• by Wayne Friedman , August 5, 2005

Nielsen Media Research must be getting some big cheers from cable networks upon its release of July's local people meter rating data.

In six top markets, Nielsen said that July viewer ratings for adults 18 and older were considerably higher for ad-supported cable networks in using local people meter (LPM) technology versus that of written diaries in July 2004.

New York's numbers were 39 percent higher in July 2005 versus July a year ago--up to a 12.6 rating. Los Angeles was up 40 percent to a 10.0; Chicago rose 47 percent to a rating of 11.3. In other markets: Philadelphia was up 79 percent; San Francisco improved 64 percent; and Washington, D.C. was 58 percent better.

Nielsen credits increased accuracy of LPMs over diaries--especially helping small- to mid-size cable networks that couldn't receive measurable ratings. "This helps the top-tier cable networks and top shows," said Brad Adgate, senior vice president and corporate research director for Horizon Media, New York. "But I don't know what it does for small digital networks."

With only 600 to 800 LPM homes in each market, according to Adgate, the sample size is still too small; it's also much smaller than the thousands of diaries that have been used for each market for years.

For station groups such as Tribune Broadcasting and Fox Television Stations, the LPMs still aren't good enough. This is especially true when those station groups are concerned over recruitment procedures of LPM homes, which they say does not represent minorities.

Nielsen did not release similar viewer LPM data for TV stations during the same period. But media agency research analysts believe if it did, results would show a drop in those viewers for TV stations in those markets. Nielsen executives did not return phone calls by press time.

Local market cable program data --which could not be accurately measured by diary systems--should be a boon for local cable interconnect advertising sales that insert local ads for a number of major cable networks.

"It's a real boost for cable operators, which puts them more on the level of TV stations," said Adgate. "This is similar to when national people meters started in 1987, which put national cable networks on the same level as the broadcast networks."

Nielsen also released viewing data per market for a number of new cable shows this summer.

For USA Network's "The 4400," there were more female than male viewers in all LPM markets--except Chicago, where there was a tie. The same was true for TNT"s "Into The West," a Western miniseries. FX's new show "Over There" was the only series that had higher ratings among men than women in all seven markets.