Nielsen ratings have always been an imperfect system of projecting who is watching what when. The advent of DVR technology and internet-streamed programming have made the television ratings game even more challenging.
So the major TV companies -- General Electric's NBC Universal, Time Warner , News Corp., Viacom, CBS Corp., and Walt Disney -- have teamed together to fight against Nielsen, which not only delivers arguably flawed data, but charges a hefty fee to do so.
Advertisers, meanwhile, are also hoping for a new solution to figuring out the best time slots to reach a captive audience.Procter & Gamble and AT&T are already on board with the media giants to develop a better system that would measure viewership across multiple platforms. (Currently, Nielsen polls 18,000 homes and tracks their viewing habits via a special remote control).
The consortium's plan is expected to sign contracts for other companies who develop reliable ways of measuring viewers across all digital sources, including Hulu. No word on how the consortium proposes to measure iTunes downloads.
Could this change the TV-ratings landscape? All of a sudden, will American Idol lose luster while 30 Rock rockets to the top of the charts? Or will Nielsen maintain its stranglehold of the ratings game? Stay tuned.
Beth works for The Options News Network (www.ONN.tv), which provides daily stock and options commentary. The above comments are not intended as trading advice.
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