Most industries depend on data to make decisions. In some cases, companies gather their own research but in the television world, a single company, Nielsen, calls all the shots.
Just 4 months after Nielsen announced that they would (finally) use a DVR to gather real-time (and accurate) data on what people are really watching - they cancelled the idea.
What dont they want us to know?
It is rather surprising to learn that so much advertising money depends on such an archaic system. Compared to TV, Google really did revolutionize the advertising world with data.
Nielsen Delays Plan to Release Viewership Ratings for TV Ads
Wall Street Journal
November 4, 2006
Nielsen Media Research indefinitely postponed plans to release ratings tracking how many people watch television commercials, amid an intensifying industry debate over the impact of digital video recorders on TV viewing.
The dispute raises questions about the future of the commercial-ratings plan, which was expected to have far-reaching implications for the media industry. While Nielsen now measures how many people watch TV programs -- a rating used to set TV ad prices -- it hasn't previously released formal ratings showing how audience levels change during a commercial break. The new ratings measure the average viewership for all the commercial minutes that run during a program, sold to national advertisers. When released, the commercial ratings are widely expected to show a drop during commercial breaks, which would likely add to pressure on ad rates.
Pressure for the new ratings system has arisen amid growing use of digital video recorders, which allow people to speed through commercials while watching a previously recorded show. DVR use poses two challenges to networks and advertisers. Aside from the potential for viewers to zap through the ads -- an issue that networks play down -- the devices allow people to watch shows well after the original broadcast. The potential for delayed viewing is a problem for advertisers because many buy ads promoting time-sensitive events such as retail sales or movie openings.
"We can't go forward another year ignoring the DVR audience as it grows more and more significant," said David Poltrack, CBS's chief research officer. "We have to somehow build this DVR-playback audience into the economic equation, and commercial ratings are, we believe, the way to do that."
