP, Turner Broadcasting System
- Susan Cuccinello, senior VP-research, Television Bureau of Advertising
- Susan Nathan, senior VP-director of media resources, Universal McCann
- Ceril Shagrin, senior VP-corporate research, Univision/Telefutura Networks
- Kathleen Bohan, VP-research & marketing, Univision Radio
- Melinda Maidhof, VP-marketing & research, Univision Television Group
- Catherine Captain, director-marketing research, USA Today
- Frank Dolcimascolo, research director, USA Weekend
- Patti Cohen, VP-research, Viacom Television Stations
- Ginny Cable, executive director of research, The Wall Street Journal
- Ned Greenberg, VP-research, The Weather Channel
- Todd Teresi, VP-sales ops, Yahoo!
- Tony Cardinale, senior VP-director of strategic research, Zenith Media Services