IP Democracy: Nielsen to Release VOD Ratings Data

Cable’s VOD doesn’t get the respect it deserves, according to some advertisers and operators, because there’s no good way to measure viewership. TV ratings company Nielsen Media Research plans to rectify that, in part at least. Nielsen is announcing today that it will produce ratings data for on-demand programs offered by cable operators.

The ratings service (which I can imagine will be beset by glitches galore given the vast numbers of on-demand choices) will be limited to on-demand content produced by national broadcast and cable networks. Nielsen doesn’t yet have permission to access data related to any other on-demand offerings offered in relatively idiosyncratic form by individual cable companies, and, indeed, individual cable systems.

Right now the industry is fond of its own on-demand tracking service offered by Rentrak, but the Rentrak data are controlled by the cable companies themselves and therefore not viewed as objective by the advertising community. And for most on-demand options, advertising is the sole means of generating revenue for the content suppliers.

Surprisingly, cable’s VOD is gaining steam as an ad vehicle. CBS, which used to charge for its on-demand options, switched to ad-supported VOD.

“It’s probably not the greatest shock in the world that people like things for free, and they’re pretty used to the bargain they’ve had with broadcast television for years, i.e., watch a few ads and you get great programming for free,” said Martin D. Franks, executive vice president for planning, policy and government relations at the CBS Corporation. “That seems to be translating over to the V.O.D. and online worlds.”

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on November 16, 2006 9:10 AM to IP Democracy