Networks in Uproar on Ratings - New York Times
The effort by Nielsen Media Research to track how many people watch television commercials ground to a halt this week when the networks, the largest supporters of the effort, backed away.
The networks — CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox — refused to allow Nielsen to rate their commercials unless it changes the way it counts viewers who use digital video recorders like TiVos.
In response, Nielsen postponed the project, dropping its Nov. 1 deadline, until the television and advertising industries agree on a way the ratings should be developed.
Network and advertising executives have sparred for months over the ratings because they have the potential to become the data that determines the rates that the networks charge for commercials. Traditionally, the rates have been based on the number of viewers who watch the entire program rather than just the ones who stay tuned during commercials.
“It’s a huge change, and there are so many parties involved — it’s not easy to make changes, especially when billions of dollars are at stake,” said Shari Cohen, co-executive director of national broadcast at MindShare North America, which is part of Group M, a WPP Group agency that has publicly urged Nielsen to quickly develop the new ratings. “We still believe that commercial ratings are the way to go.”
Cable networks have said they will not participate in the ratings until Nielsen addresses their concerns with the ratings data.
At the heart of the dispute are the digital video recorders that are in about 14 percent of American households.
The networks want to be paid for viewers who watch recorded shows, but now advertisers pay only for the viewers who watch TV shows during the original broadcast.
“As the DVR penetration increases, the way people watch TV is simply going to change,” said Alan Wurtzel, president of research for NBC Universal, which is owned by General Electric.
Already, Nielsen has found broad patterns of DVR viewership. Most viewers, Nielsen said, watch recorded shows within three days.
Nielsen released a database this week that showed how quickly DVR viewers watch the shows they record. That data persuaded the networks to complain about Nielsen’s previous plans for DVR viewer data.
Only 52.7 percent of DVR users who watched prime-time shows on CBS tuned in during the live broadcast in the last week of September. An additional 19.4 percent of viewers watched their recorded CBS shows later that day; about 8 percent one day later; 7 percent 2 days later; nearly 4.7 percent tuned in after 3 days; the rest watched even later.
Until yesterday Nielsen planned to release commercial ratings for DVR viewers based on three lengths of time: viewers who watched the original broadcast; viewers who watch either the original broadcast or who watch it later the same day; and those who watched it within a week.
TV networks would like all viewers who watch the program within one week to be counted, but ad agencies say many of their commercials are time-sensitive because they feature sales or events planned within a few days.
As a result, ad agencies have said they will not negotiate ad prices based on a count of all viewers within a week.
The networks now say they also want Nielsen to release data on viewers who watch shows two to three days later, but Nielsen currently can accommodate only three versions of the data. David Poltrack, the chief research officer for the CBS Corporation, said Nielsen should replace the count of live viewers with a count of viewers extending over two days. But many ad agencies oppose that measure.
Gary Holmes, a spokesman for Nielsen, said networks agree that more detailed ratings of commercials are needed. But, he said, “At this point, there is not a consensus among the entire client base on what information we should be providing.”
He said Nielsen would be host of an open meeting for the networks, agencies and advertisers in the next month or so.
Ad executives said the delay would give the industry more time to devise a system.
“We certainly approve of Nielsen delaying this,” said Steve Sternberg, director of audience measurement for Magna Global Media Research, an agency that buys ads for the Interpublic Group. “Waiting a little while will enable all national television to be measured using the same methodology, and will also provide a better opportunity for the industry to agree on a single stream of data to use as marketplace currency.”
