By Mark Shannon O'Neill / R.O.I. Media Solutions
It appears that Nielsen Media Research is now under consideration by the Clear Channel initiated "RFP" committee that is reviewing companies that have technologies that could passively measure radio listening. While Arbitron appears to be the closest to actually being able to deliver an accredited "currency" version of their Personal People Meter, one would have to consider a Nielsen proposal as credible.
Nielsen has been working on an initiative that they call Anywhere Anytime Media Measurement (A2/M2). The focus (and the language) of their website is obviously directed towards Television measurement, but as lines between traditional Television, online media and portable media begin to blur, it becomes clear that Nielsen would have the technology and the infrastructure to measure radio as well.
The term "radio" is not used on the site nor in the documents describing A2/M2, but if this system
could indeed measure "digital audio" and "streaming of video" in addition to monitoring the audio channel of TV, it is not a stretch to figure that radio or other "audio entertainment" that have heretofore been in the realm of terrestrial radio could be included in the mix.
The emphasis is on "could." Could and will are two different things. More on that below.
There are several documents in the public area of the Nielsen website that give some clues as to what they can bring to the discussion.
There is a press release dated June 14th, 2006 that is fairly comprehensive:
Nielsen to Offer Integrated, All-Electronic Television Measurement Across Multiple Media Platforms
'Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement' Initiative Enhances In-Home Ratings and Tracks TV Viewing on the Internet, Outside the Home and via Mobile Media
New York, NY - June 14, 2006 - Nielsen Media Research, a unit of VNU, N.V., today announced that it will provide integrated, all-electronic ratings for television regardless of the platform on which it is viewed. Under the Company’s Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement (A2/M2) initiative, Nielsen will develop and deploy technology to measure the new ways consumers are watching television, such as on the Internet, outside the home, and via cell phones, iPods and other personal, mobile devices.
It goes on later in the release to state:
Integrating Television and Internet Measurement
The technological and economic barriers that have traditionally divided the media are starting to come down, and nowhere is this more evident than in the relationship between television and the Internet.
As more and more streaming video content, including traditional television programming, becomes available online, content providers need to measure this viewing and understand how it complements their traditional television programming. To help media clients measure their growing online presence, Nielsen Media Research and its sister company NetRatings, provider of the Nielsen//NetRatings service, will introduce a number of unique integrated measurement services:
- Nielsen//NetRatings will establish the industry’s most comprehensive system for tracking and reporting digital audio and video delivered via the Internet. Nielsen//NetRatings will integrate data from its SiteCensus service, which uses proprietary “ping back” technology to provide highly accurate and granular measurement of what is delivered online, with demographic data from its representative metered panels of Internet users. Local broadcast stations and cable operators will be able to take advantage of Nielsen//NetRatings’ SiteCensus Market Intelligence service, which offers syndicated Internet audience measurement data.
- Nielsen will add Internet television measurement to its People Meter samples next year, creating a single panel to measure the relationship among TV viewing, web site usage and streaming video consumption.
It would appear that the development of the device (or "gizmo") has been underway for some time. In anther section of the Nielsen site, there is a 25 page PDF file that gives an overview of the Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement project. [ Download A2M2Nielsen.pdf ] There is not only a description of the proposed methodology, but there is a fairly extensive description of the "gizmos." One of the gizmos is a cell phone.
(Here some excerpts. Click on them for a larger view.)
AND
The next section has some interesting language, "to develop a meter that can be used with any portable media device." (Emphasis mine) "Any" could certainly include radio.
There is another article on the Nielsen site entitled "Measuring Television Outside the Home" that gives details of the meters.
From all of this, it would certainly appear that an effort mounted by Nielsen, whether by themselves or in conjunction with the Media Audit/Ipsos team, could be formidable.
But I would think that there are a number of questions to ponder as one considers - from an admittedly "outsider's" perspective - whether or not there is substance to the news reports this week.
First, I went back to the press release that Nielsen issued when they announced that they would not be pursuing the joint venture with Arbitron/PPM for the measurement of TV:
“We recognize the appeal of a portable, single source measurement tool,” said Whiting. “While it may offer considerable benefits for radio research, we believe that a one-size-fits-all measurement system is not the approach for a currency in today's complex television markets.”
That seems to eliminate the possibility of a TV + RADIO measurement service, but it certainly leaves the door open for Nielsen to develop a second service that measures radio. One also has to remember that that announcement was made in March. As of this summer, Nielsen (and VNU) are under new ownership.
Another consideration is the long dance that Nielsen did with Arbitron evaluating the joint venture. One would have to assume that there was some kind of non-disclosure and/or non-compete built into the terms of that evaluation process. Arbitron surely would have protected itself against building a competitor before lifting its skirt.
Nielsen and Arbitron have released the first round of data in their Project Apollo joint venture:
Like many good ideas, when first discussed, the single source concept outstripped the technological capabilities of the times. Arbitron embraced the challenge, spending more than a decade developing a tool that has evolved into the Portable People Meter (PPM), the backbone of Project Apollo media data collection. [ MORE ]
Even though it would make sense from a Nielsen point of view to have 100% of the technology in-house for project Apollo, surely the contractual language of that joint venture would HAVE to give Aribtron some assurances and protections. Arbitron would not invest 10 years in the development of a technology that Nielsen could just usurp and then dump Arbitron from the project.
Arbitron clearly has the ability to measure Television. They have also clearly stated that they will NOT pursue a Television strategy without Nielsen. If you think about it, there must be some quid pro quo in that regard.
Nielsen clearly has the technology, the infrastructure, the organization, the know-how and the credibility to launch a passive measurement technology to measure radio. They also now apparently have the invitation. They have new management who may have a different view on pursuing new avenues of business.
Technology is developing so rapidly that in the portable media world, it may be difficult to distinguish between what was once considered radio and what was once considered Television. Those definitions are changing quickly and what looked one way in March may look different in September.
One question will be if Nielsen has the desire to enter the radio market. Another will be if they have the legal right to do so after all of their partnership, due diligence and exploration discussions with Arbitron.
Radio would be wise to consider the "customer / vendor" relationship that the TV business has with Nielsen. I just did a Google search - there are not many items listed that use "warm + fuzzy" as adjectives to describe TV's relationship with Nielsen. Radio should be careful what it wishes for.
If the RFP committee is looking for a formidable stalking horse or a loaded canon with which they can extract price or other concessions from Arbitron, they certainly seem to have found it.
MSO
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