• by Wayne Friedman , December 12, 2005

Despite discounting its price to users, Nielsen/Arbitron's new Project Apollo research service continues to get more head-scratching from broadcasting and cable network research executives. The pricey TV-product research project from Nielsen and Arbitron aims to offer advertisers the nirvana of research--connecting product purchasing data with TV viewership.

An Apollo research panel member goes through a two-step process.

After buying products--say, Ritz crackers and Tylenol--a panel member comes home and scans products on Nielsen Homescan's home scanner. Then, while wearing Arbitron's new portable people meter--a kind of beeper--a member might watch "Desperate Housewives." This is just the kind of cool research TV advertisers have wanted for years. But is Apollo worth the estimated $100 million startup cost? So far, Procter & Gamble and sc Johnson have signed on to the project. Broadcast and cable networks are participating in a test of the service this month with network signals encoded, but no networks have signed on for the full service as yet.

"We would like to participate," says David Poltrack, executive vice president of research and planning for CBS. "But we want to make sure it has support among the advertising community."

Packaged goods advertisers have a natural attraction to Apollo. But networks would also like to see automotive marketers, telecom providers, and electronics brands sign on. Nielsen executives did not return phone calls by press time.

Another big question is methodology, especially for a person participating in the Apollo research panel, says Tim Brooks, executive vice president of research for Lifetime Television. "That person has many tasks," he says. "They have to go home, take the products out of the bag, and scan the products. You also need to write down purchases of other products. You can't scan your new car or refrigerator."

Media agency executives remain skeptical about the portable people meter devices. "It's like listening to radio," says Lyle Schwartz, senior vice president and director of media research for Mediaedge:CIA. "If you are within earshot, the meter picks up the signal. But it doesn't mean you have been watching."

One high-ranking research network executive observes that while Apollo seems like the ultimate in research, there are bigger fish to fry, such as determining how much Nielsen's traditional TV measurements must change to account for digital video recorder usage. That data is set to be released in January.

The good news for advertisers and networks: The initial sign-up cost for marketers has been cut from $1 million to $350,000. But networks figure that they might end up paying for most of the service when it becomes fully operational. "The chances for Apollo to succeed are still very much up in the air, primarily because of the cost," says Lifetime's Brooks. "[However], we do believe some kind of ROI [return on investment] research tool is in the cards."

Wayne Friedman is MediaPost's executive editor/West Coast. This story is republished from the December issue of MEDIA magazine.