Nicholas Schiavone

Articles by Nicholas All articles by Nicholas

• You Really Can Fool Some Of The People All Of The Time: Nielsen's $16B Sellout in MediaDailyNews on 03/31/2022
  

  Technically, the most Nielsen can determine is whether a TV set is on or off, what channel it is tuned to, and possibly whether panel members are in the "TV room" when the set is on.

• Of Metaphor, Meaning And Cross-Platform/TV Audience Measurement in MediaDailyNews on 09/16/2021
  

  We have seen the transformation of Nielsen from the "gold standard" of TV audience measurement to the Theranos of cross-platform media measurement.

Comments by Nicholas All comments by Nicholas

• Nielsen Agrees To $16B Buyout Deal From Private Equity Consortium by Wayne Friedman (MediaDailyNews on 03/29/2022)
  

  Bravo, Wayne Friedman & MediaPost!With all due respect to Jesse Cohn, managing partner & Marc Steinberg, senior portfolio manager on behalf of Evergreen Coast Capital & Elliott Investment Management, NIELSEN will NOT "continue to be the gold standard for audience measurement...." It is not now. And it has not been for decades.The Nielsen ownership chronology is a revealing tale of fluctuating ownership and"financial accretion." But it is also a history of RESEARCH QUALITY DECRETION.The Dun & Bradstreet acquistion marks a steady slide that began not long after the introduction of the so-called People Meter Measurement IN 1987. It is important to note that the People Meter concept was not per se "wrong." It is also important to recognize that Nielsen never actually measured viewing, as such behavior is subjective and there can be no objective measurement of a subjective behavior.The best Nielsen can determine is if a TV set is on or off, what channel it is tuned to and maybe if panel members are in the "TV room" when the set is on. Is anyone paying attention? Who knows? And that's the TV audience measurement fantasy. It hurts to imagine what Nielsen wants its customers to believe about online/streaming audiences - and how it measures themThe Capital & Investment Management firms in question can hardly possessthe necessary talent to understand the methodological research & electronic media marketing challenges they have just assumed. Can they explain, for example,what it means to be without MRC (Media Rating Council) Accreditation or an E&Y Audit?Given the price just paid for Nielsen, one thing is certain about Nielsen and it's not quality. Media company CEO's need to pay attention. The terms & conditions in Nielsen Contracts, so-called Agreements, are likely to be headed nowhere good. In this commentator's mind, based on history, Nieslen will negotiate as if it were a natural monopoly. Even knowledgeable clients are forced to accept financial terms and operating conditions before quality is guaranteed and remedies are established. In effect, Nielsen Clients are trapped...prisoners, more or less. That's hardly an equitable deal.The media and marketing industries can hope all they want. They can be "rooting hard"for long overdue changes. But here is the bottom line: Nielsen is handsomely paid for what it does and does not do! It's time for clients to assume responsibility for measurement.Again.

• NBCU 'Certifies' 8 New Suppliers, Including Comscore As Local Ad Currency by Joe Mandese (MediaDailyNews on 03/22/2022)
  

  Well Mr. Skinner and Ms. Abcarian,Are you aware that the manufacturer of yardsticks will not be making them any longer?And are either of you aware that there no public discussions in print on where the MRC (MediaRating Council) fits into this NBCU Soap Opera?Just because you seeking to remove Nielsenfrom the audience measurement scene, doesnot mean that matters of accuracy, reliability and utility can be assumed without an E&Y audit!Introducing this scientific/business proposal onon the set of SNL sounds like a less than funny comedy unto itself.Next stop for you:  The Writers Room.  You needto workshop these jokes.Cheers!NPS

• NBCU Beefs Up Measurement Spin Team, Recruits Comscore's Ripley by Joe Mandese (MediaDailyNews on 03/01/2022)
  

  Best Media Research Joke of March 2022 - and it's just started!"NBCU Beefs Up Measurement" by naming a vice president-communications for NBCU’s Advertising and Partnerships Division.  Really now?Further, NBCUnified has already amassed the unique identities of 150 million people and will “scale to 200 million in short order.”I wonder if they asked anyone's permission?  Frightening!

• The Irony Throne: First Lady Uses Rose Garden To Troll All Former First Ladies, The Media Too by Joe Mandese (Red, White & Blog on 08/26/2020)
  

  Today, the name Hugo Boss stands for a German luxury fashion house.However, back in the day, Hugo himself designed uniforms for the Nazis.Review Melania's runway walk in the Rose Garden last night.My first thought is that wardrobe for the Republican National Conventionhas been designed by Hugo Boss risen from the dead like a vampire.My second thought is that poor Melania misses modelling (European spelling).My third thought is that Donald Trump thinks the USA really needs a queen.Hence, our Slovenian Queen Melania.Just remember Michelle Obama's warning: ‘If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can’

