The cable television industry has long thought that Nielsen Media Research’s sample of viewers is far too small to count the hundreds of channels that many customers now receive. For that reason, Time Warner Cable is testing a new audience measurement system in Hawaii aimed at detecting what shows are being watched across 200,000 advanced set-top boxes. Rentrak Corp. is partnering with Comcast Corp. to measure viewership for on-demand channels. As part of a trial with Oceanic Cable, U.K.-based TNS Media in January began processing the information that it derives from software in the digital boxes in people’s homes. And Nielsen Media Research is working not only with Time Warner but also with Comcast to pursue “advanced measurement techniques” related to digital services, Nielsen CEO Susan Whiting told clients in March.
If any of these efforts succeed, marketers may be more willing to advertise on local cable systems and on niche digital channels that may penetrate only a small fraction of a market, such as BBC America or The Biography Channel.
“If you don’t have any information at all, then some information can be helpful for you,” says Tim Brooks, senior vice president/research for Lifetime Television and chairman of the Advertising Research Foundation’s Video Electronic Media Council, which is examining the technology.
Then again, the reverse could be true for broadcast stations. The data could have ominous implications for them if they show diminished viewership in upscale, digital homes.
Not than any meaningful audience figures will come out of two-way digital set-tops any time soon. The most daunting hurdle regarding TNS’s efforts is privacy, since unlike Nielsen, TNS does not recruit people for its sample. That’s okay as long as the company is gleaning only aggregate numbers, but it becomes a problem if operators want more-specific information about the audience, such as demographics.
Another drawback: TNS can’t tell how many people are watching through a given box nor detect individual household patterns. TNS Media CEO George Shabbab says the company plans on testing a “more traditional” metering system later this year and eventually hopes to sign people up for opt-in panels.
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