Media Companies Align for New Ratings Initiative

NEW YORK: The major U.S. media companies and several leading advertisers have formed a consortium to challenge Nielsen’s dominance in the audience research space, the Financial Times reported today.

NBC Universal, Time Warner, News Corporation, Viacom, CBS, Discovery and Walt Disney are all slated to be part of the consortium, alongside Procter & Gamble, Unilever and AT&T, as well as Group M and Starcom MediaVest. The consortium plans to award contracts for measuring set-top box data and multiplatform viewing by the fourth quarter. The move comes as networks and advertisers clamor for more comprehensive audience research reports that take into account linear, DVR and online viewing.