• Obit: Pioneering Media Researcher Gale Metzger, Dead At 83 by Joe Mandese (MediaDailyNews on 03/17/2020)
  

  Such beautiful remembrances from Barry Fischer and others, all pointing in a single direction:The intersection of integrity, quality and humanity.Thank you, Gale, for leading by example.Never a discouraging word!"We shall not cease from explorationAnd the end of all our exploringWill be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time."T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding

• What A Week: Politics, Pandemic And Chris Matthews Too by Adam Buckman (TVBlog on 03/06/2020)
  

  Adam, Adam, Adam,>Not all men who reach the age of 74 speak to women the way Chris Matthews did.  And did his behavior rise to level of the some the serial deviants you mentioned?  Just asking.There is more to this story given the nature of Matthews' departure.  Consider the nature of his statement crafted by network, agent, and lawyer pens...most likely.  I watched the delivery several times.  Water tight and only slightly less pugnacious than usual.>And not all men who reach the age of 74 lose the ability to analyze the modern world of 2020...politically and otherwise.>Finally, I do not know which English-speaking networks you were referring to in your Commentary, but there is one network that does a markedly superior job of covering Politics and Medicine. I am, of course, referring to PBS.  On a nightly basis, the "PBS NewsHour" provides in-depth coverage of Covid-19 and the Democratic Primary...not to mention the rest of the World's issues.  Further, the same Public Media Stations that carry the "PBS NewsHour" also carry "BBC World News" (tailored to North America), as well as "Amanpour and Company."  Additionally, these local public media stations carry local news programming with critical local information.  And as an added incentive, public media programming run without commercial interruption. So a 1-hour news program lasts 60 minutes, not 44.Alas, as I approach 74, I shall sound more pugnacious, but I see more clearly too!  Don't expect me to retire on-air any time soon.Nick, Nick, Nick

• MRC Re-ups Accreditation For 'Survey Of The American Consumer,' Industry's Core Media Planning Source by Joe Mandese (MediaDailyNews on 02/18/2020)
  

  Dear Ed,Permit me to recognize your unique knowledge and practical perspective so generously sharedClearly, you would not have continued to use these tools [i.e., MRI-Simmons], if they did not produce insightful, profitable results.Thank you for your attention to my comments and the broader issues involved.Sincerely,Nick

• MRC Re-ups Accreditation For 'Survey Of The American Consumer,' Industry's Core Media Planning Source by Joe Mandese (MediaDailyNews on 02/18/2020)
  

  I cannot deny referencing the Survey "once or twice" over a 49-year career.  Nonetheless, given the 24,000 respondents and 6,500 products & services in 600 categories not to mention the media usage and attitude assessments, there is but one number I would like to see from the MRC Accreditation Report.What is the Response Rate when all is said and done?  I shudder to think!What appears to be a "research-by-the-pound" service in 2020 was originally founded as W.R. Simmons & Associates Research in 1952 by Willard R. Simmons.To the best of my knowledge...Mr. Simmons designed the magazine industry's first syndicated audience research study. The first major study using his method was conducted in the fall of 1962.  Interviewers went to respondents' homes to ask them a series of questions related to various print media. A subsample of the respondents completed TV-viewing diaries and provided more specific information on product and brand usage.The surveys provided average issue "through-the-book" measurements (i.e., total audience data) for 36 publications, including The Saturday Evening Post, Better Homes & Gardens, Good Housekeeping, McCall's and Ladies' Home Journal. For the first time, total audience data were provided for large-circulation magazines such as Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, Business Week and National Geographic.That was then. This is now. Is more better? In the case of Research Quality...not so much!

• New Entry For PBS Anglo File: '12 Days Of Tudor Christmas' by Adam Buckman (TVBlog on 12/23/2019)
  

  Dear Adam,Your Commentary is truly Dickensenian.You have captured the Spirit of Scroogewith some Don Rickles thrown in for goodmeasure!I think you understand the PBS BrandingStrategy in the case of "Masterpiece."It does have its risk.  What doesn't?Alas, I had more than a little to do with "Must-See" at NBC.  Not everything wasa viewer imperative. But, if one must watch TV on Christmas,I'll take PBS over NFL any year.In the Spirit of the Holidays, Yuletide Greetings...and a Happy New Year!Warmly,Nick  

• Bad Day At Black Rock: CBS Landmark Is For Sale by Adam Buckman (TVBlog on 12/11/2019)
  

  Dear Adam,I very much appreciated your thoughtful reflection on Black Rock. I was especially taken with your reference to Eero Saarinen.Although my commercial network career was spent at 30 Rock,I believe that place matters.More fundamentally, the sale of Black Rock seems associated with the deconstructionof The Eye. Today (i.e., the day you wrote this commentary), we learn that the CBS Finance Staff at Black Rock will be reduced.So it goes. The passage of time may be inevitable. So is change. But I don't always have to like it or assume it is for the better..Peace,Nick

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