Monday, February 27, 2006

Measuring Audiences and Nielsen Changes

Measuring audiences has seldom been in the news more.

Broadcasting & Cable reports Nielsen is going to include college students in its national TV ratings starting early next year. This "will measure viewing for students living in dorms, sorority and fraternity houses and off-campus apartments," the first time the company has included viewing outside the home. But not bars, offices and restaurants.

Results during tests show college students living away from home watched an average of 24.3 hours of TV per week, which Nielsen estimates could result in as much as 12% higher viewing levels for ages 18-24. This obviously will boost youth-oriented networks and shows. For future research: How do the networks' lineups of 2005, 2006 compare with 2007 and later?

VOD and Live Audiences

Nielsen and Comcast have teamed in a survey on TV viewing in households with video-on-demand services. According to AdAge.com, "The good news for advertisers was that among the most sampled content were shorter videos available for free, like music videos. The not-so-positive news (for advertisers): the most watched programs . . . hailed from advertising-free subscription services such as HBO."

Biggest VOD users: those ages 18-34 and children (2-11). More trials are planned.

Interview With Nielsen's CEO

In an interview in Forbes, Nielsen Media Research CEO Susan D. Whiting talks about some of the challenges facing the company, including measuring minority audiences and audiences using the Internet. In addition to heading Nielsen Media Research, she is executive vice president of Nielsen's Dutch parent, VNU, which means she is spending considerable time outside the U.S..

Whiting, an alumna of Denison University, also touches on Nielsen's 18-month management- training program for graduates just out of college.

Good News for Old Media?

Don't touch that dial, says Marketwatch.com, which reports that some stock analysts are recommending investing in established media companies. Reason? The value of media stocks has fallen almost 6% a year for the last five years. "The quality of these businesses, which in many cases are irreplaceable, and the ability to grow future cash-flows are underappreciated by the market," says Hersh Cohen, who manages the Smith Barney Appreciation Fund.

I'll Take Cricket for $612 Million

If the Olympics didn't convince you of the global reach of sports and the media, how about this? Nimbus won the contract for cable, broadband and direct-to-home rights to carry Indian cricket for four years. It works out to $4.8 million per day for 165 days of cricket. (Some Indian advertisers believe Nimbus paid too much.)

And there is even fantasy league cricket for the upcoming India v. England series.

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