Services
Whether your focus is on understanding a rating decline, selling your audience effectively, making sure your target audience is well-represented in media research samples, or negotiating a research contract, our wide-ranging expertise can help your company get where you want it to be.
Ratings Research
No matter what kind of media outlet you are -- an upstart or an established network, local or national, cable or broadcast, multicultural or general market -- we’re here to answer your questions. Whenever possible (and sometimes when it might seem impossible), we use data to solve problems.
If you want to understand why your ratings are down, need to reach a particular viewing segment for promotions, want to make an irresistible ad sales pitch, or are targeting a highly specific (ethnic or otherwise) audience, we have the knowledge and experience to get the job done.
Overall Strategy
Who is your audience, and what is the current and future opportunity of your target? What segments of the market are growing and what are the challenges of targeting them? What can you learn from your competitors’ successes and failures? If you’re seeking intelligence to inform your overall strategy, we have the skills to support you.
Local News
Do you want to know how many people tune into your local newscasts, how frequently they tune in, how long they stay, and which viewers drive news rating points in your market and on your station? We can help you position yourself to improve your standing in the market.
Programming
Rating increases and declines can provide a basic report card on your programming, but we can give you in-depth insight into viewer behavior. We use data creatively to report on the areas you’d like to understand better and provide strategies to help you attract larger, more loyal audiences.
Promotions
Looking for the best times to promote to likely viewers of a specific show – or viewers of a competitive network or station? What percent of your viewers watch from one daypart to the next, or one day or week to the next? If you have a specific message for a particular kind of viewer, we can pinpoint the most effective times to reach them.
Ad Sales
Whether you’re an established media entity or a brand new start-up, everyone needs marketing materials. We can work with whatever resources you have (or order custom reports from Nielsen, Claritas, Scarborough or other vendors) to create a compelling, research-based story that showcases your audience’s most unique, advertiser-friendly attributes. If you’re in need of rating estimates to sell with, we can do that as well.
Multicultural
Media companies focusing on multicultural audiences need to understand their target and its selling points to increase share and sell effectively. We have years of experience with major national, cable, and local Hispanic TV networks, as well as radio station groups and outdoor advertising. As a result, we offer all of our typical research services to Hispanic media entities -- and with a deep knowledge of how culture affects audience measurement, sales, programming, and promotions. Se habla español también.
Audience Measurement
Sample Quality
Do you ever suspect that your target isn’t represented well in a research sample but don’t know where to begin? With expertise that includes diary-only, set-meter, LPM, and PPM samples, we review sample representation continuously to make sure metrics are of the highest quality. If we detect a problem, we know whom to contact and how to get it corrected.
In addition to monitoring existing samples, we also work to make certain that our clients aren’t harmed by changes in audience measurement. Here are a few examples:
• Local People Meter (LPM) Conversion For clients in nearly a dozen markets we’ve shown how ratings shifted as a result of the conversion and – more importantly -- identified where to concentrate efforts for ratings growth.
• Digital Transition We’ve worked with numerous TV stations to identify their level of preparedness for the transition so they can act quickly to resolve problems with the potential to cause rating declines – such as audience unreadiness, differences in signal coverage, and problems with the way stations deliver signals to cable and satellite providers. We’ve also proactively sought to determine whether our clients would be impacted more or less than their competitors, as well as communicated to Nielsen any changes in channel position or line-up.
• Address-Based Sampling (ABS) We were early advocates of ABS , which would increase the number of cell-phone-only households (more likely to be young and ethnic) in media research samples.
• Portable People Meter (PPM) In PPM markets we’ve worked with Arbitron to improve their methodology and the overall reliability of rating estimates.
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New Media and Technology
The “Three Screens” and Audience Measurement
TV networks and stations stand to lose ratings as consumers view more content online and on mobile devices. Syndicated research companies must improve their methods to capture viewing wherever it occurs. We make sure measurement is accurate and advocate for better practices on behalf of clients.
Internet and Mobile
We are actively educating ourselves on mobile and online research issues. Our skills in evaluating sample quality and audience measurement inform our understanding of business issues in this fast-changing area.
Set-Top Box Data
The second-by-second and minute-by-minute data that set-top boxes provide can be a source of valuable insights on promotion placement, content analysis, and audience behavior. If you’re thinking about subscribing, we can help you evaluate a vendor’s quality and the viability of its data.
Addressable Advertising
We are at the ready to help clients develop research resources to sell this new technology that directs advertising and interactivity to specific households.
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Contract Negotiation
Negotiating a research contract can be a daunting experience without the proper support. Here are some of the services and benefits we’ve provided for national broadcast, cable, local television, and local radio outlets:
• Negotiated lower rates for clients using rate knowledge across many
markets
• Bargained for lower increases in Nielsen contract fees that resulted from
moving from one methodology to another (like set meter to LPM)
• Requested sample guarantees and penalties
• Asked for custom analysis budgets
• Evaluated sample quality during the negotiation process to identify any
deficiencies that needed to be addressed
• Handled contracts for ancillary products and services (Scarborough,
Galaxy, NPower, etc.)
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