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Part Five Developing the Integrated Marketing Communications Program
Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
V. Developing the
Integrated Marketing
Communications Program
11. Evaluation of Broadcast
Media
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
Nielsen has been battling with the networks, local TV stations, and ad agencies for
years over the accuracy of its numbers. Many in the industry suspect that Nielsen is
not moving fast enough to improve its audience measurement systems because it has a
virtual monopoly in both the national and the local ratings business. They would like
to see some competition.
The major networks, advertisers, and agencies have explored alternatives to
Nielsen Media Research. One such recent effort was a system developed by Statistical
Research Inc. (SRI) called Smart-TV, which was initially funded by the three major
networks and big advertisers such as Procter & Gamble, AT&T, and General Motors.
SRI claimed its Smart-TV system had many advantages over Nielsen’s people meter
and tested the system in Philadelphia in 1998. However, in May 1999 SRI canceled a
national rollout of the new measurement system due to a lack of funding. 35 The latest
effort to develop a TV audience measurement system that challenges Nielsen comes
from a joint venture involving shopping network QVC and its majority owner, cable
system operator Comcast. 36 The new service is called TargetTV and relies on digital
set-top boxes to monitor viewer behavior by recording clickstream data in increments
as small as five seconds in order to track channel surfing. The service was launched in
60,000 homes in Philadelphia in late 2000 and has moved into several other markets.
The system has several drawbacks, however, as it is limited to households with set-top
boxes and does not account for noncable TV users or those with analog cable boxes. It
is not likely that the TargetTV service will mount a serious challenge to Nielsen anytime
soon.
Another alternative to Nielsen is the portable people meter (PPM) system, which is
being tested by Arbitron Inc. 37 The pager-size device detects an inaudible code embedded
in the audio signal of a TV program, radio show, or Internet streaming audio. At
the end of the day, users of the device drop it into a bay station, which then sends the
ratings information to Arbitron’s central database. Arbitron maintains that the PPM is
superior to traditional set-top meters because it captures audience behavior yearround,
it tracks media use outside the home, and it tracks all different types of media.
The company began field tests of the system in Philadelphia in 2002 and plans to
expand into as many as 100 markets by 2008. Arbitron has skirted potential opposition
to the system from Nielsen by giving its one-time rival the option to develop PPM
technology if it goes into commercial production.
Many advertising professionals hope that a focus of new technology for measuring
viewing audiences will be on developing rating systems for commercials, not just for
programs. The Nielsen system measures the audiences for the programs surrounding
the commercials rather than the commercials themselves. But with new technologies
such as personal video recorders, as well as zipping, zapping, people leaving the room,
and people being distracted from the TV during commercial breaks, there is a need to
develop accurate ratings of more than just program audience viewing. Nielsen has
announced that it can now monitor the TiVo personal video recorder behavior of all the
U.S. TV households it monitors. 38 However, the impending arrival of convergence
technology also means that people may soon routinely watch television shows on their
computers, personal digital assistants, and other wireless devices such as cell phones,
which will add to the problem of accurately measuring TV viewing.
For over 50 years consumers passively received TV programming and commercials.
This is changing rapidly, however, as the major cable operators, telecommunications
companies, and others bring various entertainment, information, and interactive
services into homes via television. Researchers argue that the Nielsen system is being
overwhelmed by the explosion in the number of TV sets, delivery systems, and program
options available. These developments must be carefully monitored by advertisers
and media planners as well as by people in the TV industry, as they can have a
profound impact on audience size and composition and on the way advertisers use and
pay for the use of TV as an advertising medium. Improvements in measurement technology
are needed to accommodate these developments.
Media experts also argue that consideration must be given to measuring media
involvement and determining when consumers are most tuned into television programs
and open to receiving advertisements and other types of marketing messages. 39
Current audience measurement methods are often criticized for only reporting the